The delivery of the Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G) class vessels is now halfway. Yesterday the Grimaldi Group took delivery of the Eco Malta, the sixth of twelve state-of-the-art units ordered from the Chinese Jinling shipyard located in Nanjing. Thanks to their unique design, GG5G ships are not only the largest ro-ro units in the world for short sea shipping, but also the most eco-friendly, according to the company's release.
Like her five sister vessels already delivered and deployed in the Mediterranean, the Eco Malta flies the Italian flag, 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 short sea ro-ro ships deployed by the Grimaldi Group: in fact, the vessel can carry some 7,800 linear meters of freight, equivalent to around 500 trailers and 180 cars.
However, the increase in capacity does not affect fuel consumption, thanks to the adoption of numerous highly innovative technological solutions that optimize the ship's operational and environmental performance: in fact, at the same speed, the Eco Malta 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.
In addition, during port stays, the Eco Malta is capable of cutting emissions to zero by using the electricity stored in mega lithium batteries with a total power of 5 MWh; these 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.
Once she arrives from China, the Eco Malta will be deployed to further enhance the ro-ro service between Northern Italy (Livorno, Savona) and Southern Spain (Barcelona, Valencia), where her three sister vessels Eco Savona, Eco Valencia and Eco Barcelona are also currently operational.