For the second time in a row, Finnish maritime passengers have ranked Viking Line as the most sustainable shipping company in service between Finland and Sweden, according to the findings from the Passenger Transport Ferries 2023 survey. Nearly half of those who completed the survey will choose even more climate-smart transport modes in the future, and two thirds are prepared to pay to reduce their environmental impact.

Viking Line’s sustainability index for service between Finland and Sweden is 71.1, while the industry average is 70.1. The index measures customers’ views and perceptions of the actions of shipping companies in terms of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.

Viking Line received the best marks in all parts of the sustainability index: economic, social and environmental sustainability. The index is part of EPSI Rating’s broad Passenger Transport Survey 2023, for which 928 Finnish maritime passengers* were interviewed. The other shipping companies examined in service between Finland and Sweden were FinnLines and Silja Line.

“We are proud of our ranking, because we have carried out focused environmental work since the 1980s and also take into consideration the other aspects of sustainability in all our operations. It is very encouraging that, according to the survey, our passengers have the greatest expectations in terms of sustainable development – and they are also the most satisfied with our communication on sustainability.  In order to make sustainable choices, people need knowledge, and we want to give our passengers more and more of this every year,” says Dani Lindberg, sustainability manager at Viking Line.

Of the people who responded to the survey, 51 per cent indicate that they take the climate and environmental impact of their travel into account. Some 46 per cent intend to choose transport modes that are even more climate-smart in the future, while 31 per cent plan to reduce their travel. However, only 3 per cent of respondents plan to replace physical meetings with digital ones.

“One of our biggest environmental initiatives this year is that we offer our passengers and will soon offer our cargo customers the chance to purchase biofuel to offset the fuel used on their trip. When a passenger booking a trip chooses biofuel, greenhouse gas emissions from their journey are reduced by as much as 90 per cent compared to the other fuels that our vessels use,” notes Dani Lindberg.

“A full 68 per cent of those who completed the EPSI survey indicated that they are prepared to pay for reduced emissions. On a cruise between Turku and Stockholm, the biogas supplement per passenger is scarcely five euros, so we think this new option will satisfy our customers’ wishes really well.”

Other areas explored in the Passenger Transport 2023 survey are customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In service between Finland and Sweden, Viking Line has both the most satisfied and the most loyal customers.

*EPSI Rating’s Passenger Transport 2023 survey examined in particular the customer experience and customer satisfaction for different maritime transport companies. A total of  928 Finnish individuals who took at least one cruise or one scheduled sailing from Finland over the past 12 months were surveyed. The interviews were conducted during the period May 3–9, 2023. The survey was also conducted in Sweden and Estonia.

Viking Line’s environmental journey

1980s

• Viking Line stops using toxic paint for the bottoms of its vessels, and divers start using brushes to clean the vessel bottoms.

• Recycling waste on board the vessels starts.

• First land-based power supply is placed in service in Stockholm. A land-based power supply is now also used in Helsinki, Mariehamn and Tallinn.

1990s

• The switch to fuel with low sulphur content reduces sulphur dioxide emissions.

• The wastewater on vessels starts being pumped ashore for treatment.

• Cold seawater starts to be used to cool the air on board the vessels, while the air on board is heated using energy recovered from flue gases.

2000s

• Viking Line is the first shipping company in the world to use Humid Air Motor technology to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. By using seawater for cooling, the combustion temperature of the vessel’s engines is lowered.

• Nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced on Viking Cinderella when catalytic converters are installed on the vessel.

• Recycling of organic waste starts on board Viking XPRS.

2010s

• The new vessel Viking Grace uses 100% sulphur-free liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel. The climate-smart vessel reduces nitrogen emissions by 85% and greenhouse gas emissions by 15% compared to a vessel that runs on oil. Particulate matter emissions are cut to practically zero.

• Viking Grace tests a rotor sail and thus becomes the world’s first hybrid vessel to use both LNG and wind power. The vessel is equipped with an energy recovery system that converts surplus heat into electricity.

2020s

• Current stabilizers are installed on Viking Gabriella and Viking XPRS, which reduces fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

• The new vessel Viking Glory is placed in service in March 2022. The vessel’s engines enable optimal fuel utilization and produce no sulphur emissions.

• Thanks to Viking Glory’s Azipod rudder propeller system, the vessel can be smoothly manoeuvred in port, which saves time and fuel. The shape of the vessel’s hull reduces the formation of waves as well as fuel consumption.

• Viking Glory is also a pioneer in utilizing waste cooling from LNG. The energy recovery system generates up to 40% of the electricity the vessel needs for passenger functions.

• On board Viking Glory, the lights are automatically turned off in empty cabins and the ventilation and heating are automatically lowered.

• Viking Line starts offering passengers on Viking Glory and Viking Grace the option of purchasing biogas to carbon-offset their travel and thus reduce their own emissions by up to 90%.