Wasaline has signed a biogas contract with Gasum and a Fuel EU Maritime pooling agreement with Stena Line, to enable the Baltic ferry company to use only biofuels in the future.
This also makes the Vaasa/Umeå route the first international green shipping corridor to come into operation, following support from the DNV-led Nordic Roadmap.
Wasaline’s climate goal of being carbon neutral was primary set to 2030 but has now been achieved.
The co-operation between Wasaline, Stena Line and Gasum enables the utilisation of high-quality certified biogas in the ropax ‘Aurora Botnia’ daily operation.
‘Aurora Botnia’ is already equipped with batteries, while an extension of the battery capacity of 10.4 MWh was announced earlier this year.
After the conversion to additional battery capacity by AYK energy, Foreship and Wärtsilä in January, 2026, the ropax will have the largest battery capacity fitted on a ferry totalling 12.6 MWh.
“We have attended many seminars where shipping companies are talking about the growing costs with EU Emission Trading system (ETS) and focusing on how to get exceptions from the rules. We have instead focused on the opportunities.
“We have constantly worked with the possibilities to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint, and we have seen the coming rules as an opportunity for our traffic between Finland and Sweden.
“With this unique collaboration with Stena Line and Gasum, Wasaline can achieve carbon neutrality already now as a forerunner for the industry. This also means that all cargo and passengers travelling with Wasaline are sustainable with no additional extra charges for being carbon neutral,” explained Peter Ståhlberg, Wasaline’s Managing Director.
“At DNV we have been actively collaborating with partners, through the Nordic Roadmap, to launch green shipping corridors and we are very pleased to see the Vaasa/Umeå route, operated by Wasaline, recognised as the first international green shipping corridor in operation.
“This milestone directly supports the ambitions of both the Clydebank Declaration and the Ministerial Declaration on zero-emission shipping routes between the Nordic countries,” added Vegar Rype, DNV’s Segment Director, RoRo and Ferries.
“By integrating ‘Aurora Botnia’ into Stena Line’s FuelEU Maritime pool, we gain access to biogas previously unavailable for Stena Line, which enables further emission reductions for the entire pool, lowers fuel costs and strengthens our strategic position as biofuels become increasingly scarce under more stringent regulations,” said Niclas Mårtensson, Stena Line CEO.
“We are very delighted that Wasaline has chosen Gasum to deliver them biogas for the daily operations of ‘Aurora Botnia’, and we are proud to facilitate this collaboration with Stena Line.
“Renewable biogas is one of the already available concrete solutions for reducing emissions in maritime transport. Our goal is to continuously increase biogas availability to our customers in the years ahead,” commented Jacob Granqvist, Vice President, Maritime at Gasum.
It was later announced that BLRT Repair Yards at Tallinn had been chosen to carry out ‘Aurora Botnia’s’ battery retrofit.
