Grimaldi welcomes hybrid RoRo newbuild

Italian Grimaldi Group started 2021 with the delivery of Eco Barcelona, the second of twelve hybrid Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G) class vessels.

The Italian-flagged roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) was handed over to its owner by Chinese shipyard Jinling based in Nanjing.

The newbuild features 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. It can transport 7,800 linear meters of rolling freight, equivalent to around 500 trailers — if compared with the previous class of RoRo ships deployed by the Grimaldi Group for short sea shipping, the new unit can transport twice the load while maintaining the same fuel consumption at the same speed.

Thanks to their advanced design, the GG5G ships are not only the largest RoRo units in the world for short sea shipping but also the most eco-friendly ones, according to Grimaldi.

The excellent environmental performance of the Eco Barcelona is the result of the adoption of numerous innovative technological solutions that optimize fuel consumption. In addition, the vessel, which is equipped with electronically controlled engines, consumes fossil fuel during navigation and electricity during the stop in port, guaranteeing “Zero Emission in Port”.

While at berth, the ship uses the power stored in lithium batteries that are recharged during navigation thanks to shaft generators and 350 square metres of solar panels. The vessel is also equipped with an exhaust gas cleaning system for the reduction of sulphur and particulate emissions.

Like its sister ship Eco Valencia, already operational since mid-November, once Eco Barcelona arrives from China, it will be deployed on the regular line connecting the Italian ports of Livorno and Savona and the Spanish ports of Barcelona and Valencia.

This January, Grimaldi will welcome to its fleet two more vessels, the Grande Texas and the Eco Livorno. The Eco-class vessel, intended for the transport of rolling freight in the Mediterranean, and the Grande Texas, the sixth in a series of seven pure car & truck carrier (PCTC) units ordered from the Chinese shipyard Yangfan located in Zhoushan, will contribute to making the group’s fleet younger and more eco-friendly.

“This new year begins auspiciously for our group: in the month of January alone we will welcome three new ultra-modern ships to our fleet, and more units will be delivered in the coming months,” Emanuele Grimaldi, Managing Director of Grimaldi, commented.

“Thanks to the new, increasingly efficient vessels, also in 2021 we will do our best to offer our customers high quality services, without losing sight of the major goal of eco-sustainability”.