Swedish shipowner Wallenius SOL has taken delivery of ‘Botnia Enabler’, which it describes as the world’s largest ice-rated multi-fuel con-ro vessel, from the CIMC Raffles yard in China.
Ragnar Johansson, MD, Wallenius SOL, said: “We’re incredibly pleased and proud to welcome Botnia Enabler to our fleet. The delays we suffered along the way are no secret, so finally seeing her leave port on her maiden voyage is a fantastic feeling. She’s been eagerly awaited by us and our customers.”
The ship, first of an order of two, has a length of 242m, a beam of 35.2m and the highest Finnish-Swedish ice class to cope with the harsh winter conditions in the Gulf of Bothnia. The 27,000 dwt 20-knot vessel can be fuelled by LNG, LBG, diesel or synthetic diesel. In addition to its classic ro-ro function, Botnia Enabler also has a large capacity for containers.
The ship will be loading cargo in two Chinese ports before the she heads home to Europe and the Gulf of Bothnia. According to calculations, Botnia Enabler will call at its first European port, Antwerp, at the end of June. Once the ship leaves the continent, she will enter regular traffic on her Zeebrugge-Antwerp-Kokkola-Skellefteå-Oulu-Kemi-Travemünde route. Thus the container carrying capacity on the route will increase by almost 300% from 336 TEU to 1000 TEU compared to the ship currently serving the route, and ro-ro capacity, at 5,800 lane metres, will increase by almost 100%.
“This vessel will play an important role for our customers, who need more capacity, and for us and our ability to reduce our environmental and climate impact,” said Johansson.
Botnia Enabler is significantly more energy efficient per transported unit than older vessels, and according to calculations, she will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 63%, but also NOx (96%), SOx (99%) and particulates (99%). Sister ship Baltic Enabler is scheduled for delivery in summer 2022.
