Meriaura’s second EcoCoaster m/v Mirva VG was baptized yesterday in Kokkola, Finland, where the vessel had arrived to load fertilizers of Yara to be carried to Lübeck. Environmentally friendly VG EcoCoasters are 103 meters long and 13.6 meters wide 1A-ice class dry cargo ships, with cargo capacity of 4850 tonnes.
– We are very proud of our new ship type that will meet all known maritime environmental regulations of the future. The first EcoCoaster has been in traffic now for about 2 months and the fuel consumption has been proven to be in line with the test results, that is, almost half compared to conventional cargo ships of same size and type, says Jussi Mälkiä, the President of Meriaura Group.
VG EcoCoaster is a new ship concept developed by Meriaura Group in cooperation with Foreship and Aker Arctic Technology. VG EcoCoasterTM is designed to cause considerably less environmental impact than conventional dry cargo vessels of same type and size. The hull and machinery are optimized to the speed of 10,5 knots in open water conditions. Additional power required for fullfilling Ice Class 1A requirements is achieved by a diesel electric driven booster unit. The ambition is to almost halve the fuel consumption compared to conventional dry cargo vessels of similar type and size, and therefore also cut emissions remarkably. The vessels are equipped with a dual fuel system, where the main engine is suitable for both biofuel and MGO. When run on biofuel the vessel is almost carbon neutral, and has very low sulfur and nitrogen emissions. The biofuel for the vessels, VG Marine EcoFuel, is produced in VG-Shipping’s (part of Meriaura group) own refinery located in Uusikaupunki. The sea trials with biofuel were carried out successfully.
