.File Photo of Grimaldi carrier; Grande Nigeria
Italian shipping company Grimaldi Group has announced the construction of six new multipurpose roll-on/roll-off vessels at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea.
The ships are part of an inaugural class called “G5”, building on the previous generation “G4” vessel built by Hyundai Mipo and delivered to Grimaldi in 2014 and 2015. The vessels will have a length of 250 meters, a beam of 38 meters and a deadweight of 45.684 tonnes. With 4,700 linear meters of rolling freight, the vessels will have capacity of 2,500 CEU (Car Equivalent Unit) and 2,000 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit), which is equal in CEU capacity but double the TEU capacity of the G4 vessels.
The G5 ships will also have increase energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact, with both the main engine and the auxiliary diesel generators meeting NOx levels imposed by the Tier III regulation. An integrated propulsion system between rudder and propeller will minimize vortex losses and, consequently, optimize prolusion and reduce fuel consumption. The ships will also be equipped for shoreside plug-in power, providing an alternative to the consumption of fossil fuels while in port, where available.
“Furthermore, the electrical consumption of on-board machinery (pumps, fans, etc.) will be reduced thanks to the installation of variable frequency drive devices, while the application of innovative low friction paints will reduce the hull resistance, increasing the efficiency of the units. Finally, the ships will be equipped with hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems for the abatement of sulphur and particulate emissions,” Grimaldi said in statement.
Combined, the technologies incorporated into the G5 ships will reduce CO2 emissions per tonne transported by up to 43% compared to other Grimaldi multipurpose ro/ro ships, the Neapolitan group says.
“The new series of ro/ro multipurpose G5-class ships was designed to respond even more efficiently to the demand for quality transport services on deep sea routes, reconciling the needs related to international freight traffic with that of protecting the environment”, declared Gianluca Grimaldi, President of Grimaldi Group SpA. “We are thus taking a further, important step within a path undertaken for years now with the aim of operating on all our main routes with an increasingly young, modern and eco-sustainable fleet”.
The six ships have planned deliveries starting in early 2023 through 2024, at which point they will replace aging tonnage on Grimaldi’s North Europe and West Africa, particularly to Lagos (Nigeria), service.
The agreement is the latest between Grimaldi and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, having previously worked together on the G3, G4, and Eurocargo class ro/ro ships.
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