Smyril Line Orders Methanol-ready RoRo Ships at CIMC Raffles
Smyril Line announced it has signed a contract with the CIMC Raffles shipyard in China for the construction of two new vehicle carrier vessels.
The ro-ro ships will each be 190 meters in length with 3,300 lane meters for trailers. They have been designed in close cooperation with naval architects Knud E. Hansen for year-round seaworthiness in the North Atlantic.
Smyril Line plans to place the vessels into service on its current network, operating a route between Europe, the Faroe Islands and Iceland from 2026.
Compared to the company's existing fleet, the newbuilds will emit significantly less per transported ton. The ships will be equipped with a battery system and the possibility for shore power, which means that port operations can be conducted without emissions. The ships will also be prepared to sail on e-methanol.
"Now is the time to set ourselves new and bigger goals towards reducing emissions in the North Atlantic," said Jens Meinhard Rasmussen, CEO of Smyril Line. "The company's main goal is to ensure safe and reliable transportation of both passengers and cargo, and to connect the periphery of the North Atlantic with the rest of the world. With the new ships, we emphasize futureproofing and leading the company towards a greener energy solution and lead the way for Smyril Line towards the goals for decarbonization in our fleet renewal, supporting the green transition of the shipping industry.
"We will also transport much larger quantities of cargo with less energy consumption than we do now. The energy saving will be at least 60%. This is an important step for us to achieve our goals towards net-zero emissions by 2050, while we can offer our customers an even better service.
"We have been operating routes in the North Atlantic since 1982. This is not just one of the world's longest ro-ro and ro-pax routes, but probably also the one with the most challenging sailing conditions. We know from experience that sailing on our route places great demands on both ship and crew, and we have therefore designed the ships with this in mind."