Sea trial of Aurora Botnia

The car and passenger ferry Aurora Botnia has completed its first sea trial. Built by Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC), the vessel will be operated by Wasaline on the route between the Finnish city of Vaasa and the Swedish city of Umeå.

Aurora Botnia is said to be the first car and passenger ferry in the world with a Clean Design class notation. This means that the ship has been designed and built to significantly exceed the requirements of the MARPOL Convention for the prevention of pollution from ships, the operator and builder said in a statement.

“This was definitely a highlight for us, a culmination of several years of effort. We were able to meet the expectations of our work, ensuring that the ship we built can operate as intended,” said Johanna Kaijo, project manager for Aurora Botnia at RMC.

“The event was important to Wasaline, too, as we had the opportunity to get to know our new ship and its operations in marine conditions for the first time with the project’s key personnel,” added Peter Ståhlberg, managing director of Wasaline.

“We adjusted the power plant and tested the ship’s speed, propulsion and steering, among other things, during the sea trials. We ran the ship’s fuel-efficient main engines with different settings and fine-tuned the automation to further improve the vessel’s environmental sustainability. In addition, we were able to ensure in practice that the ship's design meets the strict criteria of the Clean Design class notation,” Kaijo summarised.

The ship's main engines operate primarily on low emission LNG. In the future, the ship can be powered by biogas. In addition to the fuel solution, Aurora Botnia has an electric power system that can be used when operating within port areas.