Photo courtesy Wallenius SOL
Swedish shipping company Wallenius SOL has taken delivery of its Botnia Enabler, touted as “the world’s largest ice-rated multi-fuel ConRo vessel.”
The vessel, the first of two, was built by CIMC Raffles in China.
Botnia Enabler, which is registered in Sweden, has a length of 242 metres and a beam of 35.2 meters. The vessel comes with highest Finnish-Swedish ice class to handle the harsh winter conditions in the Gulf of Bothnia, as well as mult-fuel capability (including LNG, liquefied biogas (LBG), and diesel synthetic oil). In addition to its classic RoRo function, Botnia Enabler also has a large capacity for containers, hence the “ConRo” designation (container + roll-on/roll-off capability).
“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,” says Ragnar Johansson, Managing Director at Wallenius SOL.
In fact, Botnia Enabler has a container capacity of 1,000 TEU, a significant increase from the 336 TEU capacity M/V Tavastland, which the Botnia Enabler will be replacing on Wallenius SOL’s Zeebrugge-Antwerp-Kokkola-Skellefteå-Oulu-Kemi-Travemünde route. The vessel’s ro-ro capacity—5,800 Lane metres—is nearly double that of the Tavastland.
“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,” says Johansson.
Botnia Enabler will load cargo at two Chinese ports before making her maiden voyage to Antwerp, Belgium, where she is expected to arrive in June.
Botnia Enabler is also significantly more energy efficient per transported unit than older vessels and, according to calculations, she will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 63 percent, but also NOx (96 percent), SOx (99 percent) and particulates (99 percent).
Botnia Enabler’s sister ship, named Baltic Enabler, is scheduled for delivery later this summer.
Wallenius SOL, launched by Wallenius and Swedish Orient Line, kicked off operations in 2019 with plans to operate five ships and up to four newbuild LNG-powered ships originally planned for delivery in 2021.
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