Smyril Line announced it has signed a contract with the CIMC Raffles shipyard in China for the construction of two new vehicle carrier vessels.
The ro-ro ships will each be 190 meters in length with 3,300 lane meters for trailers. They have been designed in close cooperation with naval architects Knud E. Hansen for year-round seaworthiness in the North Atlantic.
Smyril Line plans to place the vessels into service on its current network, operating a route between Europe, the Faroe Islands and Iceland from 2026.
Compared to the company’s existing fleet, the newbuilds will emit significantly less per transported ton. The ships will be equipped with a battery system and the possibility for shore power, which means that port operations can be conducted without emissions. The ships will also be prepared to sail on e-methanol.
Jens Meinhard Rasmussen, CEO of Smyril Line said, “We will also transport much larger quantities of cargo with less energy consumption than we do now. The energy saving will be at least 60%. This is an important step for us to achieve our goals towards net-zero emissions by 2050, while we can offer our customers an even better service.”