Spanish company Trasmed GLE S.L., a part of the logistics firm Grimaldi Group, has selected Finland-based Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment to install the open-loop exhaust gas abatement technology on two of its roll-on/roll-off passenger ferries.
As disclosed, Trasmed GLE S.L. ordered four of Wärtsilä’s I-SOx open-loop scrubbers with exhaust de-plume systems for the RoPax vessels Volcan del Teide and Ciudad de Granada which operate in the Mediterranean Sea. Each vessel will have four scrubbers installed, one on each main engine.
The scrubbers are said to be flexible to enable MARPOL Annex VI sulphur cap compliance, by scrubbing 3.5% HFO down to the 0.5% limit. They are also expected to enable Trasmed GLE’s vessels to operate at a lower 0.1% sulphur limit to meet both worldwide and Emission Control Areas (ECA) regulations.
According to the company, the installations will take place in 2022 marking the first time that Wärtsilä has conducted a RoPax scrubber retrofit in the region.
“Not only does this announcement build on our long relationship with Grimaldi and the Group’s subsidiary companies, but it also confirms the wider trend we are seeing across the shipping industry that shipowners are investing in quality, flexible and lifecycle-based technologies for their vessels, either at the newbuild stage or as retrofits” , said Sigurd Jenssen , director at Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment.
Ettore Morace, managing director at Trasmed GLE S.L., added: “ All the Trasmed fleet will have the scrubbers installed before next summer 2022. This will be a huge effort from our technical department and confirms our full commitment to be an ‘environmentally friendly’ shipping company” .