MAN Energy Solutions has won the order to supply six MAN B&W 9S50ME-C9.6 Tier II-compliant main engines for three 238-meter hybrid RoRo vessels intended for operation in the Baltic Sea. The customer is Finnlines, the Finnish shipping company and part of the Grimaldi Group.

The vessels will have a cargo capacity of 5,800 lane meters plus 5,600m² of car decks and a capacity of about 300 TEU on the weather deck. The vessels are designed to be flexible for all type of ro-ro cargo; tank top and main deck are shaped with strengthened bulkheads and free of pillar areas to accommodate paper and sto-ro concept. The vessel has also an increased DWT of 17,400 tons. The newbuilds will also feature ice-class classification, 1A Super.

The MAN B&W ME-C engines—as part of the hybrid propulsion set-up—will enable a 100% increase in efficiency when measured in terms of consumption/ton of freight transported, compared to existing vessels.

Designed by Knud E. Hansen, the new RoRos will be among the first examples of a new series of hybrid vessels. These will use fuel-oil during navigation and lithium mega-batteries in harbor, thus guaranteeing zero emissions in port—and meeting the Registro Italiano Navale (RINA) Green Plus class notation—while still satisfying energy requirements at berth. The batteries will be recharged during navigation through shaft generators adding ta peak-shaving system.

An innovative air lubrication system under the keel will create the bubble layers which will reduce friction and hydrodynamic resistance and consequently reduce fuel consumption and emissions as well. Optimised energy efficiency is ensured with the hull lines and propellers including the most advanced integrated propeller-rudder system.

MAN Energy Solutions’ two-stroke licensee—Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.—will build the engines in Korea, while Nanjing Jinling shipyard in China will construct the vessels. Delivery of the first vessels is expected from 2021.

The new order follows that made by Grimaldi in 2019 for nine very similar vessels with the same scope of supply, and adds to recent orders MAN Energy Solutions has won in the competitive Baltic market.

These new RoRos will be among the most environmentally sustainable ships of their type. Finnlines is a frontrunner in the development of hybrid power ships, of marine battery packs and of energy-management systems. By investing in research & development and by teaming with its suppliers, Finnlines is well on time to meet and clearly exceed all the ambitious environmental targets set by the IMO and by the international community for shipping.

—Bjarne Foldager – Senior Vice President, Head of Two-Stroke Business at MAN Energy Solutions

Finnlines is a leading shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay. The company is a part of the Grimaldi Group, one of the world’s largest operators of RoRo vessels and the largest operator of the Motorways of the Sea in Europe for both passengers and freight. This affiliation enables Finnlines to offer liner services to and from any destination in the Mediterranean, West Africa as well as the Atlantic coast of both North and South America.