Vessels of the future will use wind and sun

In the future, Viking Line vessel will perhaps be equipped with sails and solar panels, supplementing more efficient engines which in turn will be powered by more environmentally friendly fuels. And the future is closer than one might think, since planning of the new generation of Viking Line vessels for service between Finland and Sweden has already begun.
At a seminar for financial journalists this past week, Nils-Erik Eklund, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Viking Line, provided a small glimpse of how the company’s vessels might look in the future.

This invention will be headed by Technical Director Tony Öhman. He has throughout his time at Viking Line performed extensive technical, operational and environmental development works.

“Since the early 1980s, we have been working with various solutions for our vessels to reduce oil consumption, thereby reducing our bunker expenses and minimising emissions. The next generation of vessels will pay even more attention to these aspects,” Mr Öhman explains.

”I think we can be proud of many things we have done over the years. For example, starting to use low-sulphur fuel nearly twenty years ago and installing humid air motor (HAM) exhaust purification on the Mariella, the only such vessel in the world. The Viking XPRS is the only vessel serving the Helsinki-Tallinn route that has catalytic cleaning systems on all engines. We pump all black and grey water ashore. We have extremely knowledgeable and ambitious people in our organisation, each of whom has contributed to these developments in his or her own way.” Tony Öhman says.

One current example of fresh thinking is the German cargo vessel MS Beluga SkySails, which was completed earlier this year – the world’s first container vessel equipped with a kite that pulls the vessel forward. The vessel uses a computer-controlled kite − a 160 square metre sail − in addition to its regular engine. Kite technology will make it possible to save about 15 per cent of today’s bunker expenses. There are also vessels powered by other types of sails. An additional 5-10 per cent can be saved by using other technology. In Australia, for example, there is a solar-powered vessel in commercial traffic. Development work related to solar technology is moving ahead rapidly all over the world.

“With our vision of a new environmentally friendly vessel, we want to encourage all ‘Vikings’ to think in new ways. Using all the brain power that exists in our company, we can do something that is good for all those affected − including customers, employees and the environment. And oil will not become cheap again,” Tony Öhman says.
For further information, please contact:
Technical Director Tony Öhman, Viking Line Abp, Phone: +358-18-27751