The twelfth hybrid ro-ro ship of the Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G) class was delivered from the Chinese Jinling shipyard in Nanjing. Her name is Eco Italia and, like her eleven sister vessels already deployed in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, she is one of the largest and most eco-friendly ro-ro units in the world for short sea shipping.
The Eco Italia 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 Italia 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.
The Eco Italia is equipped with state-of-the-art, electronically controlled engines and with an exhaust gas cleaning system for the reduction of sulphur and particulate emissions. In addition, while at berth, the ship reaches the “Zero emission in port” target: during port operations, the Eco Italia uses 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.
Upon her arrival in Italy, scheduled for the end of November, the Eco Italia will be deployed in the motorways of the sea network operated by the Grimaldi Group in the Western Mediterranean.