First ice class ConRo delivered to Wallenius Sol

Believed to be the world’s largest ice-rated multi-fuel ConRo vessel, the new 242m ship, with a beam of 35.2m, has been built to the highest Finnish-Swedish ice class to cope with harsh winters in the Gulf of Bothnia, between Finland and Sweden.

Botnia Enabler was launched in July 2021, and has undergone two sea trials on different fuels – the first on low-sulphur ]gas oil (marine gas oil) and the seond on liquefied natural gas. She was built with 130 blocks welded together

The vessel is due to arrive at Antwerp at the end of June, when it will enter regular traffic on the Zeebrugge-Travemunde route.

It means that container carrying traffic on the route will increase by 200%, owner Wallenius Sol says, from 336 TEU to 1,000TEU.

RoRo capacity will increase by 100%.

Botnia Enabler is also being touted as very environmentally friendly and far more energy efficient than older vessels.

”According to IVL’s calculations, she will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 63&, but also NOx (96%), SOx(99%) and particulates (99%),” says the company.

The second ship, Baltic Enabler, is scheduled for delivery this summer.