Grimaldi Euromed secures $42.5 million loan to finance Eco Barcelona

Grimaldi Euromed, a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group specializing in the maritime transport of passengers and RORO cargo, has won a €35 million ($42.5 million) loan facility from CaixaBank S.A.

The loan is intended to finance the acquisition of a new Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel Eco Barcelona.

The ship is under construction at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd. and joins Grimaldi’s fleet of over 130 ships operating on Italian domestic and international routes.

 Eco Barcelona is the second unit of the Grimaldi Green 5^th Generation (GG5G) class and can transport over 7,800 million of rolling goods, equivalent to circa 500 trailers.

The GG5G hybrid ro-ro vessels can transport a higher volume of goods without increasing fuel consumption, leading to greater efficiency in terms of fuel consumption per tonne transported, the company said.

The new vessel guarantees Zero Emissions in Port, which allows the ships to stop at port without using auxiliary engines that produce carbon emissions.

The energy demand of on-board activities at port is met using only mega lithium batteries which are recharged by shaft generators and 600m² of solar panels.

The Neapolitan company took delivery of Eco Valencia, the first of 12 hybrid ro-ro ships belonging to the GG5G class on October 16.

Eco Valencia is the first unit of the new GG5G series of hybrid ro-ro vessels. In addition to classifying the ship, the Italian ship classification registry RINA assigned her the additional Green Plus class notation, the top RINA certification in the field of environmental sustainability.

The GG5G class design was conceived by the Grimaldi Group Technical and Energy Saving Department in partnership with the Danish naval design studio Knud E. Hansen.

The innovative elements include, among others, an air lubrication system – which will let the ship also obtain the AIR-LUB notation certified by RINA; a Rolls-Royce propulsion system optimized with blades featuring innovative propellers, an integrated propulsion system between the rudder and propeller (Promas Lite), a waste heat recovery system as well as silicone coating on the hull.

Moreover, exhaust gas cleaning systems are installed on board the GG5G ships to reduce sulphur and particulate emissions.

Eco Valencia has a length of 238 meters, a beam of 34 meters, a gross tonnage of 67,311 tonnes and a service speed of 20.8 knots.

The vessel, flying the Italian flag, is the largest short sea ro-ro vessel in the world and can transport 7,800 linear meters of rolling freight, equivalent to around 500 trailers.

Of the 12 units of the GG5G class, nine will be deployed in the Mediterranean Sea and another three will be operated by the Group subsidiary Finnlines in Northern Europe.

Eco Valencia entered into service between Italy and Spain in November, calling regularly at the ports of Livorno, Savona, Barcelona and Valencia.