Stena Line ferries to become shore power ready

Stena Line is to upgrade four of its ferries with Yara Marine Technologies’ shore power systems, preparing them for emission-free connections in port when shoreside installations become available. The vessels are to be modified during the second half of this year.

In a statement, the company did not name the vessels or the ports at which they currently call. However, it is thought that the vessels are the Stena Baltica, Stena Scandica, Stena Livia, and Stena Flavia. The ferry routes on which the ships are currently deployed are Nynäshamn-Ventspils, Travemünde-Liepaja, and Travemünde-Liepaja-Karlskrona.

Hans Corneliusson, Fleet Support manager at Stena Line, commented: “Connecting a single vessel to a green electrical grid when in port can reduce CO₂ emissions by over 5,000 tonnes per year – and this effect is multiplied across our fleet. We firmly believe that the number of ports offering shore-based power connectivity will increase in the near future and we are happy to support this change through investments in our fleet to make them compatible with this technology. Our holistic approach to minimising emissions by only sourcing renewable energy for shore power is in line with both customer expectations and upcoming regulatory requirements.”

Yara Marine Technologies’ chief strategy officer, Aleksander Askeland, said: “The shipping industry is keen to achieve cleaner and truly sustainable operations, and shore power is an ideal means to reduce emissions with immediate effect … We are pleased to use our extensive experience from planning and executing multi-vessel installations to equip four Stena Line vessels with our turnkey shore power solution, and look forward to supporting Stena Line and our other customers for the lifetimes of their installed technologies.”