High-speed ferry gets green shore connection

A shore connection from ABB will service the Viking XPRS, built in 2008, which deploys on the 2.5-hour route across the Baltic Sea between Tallinn, Estonia, and Helsinki, Finland twice a day, and save the operator considerable amounts of fuel.

“ABB’s shore connection is the latest initiative in our ongoing sustainability program,” said Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Viking Line.

“Installing a shore connection system on board Viking XPRS and having the shore power available in the Port of Tallinn will make a significant contribution to clean air within the port and its surroundings.”

Cleaner air

Shore connection technology is especially valued at city ports such as Tallinn because it can have a significant impact on local air quality.

Earlier this year, Port of Tallinn installed the latest ABB shore power systems on five of its piers in Old City Harbour as part of the first shore power project in Estonia, enabling vessels with shore power technology to draw on land-based power in port.

ABB’s full scope of supply for Viking XPRS included a shore connection control board with three separate ship-shore communication links, ensuring fail-safe connections at all times.

It also provided the medium-voltage switchgear, an 11kV-400V transformer, a circuit breaker bypass arrangement for drydock connection and a low-voltage main switchboard breaker. The delivery meets the new IEC-standard for shore connections, which demand higher levels of safety and environmental performance than ever before at the shipside.

Commissioning was executed during the vessel’s normal operation.