The GG5G fleet expands further with the Eco Salerno

Another green giant, the thirteenth in the GG5G class, has joined the Grimaldi fleet, making it even more modern and eco-friendly: the new fleet member is the Eco Salerno, which was delivered on 3 December by the Jinling shipyard in Nanjing, China.

One of the largest and most eco-friendly ro-ro vessels in the world for short-sea shipping, the Eco Salerno flies the Italian flag. She has a length of 238 metres, a beam of 34 metres, gross tonnage of 67,311 and a service speed of 20.8 knots. The loading capacity of her seven decks – two of which are hoistable – is twice that of the previous class of short sea ro-ro ships deployed by the Grimaldi Group: in fact, the vessel can carry some 7,800 linear metres of freight, equivalent to around 500 trailers and 180 cars.

Like all her GG5G-class sister ships, the increase in capacity does not affect fuel consumption, thanks to the adoption of numerous highly innovative technological solutions that optimize operational and environmental performance: in fact, at the same speed, the Eco Salerno consumes the same amount of fuel as the previous generation ro-ro ships and is therefore able to halve CO₂ emissions per unit transported.

The new ship is equipped with state-of-the-art, electronically controlled engines and with an exhaust gas cleaning system for the reduction of sulphur and particulate emissions. In addition, while at berth, the Eco Salerno reaches the “Zero emission in port” target: during port operations, she uses the electricity stored in mega lithium batteries with a total power of 5 MWh; these are recharged during navigation thanks to shaft generators and 350 m² of solar panels.

With the addition of the Eco Salerno, the Grimaldi Group’s GG5G fleet is nearly complete: the fourteenth and final Eco ship is currently under construction in China and is expected to be delivered in the coming months.