4 January, Nanjing Jinling Shipyard has delivered ECO BARCELONA, the second of nine 7,800-lanemetre GG5G Class mega short-sea ro-ros for Grimaldi Lines service in the Mediterranean. Three modified versions will be introduced for Grimaldi Group subsidiary Finnlines and are currently in different construction stages.
The 67,311gt ECO BARCELONA will join sister ship ECO VALENCIA on Grimaldi Lines’ multi-stop Italy-Spain MoS, connecting Livorno with Savona, Barcelona and Valencia and will be followed by ECO LIVORNO later this month.
The 238m long and 34m beam vessel class stands out in many ways, incorporating a series of energy-saving features, including a Silverstream Technologies air lubrication system to reduce hull friction, hybrid-ready SOx scrubbers, solar panels and a large 5 MWh battery pack, supplying the hotel load when alongside in port, guaranteeing zero emissions and reducing noise.
Later this month, the Grimaldi Group will also take delivery of GRANDE TEXAS, the sixth in a series of seven deep-sea PCTCs built by Yangfan shipyard in Zhoushan, China. The 199.9m long vessels have a capacity of 7,600 CEUs or 5,400 lanemetres of vehicles and 2,737 CEUs.