Finnish shipping company Viking Line implemented several sustainability measures in 2023. Thanks to them, it was named ‘the most sustainable company’ in service between Finland and Sweden for the second time in a row.
In June 2023, Viking Line began offering passengers on the Turku route the option of purchasing renewable biofuel to offset their emissions. By choosing biofuel, passengers can reduce emissions from their journey by up to 90 percent.
“The introduction of biofuel is one example of our long-term climate work and long-term investments. From the very start, we made sure that Viking Glory, which was completed in 2021, and Viking Grace, which was completed in 2013, were built with the technological readiness to use biogas and synthetic fuels produced from renewable energy. There is now enough biogas being produced in the market so that we can start to use this fuel together with liquefied natural gas for these two climate-smart vessels. This is a very important phase in our more than forty-year sustainability journey,” Dani Lindberg , Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager, explained.
In addition, Viking Line started to use green electricity in every port where its vessels are connected to a land-based power supply. Using electricity produced from renewable energy forms such as wind power, solar energy and biogas reduces the company’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 780 tonnes. A big reduction in emissions was also achieved with the sale of the oldest vessel in the fleet, M/S Rosella, in January 2023.
Viking Line’s climate work is driven by both passenger demands and more stringent climate standards for the maritime transport industry. In the future, shipping companies will be governed by the EU’s Fit for 55 green transition program and its emissions trading system (EU ETS) as well as the International Maritime Organization’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Earlier this year, the company inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ports of Stockholm and the Port of Turku to create a green maritime corridor that would be 100% carbon-neutral by 2035.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, but our sustainability journey is already taking us towards completely fossil-free maritime transport. In the years ahead, green maritime corridors, which we are developing with our partners between Turku and Stockholm as well as between Helsinki and Tallinn, will play a major role. Going forward, strategic partnerships and providing sustainable alternatives to different customer groups will be increasingly important in our sustainability work,” Lindberg added.
For the second time in a row, Finnish passengers named Viking Line the most sustainable maritime transport company sailing between Finland and Sweden in EPSI Rating’s 2023 customer satisfaction survey for the Finnish maritime transport industry. For the second straight year, the company also topped the sustainability index for passenger transport among companies included in the survey.