Last night in the port of Palermo it was christened
GNV
Virgo, GNV's new ro-pax ship and the first unit
of the MSC group company powered by liquefied natural gas.
In addition, the ship is the first Italian ferry in a long
mileage that uses this fuel which, together with the other
innovations at its disposal, will reduce the
CO2 emissions of around 50% per transportable unit
compared to previous generation units.
GNV Virgo,
In fact, it integrates the most advanced environmental solutions:
predisposition to cold ironing, heat recovery technologies and
all the necessary equipment to meet IMO Tier requirements
III and EEDI Phase II.
He emphasized that "the baptism of GNV Virgo marks
a fundamental step in the path of renewal and
decarbonization of the fleet", Pierfrancesco Vago,
executive chairman of GNV as well as MSC Cruises, highlighted
which "thanks to the recent refuelling of bio-LNG, has already
sailed with net zero emissions, more than
Twenty years are the European objectives. This result - he specified - is
The result of an effective collaboration between GNV, the MSC Group and
the entire institutional and port system. A team effort that
has made possible an unprecedented investment plan and which
confirms how decisive cooperation between the public and private sectors is
to accelerate the energy transition of shipping".
With a gross tonnage of about 52,300 tons, 218 meters of
length, 29.60 meters wide and a maximum speed of
25 knots, GNV Virgo has over 420 cabins, can
accommodate 1,785 passengers and offers a cargo capacity of
2,770 linear meters.
As part of the fleet renewal plan of the
shipping company, after GNV Virgo which was
placed on the Genoa-Palermo route, in a few months it will enter into
service the new GNV Aurora, also powered by LNG,
while by 2030 the company will take delivery of other
four new LNG units. The renewal program of the
fleet, for a total of eight new units, involves a
investment of over 1.2 billion euros that will bring in
five years to a significant increase (+60%) in tonnage
of the company's fleet.
- Via Raffaele Paolucci 17r/19r - 16129 Genoa - ITALY
