Finland-headed NLC Ferry Ab Oy, operator of the Finnish–Swedish Wasaline RoPax ferry service between Vaasa, Finland and Umeå, Sweden, will begin operating on certified bioLNG one day a week from October 13, 2023, in preparation for the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) that will come into force next year.
BioLNG is more expensive than its fossil counterpart liquefied natural gas (LNG), the current primary fuel of M/S Aurora Botnia, but the company will cover the extra costs on behalf of its customers.
With certified bioLNG, all Friday departures until Christmas will be climate-neutral in the “Green Fridays” pilot project.
Aurora Botnia is the world’s most environmentally friendly ferry today, but our efforts to reduce our climate footprint continue. This is a pilot project to measure the interest of our cargo owners and passengers, and whether it is financially viable to continue biogas purchases. We would like to thank our loyal customers who have made this unique investment in climate-neutral transport possible for the first time in the Quarken, said Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director at Wasaline.
Wasaline has already reduced its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 22 percent this year compared to last year. The use of bioLNG will further reduce the CO2 emissions of Aurora Botnia.
With four trips on Fridays, 18 percent of the total weekly departures will be operated with bioLNG under the “Green Fridays” pilot project. The bioLNG and LNG are both supplied by Nordic energy company Gasum Oy.
This is a great initiative that we at Gasum are very happy to be a part of in our role as a biogas supplier. Biogas is one of the already available concrete pathways to reducing emissions in maritime transport and travel and it’s fantastic that Wasaline is now setting on this pathway to provide lower emissions services to its customers. Our goal is to continuously increase biogas availability to our customers in the coming years, said Jacob Granqvist, VP of Maritime at Gasum.
More environmentally friendly transportation methods are especially important for cargo. The logistics company Ahola Group and Wasaline have built up a long-term collaboration over the years.
The connection between Vaasa and Umeå is very important for our Nordic traffic. Sustainability and holistic environmental-effective solutions are a central part of our operations where we work actively to reduce our footprint. Our methods include real-time optimization of routes, high filling degree, energy-efficient driving, and the use of alternative fuels with lower emissions. We are pleased to reduce emissions even further with the help of biogas-powered ferry connections by Wasaline, said Ida Saavalainen, CEO at Ahola Group.
The “Green Fridays” pilot project will continue until Christmas. Wasaline hopes to be able to further develop this concept in collaboration with its customers.
