With the arrival of the first Ro-Ro ship in the Port's operating schedule, a new era begins for unaccompanied cargo services and the strengthening of the Port's transport work with its inclusion in the Patras - Igoumenitsa - Bari - Venice line.
This is the ECO MALTA ship, of the Grimaldi Group, Italian flag, a hybrid-ecological Ro-Ro (Zero Emission In Port) from the shipbuilding program "Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G)".
According to the Italian classification society RINA, this series of ships is seven times more energy efficient than existing ships, thus leaving a minimal footprint on the environment.
ECO MALTA is 238 meters long and 34 meters wide and has a capacity of 67.311 tons. It develops a service speed of 20,8 knots. The carrying capacity of the seven decks is double compared to the previous series of Ro-Ro ships of the Grimaldi Group. It can transport vehicles of 7.800 linear meters, which corresponds to 500 trailers and 150 cars. With the same fuel consumption as the ships of the previous Ro-Ro series and with modern technology, gas emissions are greatly reduced.
While in port, the ship has zero CO2 emissions because it uses energy from lithium batteries that are recharged during the voyage, thanks to 350 square meters of solar panels.
The ship's engines are top-of-the-line, electronically controlled with exhaust gas cleaning systems.
