Viking Line is to fit Elomatic’s Elogrids on the ropax ‘Viking XPRS’.
Elogrids are used to reduce a ship’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
They are installed at the entrance of tunnel thrusters to reduce additional resistance from the tunnels in normal operations and improve propeller thrust force when manoeuvring, thus improving the ships manoeuvrability, and increasing safety, as well as comfort by reducing noise and vibration.
The system will reduce ‘Viking XPRS’ fuel consumption by about 2 %, resulting in about 500 kilos of fuel saved per day, means 1,500 kilos less CO2 emissions per day.
‘Viking XPRS’ will be the second Viking Line ship to have Elogrids installed.
Viking Line installed Elogrids on ‘Gabriella’ in the spring of this year. Measurements taken in the ship’s bow restaurant confirmed a 30% vibration reduction and 15% noise reduction in bollard pull testing.
“After the installation of Elogrids, I really feel the difference in lower vibrations on deck during testing. The manoeuvrability of the vessel is clearly improved compared to original. I would not have expected to notice such a significant effect,” said Viking Line’s Capt Tomas Karlgren.
‘Viking XPRS’ operates between Helsinki and Tallinn six times per day. The docking and installation are planned for January, 2022.
Elomatic said that it saw a massive growth potential in energy efficiency investments in operating ships, as global IMO/EEXI/CCI regulations will force shipowners to continuously improve their ships’ efficiency.
