Port of Civitavecchia: Cruise Roma, zero emission ship

After the first LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) ship, arrives at Civitavecchia also the first zero-emission ship in the Mediterranean. After the presentation in the port of Civitavecchia, Grimaldi's Cruise Roma is back to  operation on the Civitavecchia-Porto Torres-Barcelona line with a “green” restyling.

Many civil and maritime authorities, as well as clients and partners of the Grimaldi Group attended the event on board the ship, including Mercé Conesa i Pagès, President of the Port Authority of Barcelona, Ernesto Tedesco, Major of Civitavecchia, Vincenzo Leone, Comander of the Maritime Direction of Lazio, Francesco Maria di Majo, President of the Port Authority of the Northern-Central Thyrrenean Sea, Mauro Coletta, General Director of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transportation. There were also Emanuele Grimaldi, shipowner and CEO of the Grimaldi Group.

New features of the Cruise Roma

Already before the enlargement, Cruise Rome, along with its twin Cruise Barcelona, was among the largest ferries in the world for the transport of goods and passengers. Now, thanks to the addition of a 29-meter section, the ferry measures 254 meters and has a gross tonnage of 63,000 tonnes.

Furthermore, the ship can accommodate up to 3,500 passengers, with 499 cabins (for a total of 1,994 beds) and 600 comfortable reclining armchairs. That's not all. The three restaurants are able to accommodate 850 people, 280 more than before, thanks to the addition of a self-service family restaurant. Finally, regarding the vehicles, the 3,000-sq-meter car deck has a capacity of 271 cars, and over 3,700 meters are destined to about 210 heavy goods vehicles.

First zero-emission ship in the Mediterranean

But perhaps the most interesting part concerns the innovative profile, with the objective of reducing the environmental impact and maximizing energy savings. Specifically,  four scrubbers to clean exhaust gases were installed, in order to reduce emissions of sulfur to 0.1% by mass - 5 times better than what the new IMO rules stablish from next January 2020 - and to reduce particulate emissions by 80%. A plant of mega lithium batteries with a capacity of over 5 MWh was also installed to supply the ship during stops in ports without the need to operate the diesel generators, thus achieving the objective promoted by the Grimaldi Group of zero emissions in port.

Emanuele Grimaldi, Group Grimaldi CEO, concludes:

“The 'new' Cruise Rome represents in a tangible way, on the one hand, our continual pursuit of excellence and, on the other hand, our commitment to a more sustainable mobility" "Our Group will continue in this path, with the constant aim to respond to the demand for the transport of goods and passengers with innovation, quality, efficiency and respect for the environment"