The delivery of the Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G) class vessels is now halfway, following the delivery of the ‘Eco Malta’, sixth of the group’s 12 units ordered from the Chinese Jinling shipyard in Nanjing.
Grimaldi says that the GG5G ships are not only the largest ro-ro units in the world for short sea shipping, but also the most eco-friendly. Like the five sister vessels already delivered and deployed in the Mediterranean, the Eco Malta flies the Italian flag, has a length of 238m, a beam of 34m, a gross tonnage of 67,311t and a service speed of 20.8 knots. The loading capacity of the seven decks – two of which are hoistable – is twice that of the previous class of short sea ro-ro ships deployed by the Grimaldi Group: the vessel can carry some 7,800 lane metres of freight, equivalent to around 500 trailers and 180 cars.
The increase in capacity does not affect fuel consumption, thanks to the adoption of innovative technological solutions that optimise the ship’s operational and environmental performance. At the same speed, the Eco Malta consumes the same amount of fuel compared to the previous generation ro-ro ships, and is therefore able to halve CO2 emissions per unit transported. In addition, during port stays, the Eco Malta is capable of cutting emissions to zero by using the electricity stored in mega lithium batteries with a total power of 5 MWh; these are recharged during navigation by shaft generators and 350m2 of solar panels. The vessel is also equipped with electronically controlled engines and with an exhaust gas cleaning system for the reduction of sulphur and particulate emissions.
MD Emanuele Grimaldi said: “The green transition requires great commitment and continuous investments, and in the shipping industry our Group has been moving decisively and quickly in this direction for years. True sustainability requires us to effectively meet the needs of the market by minimising the environmental impact: this is the result we are aiming for by adding to ships our fleet that are both more capacious and more eco-friendly, just like the Eco Malta.”
On arrival, Eco Malta will be deployed on the ro-ro service between Northern Italy (Livorno, Savona) and Southern Spain (Barcelona, Valencia), where her three sister vessels Eco Savona, Eco Valencia and Eco Barcelona are currently operational.
