6.6.2024
Project Enables One of the World’s First Green Maritime Corridors
The innovation project Decatrip, which began in 2022, has been completed. The project enables one of the world’s first green maritime corridors. The project was a collaboration between Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC), Viking Line, and Kempower.
The project’s goal was to develop one of the world’s first green corridors on the maritime route between Turku and Stockholm. The project has investigated the technology needed to modernize Viking Line’s vessels and retrofit them with batteries to reduce fuel consumption and methane emissions.
– Viking Line can now offer green transport services to their customers, effectively creating one of the world’s first green maritime corridors. Today we can offer biofuel to our passengers and freight customers by calculating the emissions attributed to the journey. By opting for biofuel, we’re able to accordingly boost our procurement of 100% renewable biofuel for low-emission travel, says Viking Line’s Communications Director Johanna Boijer-Svahnström.
Each partner had a specific role in the project. Viking Line developed a commercial model based on carbon-neutral maritime transport. RMC analyzed how existing ships could be upgraded to be more environment friendly. Kempower developed retrofittable charging devices for electric vehicles on ships. ÅAU developed a simulation model to optimize battery and electric vehicle charging devices. Additionally, ÅAU analyzed the project’s societal benefits and developed a framework for analyzing similar projects. PBI Research Institute coordinated the project.
– The Decatrip project proved that sustainable shipping using renewable fuels is feasible, but you need to consider the whole business case and involve both technology providers and end customers. By doing so it was possible to create the world’s first Green Maritime Corridor, says Magnus Gustafsson, Research Director at the Laboratory of Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University.
RMC’s research in the project also bore fruit. According to the research, implementing hybrid solutions for the Turku–Stockholm route and similar routes elsewhere in the world is feasible even on a tight schedule.
– The lifespan of ships is long. Therefore, it is important that existing ships can be modernized into hybrids, thereby promoting the green transition in maritime transport. As a result of the project, RMC is fully prepared to carry out similar modernizations on comparable routes. Finland, as a state, is committed to establishing green marine corridors, and this successful project supports that commitment, says RMC’s Deputy CEO Mika Laurilehto.
The project partners will continue to develop the green corridor between Turku and Stockholm. Additionally, the project assessed the scalability potential of the concept for developing other similar corridors. The Decatrip project, which began in 2022, received partial funding from Business Finland. The majority of the funding came from the participating companies.
Further Information:
Dr. Magnus Gustafsson, Research Director at the Laboratory of Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University
+358 40 554 0507
magnus.gustafsson@abo.fi