UK port welcomes more green vessels

Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s HERO class (which stands for High Efficiency RoRo) has two newbuild vessels in its fleet and the latest, Traviata, has called at the Port of Southampton for the first time. The Traviata can hold 8,000 cars and follows her sister vessel, Titus, the first vessel in the HERO class fleet that called in Southampton last summer.

Vessels in this new class have been designed to improve the environmental footprint of the automotive shipping line’s fleet. They feature an efficient exhaust gas cleaning system removing 70% of particulate matter from the air and reducing sulphur content to less than 0.1% of exhaust emissions.

Alastair Welch, ABP Southampton director, said: “It is great news that shipping lines are becoming far more energy efficient. Accelerating the steady progress that has been made in recent years around air quality is a key part of our own long-term commitments to sustainable operations.”

Paul Barker, general manager of port operations at Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions, said: “It is always a pleasure to see a new vessel makes its maiden call and the Traviata sets new standards when it comes to its environmental footprint. We see ourselves as a “good neighbour” to the port and the city and support all actions towards improving air quality.”