A new green giant will soon sail in the Mediterranean with the green livery of the Grimaldi Group. The Eco Catania, the fifth of the twelve hybrid ro-ro ships belonging to the innovative Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G) class and ordered from the Jinling shipyard, was delivered today in Nanjing (China).

As recently certified by RINA (the Italian Shipping Registry), if compared to previous generation ro-ro vessels, the units of this class have up to seven times better energy efficiency indexes. For their exceptional environmental performance, GG5G-class ships are the most eco-friendly ro-ro vessels in the world for short-sea shipping, as well as the largest.

Just like her four sister vessels already in service, the Italian-flagged Eco Catania has a length of 238 meters, a beam of 34 meters, a gross tonnage of 67,311 tonnes and a service speed of 20.8 knots. The loading capacity of her seven decks – two of which are hoistable – is twice that of the previous class of ro-ro ships deployed by the Grimaldi Group on short sea routes: in fact, the vessel can carry 7,800 linear meters of rolling freight, equivalent to around 500 trailers and 180 cars. The quarter stern ramp allows the loading of freight units weighing up to 150 tons.

Thanks to the adoption of numerous highly innovative technological solutions, at the same speed the Eco Catania consumes the same amount of fuel compared to the previous generation ro-ro ships, and is therefore able to halve CO2 emissions per unit transported. Emissions are even cut to zero during port stays, when the Eco Catania uses the electricity stored in mega lithium batteries with a total power of 5 MWh, which are recharged during navigation thanks to shaft generators and 350 m2 of solar panels. The vessel is also equipped with state-of-the-art, electronically controlled engines and with an exhaust gas cleaning system for the reduction of sulphur and particulate emissions.

“The Eco Catania is just the most recent of the many tangible proofs of our commitment to accelerate the ecological transition in the transport sector,” said Emanuele Grimaldi, Managing Director of the Neapolitan company. “Sicily deserves and needs reliable and efficient transport services; this is why we have dedicated to one of its main ports our fifth GG5G-class vessel, which will soon be deployed between the island, mainland Italy and Malta”.