Western Baltic Engineering joins ÈTA Shipping’s shortsea vessel project

Dutch shipping company ÈTA Shipping and Lithuania-based marine engineering specialist Western Baltic Engineering have started their joint engineering of ÈTA Shipping’s launching project ÈTA 6700.

ÈTA 6700 is the company’s shortsea vessel project that is expected to enable a gradual shift to green propulsion. ÈTA Shipping plans to build six 6,700 dwt general cargo ships that will have a modular plug-in propulsion design.

The joint engineering is seen as “a promising step in the right direction” for both companies in achieving their common goal — making shipping more sustainable.

“Western Baltic Engineering has broad experience and facilities. We found common ground in the same vision: making sustainable shipping a reality. We’re really content to be able to realize our vision with them, as this cooperation will contribute to the acceleration of the energy transition in the short sea shipping sector,” Sam Gombra, CEO at ÈTA Shipping, explained.

“We strongly believe in ÈTA Shipping’s chosen concept of future shipping and we are very happy being part of it. The ÈTA Shipping project is in line with the direction of Western Baltic Engineering’s strategy to participate in innovative, green projects,” Marius Arkušauskas, Director of Western Baltic Engineering, commented.

New way of shipping

The ÈTA 6700 is a modular vessel designed for the European coastal trade. The vessels are capable of changing power generation and power storage in an efficient and effective way without downtime. This enables the vessel to adapt easily to future and emission-free fuels.

The modular design also allows partial change or add-on power generation which makes the ships suitable for testing new technologies in a maritime environment.

“We were looking for a partner that had the facilities and capacity to engineer the ÈTA 6700 in such a detailed way that it also can be used for the operational management of the ships. An exact digital copy, so to say. Western Baltic Engineering will create our 3D model to the smallest detail,” Walter van Gruijthuijsen, CTO at ÈTA Shipping, said.

“This 3D model will form the basis of a … technical management tool. Traditionally there are a lot of management programs aboard of a ship, but we’re going to visualise them all within this intuitive 3D interface, so you can graphically see the actual data of the equipment. This offers a lot of opportunities in terms of personnel and their level of training.”

ÈTA 6700

The first six ÈTA 6700 vessels will be chartered by Dutch shipowner ForestWave Navigation (Schulte & Bruns).

ForestWave is active in the multi-purpose shortsea segment. Its vessels are operated mainly in European waters and the Atlantic Basin.

To meet the ambitious goals of long-term customers to have zero-emission shipping available as soon as 2030, ForestWave and ÈTA Shipping have agreed a long-term charter for six ÈTA 6700 vessels.

This commitment of ForestWave enables the transition of the short sea sector and contributes significantly to the realization of the project.