ON FRIDAY 13 MAY 2022, Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles delivered the first of two record-breaking ships to its owner WALLENIUS SOL. Botnia Enabler is now sailing under the Swedish flag.

“We’re incredibly pleased and proud to welcome Botnia Enabler to our fleet. The delays we suffered along the way are no secret, so finally seeing her leave port on her maiden voyage is a fantastic feeling. She’s been eagerly awaited by us and our customers,” says Ragnar Johansson, Managing Director, WALLENIUS SOL.

The ship has a length of 242 metres, a beam of 35.2 metres and the highest Finnish-Swedish ice class to cope with the harsh winter conditions in the Gulf of Bothnia. In addition to its classic RoRo function, Botnia Enabler also has a large capacity for containers.

Increased capacity

The ship will be loading cargo in two Chinese ports before the she heads home to Europe and the Gulf of Bothnia. According to calculations, Botnia Enabler will call at its first European port, Antwerp, at the end of June. Once the ship leaves the continent, she will enter regular traffic on her Zeebrugge-Antwerp-Kokkola-Skellefteå-Oulu-Kemi-Travemünde route. Thus the container carrying capacity on the route will increase by almost 300 per cent from 336 TEU to 1000 TEU compared to the ship currently serving the route, and RoRo capacity will increase by almost 100 per cent.

“This vessel will play an important role for our customers, who need more capacity, and for us and our ability to reduce our environmental and climate impact,” says Ragnar Johansson.

Benefits for the climate

Botnia Enabler is significantly more energy efficient per transported unit than older vessels, and according to IVL’s calculations, she will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 63 per cent, but also NOx (96 per cent), SOx (99 per cent) and particulates (99 per cent).

Her sister ship, Baltic Enabler, is scheduled for delivery later this summer.

Wallenius Marine, in collaboration with Knud E Hansen, has led the ship design and newbuilding project of both ships. Wallenius Marine will also provide ship management and technical management on the new vessels.