Hybrid ferry services boost safety in Sweden

A Swedish research project is combining climate transition with improved disaster preparedness in the Baltic Sea by equipping large freight and passenger ferries with new technologies, including wind propulsion.

How can the RoPax vessels (RoPax = roll-on/roll-off for freight and passenger transport) of the future become more climate-friendly whilst simultaneously strengthening their role in Sweden’s disaster preparedness? Gotland Tech Development, RISE and Wärtsilä are set to investigate this question as part of NORDAN, a three-year collaborative research project partly funded by the Swedish Energy Agency.

Energy-efficient and ready

NORDAN will investigate future vessel concepts for RoPax transport in Swedish and Nordic waters. The project will run until September 2029 and has a budget of SEK 7.3 million, of which the Swedish Energy Agency is contributing SEK 4.4 million.
The agency believes that the project can help make RoPax vessels more energy-efficient, which will benefit various Swedish and European stakeholders.
“We want to give ourselves the scope to be ambitious and thoroughly explore the design possibilities for new concepts that combine a low carbon footprint with improved preparedness in RoPax shipping in Swedish waters,” says Mikael Razola, head of Gotland Tech Development.

Combination with wind propulsion

Within NORDAN, Gotlandsbolaget defines the operational requirements and contributes its experience in operating ferry services across the Baltic Sea, whilst RISE tests and evaluates the ideas, including at the SSPA Maritime Centre’s globally unique test facilities.
By combining wind power with new propulsion technology, the researchers hope to develop concepts that drastically reduce the energy consumption of a RoPax vessel.
“We are looking at the key components of the ship: the hull shape, the propulsion technology, new fuels and energy carriers,” says Sofia Werner, a naval architect and researcher in the field of marine hydrodynamics at RISE.

Disaster preparedness

What sets NORDAN apart from previous climate projects is that it also takes into account Sweden’s security situation in the Baltic Sea. A ship design must be climate-friendly whilst also being capable of maintaining the supply of goods to society during a crisis – a so-called dual-use solution.
“Previously, we focused mainly on climate performance. Now, the choice of fuels and energy carriers is also becoming a matter of resilience,” says Sofia Werner.

Results in three years’ time

Within three years, the project will have developed a proposal for a ship design with calculated climate performance. This could serve as a source of knowledge and a starting point for actual ship orders, both for the project partners and for the wider shipping sector.
The NORDAN team secured funding in competition with other applicants, and work officially began on 1 September.
“NORDAN offers us the opportunity to expand our network and explore areas that lie a little further into the future. It is also very worthwhile to collaborate with RISE, which is one of the world’s leading organisations in this field,” says Mikael Razola.

Source: Shippax.
Image: Port of Stockholm (Creative Commons)

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