Wasaline to use only bio-LNG on Baltic Sea shipping route

August 13 ------ Finnish shipping company Wasaline has signed agreements with Nordic energy player Gasum and Swedish ferry operator Stena Line to use only liquified biogas (bio-LNG) on its Baltic Sea route, aiming for a carbon-neutral shipping operation.

Wasaline signed a biogas contract with Gasum and a FuelEU Maritime pooling agreement with Stena Line, enabling the use of biofuels only in the daily operation of Aurora Botnia, a hybrid ferry that transports passengers and freight across the Baltic Sea between the port of Vaasa in Finland and the port of Umeå in Sweden.

Aurora Botnia can run on batteries, LNG, and bio-LNG, with an extension of the battery capacity of 10.4 MWh announced earlier this year. After the conversion with additional battery capacity in partnership with AYK Energy, Foreship, and Wärtsilä in January 2026, the vessel will have the biggest battery capacity on a RoPax, with a total of 12.6 MWh. Wasaline’s agreements with Gasum and Stena Line are also expected to make the Vaasa – Umeå route the first international green shipping corridor in operation, following support from the DNV-led Nordic Roadmap.

The company noted that its climate goal of being carbon neutral was primarily set for 2030, but has already been achieved. “We have attended many seminars where shipping companies are talking about the growing costs with EU Emission Trading system (ETS) and focusing on how to get exceptions from the rules. We have instead focused on the opportunities,” said Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director of Wasaline.

“We have constantly worked with the possibilities to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint, and we have seen the coming rules as an opportunity for our traffic between Finland and Sweden. With this unique collaboration with Stena Line and Gasum, Wasaline can achieve carbon neutrality already now as a forerunner for the industry. This also means that all cargo and passengers travelling with Wasaline are sustainable with no additional extra charges for being carbon neutral.”

In 2024, Wasaline and Gasum joined forces to build the first large-scale commercial FuelEU Maritime pooling service, providing a way for conventional fuel vessels to save on compliance costs as the regulation entered into force in January 2025.

Source: offshore-energy.biz