Finnlines has launched a green lane sea transportation service, with options for low-emission shipments, electricity or biofuels.
Electric route
The 100% electricity-powered shipments will be available on the Naantali-Kapellskär route, which is operated by Finnlines’ hybrid ro-pax ships Finnsirius and Finncanopus. The ships’ 5MWh batteries are charged with onshore power while at berth, and the energy is used at sea to replace fossil fuel, thus enabling green transportation for certain freight units.
Antonio Raimo, line manager at Finnlines, said, “Our utmost goal is to reduce emissions, and we are already seeing concrete results. With the introduction of our new vessels, Finnsirius and Finncanopus, we have entered the hybrid era and can now offer our customers even more efficient and sustainable sea transport services. Although the cargo capacity of the vessels operating on the Naantali–Kapellskär route has increased significantly, absolute carbon dioxide emissions per nautical mile have decreased by 22%.”
Biofuel transportation
The other green lane option uses biofuels derived from renewable sources. The service will be available on short-sea shipping routes: Naantali-Kapellskär, Malmö-Travemünde, Malmö-Świnoujście and Hanko-Gdynia.
Merja Kallio-Mannila, head of group sales, customer service and marketing at Finnlines, added, “We want to offer our customers concrete solutions to help them achieve their decarbonization targets. Both solutions ensure low emissions – for example using biofuel can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 700kg per a trailer on the Hanko-Gdynia route.”
Passenger routes
The green lane will also be available for passengers on Finnlines’ passenger routes: Naantali-Långnäs–Kapellskär, Helsinki-Travemünde, Malmö-Travemünde and Malmö-Świnoujście. If passengers choose this option, Finnlines will use renewable biofuels to replace the corresponding volume of fossil fuels and the emissions per passenger on the route will decline.
Finnlines has also ordered three new methanol-powered vessels, which are expected to enter the route between Helsinki and Travemünde in 2028-2029.
Thomas Doepel, president and CEO at Finnlines, commented, “In April, we announced a new investment program, which consists of three methanol-powered ro-pax vessels to enter the route between Finland and Germany. These new and previous investments will enable us to offer our customers fossil-free freight transportation. This has raised great interest, and we are confident that the demand will grow in the future.”
In related news, Finnlines recently consolidated its Biscay services with bi-weekly connections between the Spanish ports of Bilbao and Vigo, and Zeebrugge in Belgium. Click here to read the full story.
