A project to enable a carbon-neutral shipping corridor between Turku in Finland and Sweden’s Stockholm by 2027 has been supercharged by a €1.6m ($1.6m) grant from Business Finland.
The Decatrip project involves Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions, ferry operator Viking Line, electric vehicle fast charging systems firm Kempower and the Abo Akademi University.
The aim is to provide a green shipping corridor between the cities for the transport of both cargo and passengers.
The initial steps will be to turn a sea route operated by Viking Line carbon neutral while Rauma Marine develops energy-efficient solutions for operating the vessels together with Kempower for charging electric vehicles on board the ships.
Fuel for the zero-carbon transport is planned to be manufactured locally in Southwest Finland.
Rauma Marine interim chief executive Mika Laurilehto said the project will be scalable for other routes.
“This is important since all EU countries, Finland included, have signed on to build green maritime transport corridors,” he said.
Business Finland funding is directed to Rauma Marine, the university and Kempower while Viking Line receives backing from the Government of Aland as Business Finland cannot fund a company from the area.
Abo Akademi University, which acts as a research partner, will evaluate the societal benefits of the green corridor.
Magnus Gustafsson, research director in industrial management at Abo Akademi said the project is starting from a position that believes a transition to zero emissions will not increase costs significantly.
“Consumers increasingly want the products and services they buy to be sustainable,” Gustafsson added.
