The Chinese Jinling shipyard has handed over the ro-ro to the Neapolitan company, the fifth in a series of 12 hybrid vessels of the Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G) class.

The GT 67,311 Eco Catania, flying the Italian flag, is 238 m-long and 34 m-wide, offering 7,800 lane metres of cargo capacity spread across seven decks, of which two are hoistable. The stern quarter ramp allows the loading of freight units weighing up to 150t.

According to the Grimaldi Group, Eco Catania consumes the same amount of fuel as the previous generation ro-ro ships, while its loading capacity is twice as big. As such, it's possible to halve CO2 emissions per unit transported.

In addition, the vessel draws power stored in lithium batteries (5 MWh) while in port. The battery packs are recharged during navigation thanks to shaft generators and 350 m2 of solar panels.

Eco Catania has an exhaust gas cleaning system for the reduction of sulphur emissions.

"Eco Catania is just the most recent of the many tangible proofs of our commitment to accelerate the ecological transition in the transport sector. Sicily deserves and needs reliable and efficient transport services; this is why we have dedicated to one of its main ports our fifth GG5G-class vessel, which will soon be deployed between the island, mainland Italy and Malta," Emanuele Grimaldi, the Group's Managing Director, commented.

Photo: Grimaldi Group