Furetank granted state and EU climate investment support for installing shore power connection on a tanker
Furetank has been granted state and EU climate investment support for installing shore power connection on a tanker currently in production, according to the company's release.
The funding will be provided by Klimatklivet, an initiative by the The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and NextGenerationEU. It supports local climate investments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute the greatest possible climate benefit.
The vessel in question is currently being built at the shipyard in China. When delivered in Q1 2024 it will become number nine in the VINGA vessel series designed by Furetank and partners. Furetank has made large investments in developing the tankers to become the globally most environmentally efficient vessels of their size. Installing the shore power connection, with Klimatklivet funding half of the cost, will improve the environmental performance even further.
If ports offer electricity of sufficient capacity stemming from green and clean sources, the climate investment has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 600 tons annually. Another positive effect is an improved working environment on board as noise and vibrations are significantly reduced.
The shore power connection on the vessel will be designed to fit the land-based connection planned in the Port of Gothenburg, which has also received funding from Klimatklivet.
Even if there has been talk of ports offering shore power for a long time, many ports hesitate to make the investment as tankers traffic many different ports and it is hard, not to say impossible, to predict when and how often an equipped vessel will frequent a specific port. At the same time, shipowners hesitate to make the investments as no ports offer the opportunity yet, even though a few have projects underway.
Furetank, based on Donsö in the Gothenburg archipelago, is a Swedish, family-owned shipping company active in tanker shipping since the early 1950’s. Furetank operates 9 owned vessels and is a founding member of the Gothia Tanker Alliance: a market platform for small and intermediate product tankers, operating 40 vessels in European waters.
