Finnish cruise ship and ferry builder Meyer Turku has installed central heating in its building dock.
Before, oil-burning stoves were used for heating during the colder winter months, but with the introduction of a water-based central heating system, significant reductions in emissions and costs have been achieved, the Meyer Group company said.
The transition to central heating was first explored in late 2023, leading to infrastructure upgrades that enabled the deployment of a movable water-based heating system on board vessels.
Since its implementation in late autumn 2024, this system has replaced about 428 cu m of oil, cutting CO2 emissions by around 1,042 tonnes by early March, 2025.
Beyond environmental benefits, this move also brought substantial cost savings, due to the higher efficiency and lower expense of district heating, compared to oil-based solutions.
Looking ahead, Meyer Turku aims to expand this system throughout the ships under construction, with a long-term goal of eliminating oil-based heating completely.
“The best kind of energy is the one that we never use. In our sustainability works we want to focus on concrete actions, and I believe that this is a great example of that,” Hanna Haaksi, Meyer Turku Head of ESG, explained.
The shipbuilder is also enhancing overall energy efficiency at the shipyard through several other initiatives, such as compressed air optimisation, LED and smart lighting solutions, production facility climate control, ventilation system upgrades and heat recovery enhancements.
Looking to the future, Meyer Turku said it is committed to continuously improve its energy efficiency and sustainability.
With advancing technology, the shipyard said it was embracing innovative solutions to further optimise energy use, reduce environmental impact and strengthen its position in the global shipbuilding market.
In 2022, the NEcOLEAP project brought together industry stakeholders, including Meyer Turku, to build a climate-neutral cruise ship.
Under NEcOLEAP, Meyer Turku and Åbo Akademi University founded the Green Transition Lab (GT Lab), a research and development platform.
The main goal of the GT Lab is to serve as an umbrella for various green transition projects and initiatives, providing a framework that supports and guides the industry towards a more sustainable future.
Meyer Turku aims to become a carbon-neutral shipyard by 2030. Reaching this ambitious goal requires a significant transformation across the entire maritime sector, not only through new technologies but also through systemic changes in the working and production processes, the shipbuilder said.
