Minister Kyllönen inaugurated first bio-oil powered ship

Minister of Transport Merja Kyllönen inaugurated Gaiamare Ltd's new multipurpose deck cargo vessel at a ceremony held in Turku on 5 June. The ship, with its length of 105 metres and width of 19 metres, became the world's largest vessel designed to use environmentally friendly bio-oils as fuel.

"This is a significant step forward in the history of Finnish maritime transport. We now have to invest in cleaner maritime transport, and this new bio-oil powered ship meets all existing and foreseeable emission requirements both at EU level and internationally," Minister Kyllönen said at the inauguration ceremony.

Gaiamare's cargo vessel is powered by low-carbon engines designed to use bio-oils as fuel. In the planning process, effort was made to reduce the ship’s adverse effects on the environment, to improve maritime safety and to boost energy-efficiency.