Wasaline will run its ferry Aurora Botnia fully on biofuels through new deals with Gasum and Stena Line. The Vaasa–Umeå route now operates as the first green shipping corridor, with Wasaline reaching carbon neutrality five years ahead of schedule.
The Vaasa-Umeå route as first international green shipping corridor was created with support from the DNV-led Nordic Roadmap. The cooperation between Wasaline, Stena Line and Gasum is enabling the usage of high-quality certified biogas in the daily operation of the ferry Aurora Botnia. To this end, a FuelEU Maritime pooling agreement was signed with Stena Line.
Aurora Botnia is already equipped with batteries and an extension of the battery capacity of 10.4 MWh was announced earlier this year. After the conversion with additional battery capacity together with AYK energy, Foreship and Wärtsilä in January 2026, Aurora Botnia will have the biggest battery capacity on a ROPAX, with a total of 12.6 MWh.
Also read: Dual chemistry battery upgrade for ferry Aurora Botnia
Using today’s options
‘We have attended many seminars where shipping companies are talking about the growing costs with the EU Emission Trading system (ETS) and focusing on how to get exceptions from the rules. We have instead focused on the opportunities,’ says Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director of Wasaline. ‘
He adds: ‘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.’
Also read: More batteries and methanol considered for ferry Aurora Botnia
Green corridor and FuelEU Maritime pool
Vegar Rype, Segment Director RoRo and Ferries at DNV: ‘At DNV we have been actively collaborating with partners, through the Nordic Roadmap, to launch Green Shipping Corridors and we are very pleased to see the Vaasa-Umeå route, operated by Wasaline, recognised as the first international green shipping corridor in operation. This milestone directly supports the ambitions of both the Clydebank Declaration and the Ministerial Declaration on zero-emission shipping routes between the Nordic countries.’
‘By integrating Aurora Botnia into Stena Line’s FuelEU Maritime pool, we gain access to biogas previously unavailable for Stena Line, which enables further emission reductions for the entire pool, lowers fuel costs and strengthens our strategic position as biofuels become increasingly scarce under more stringent regulations,’ says Niclas Mårtensson CEO of Stena Line.
‘Renewable biogas is one of the already available concrete solutions for reducing emissions in maritime transport. Our goal is to continuously increase biogas availability to our customers in the years ahead,’ conlcudes Jacob Granqvist, Vice President, Maritime at Gasum.
Picture: The ferry Aurora Botnia will run on renewable biogas (photo by Wasaline).
