ABB will provide the Azipod propulsion system for the new Viking Line cruise ferry to be built in China. It is the first installation of this kind of propulsion in a cruise-ferry application.
The vessel is to be built by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry (XSI). Additional scope of ABB[ds_preview]’s supply includes electrical power generation and distribution systems and bow thruster motors.
Scheduled for delivery in 2020, the 13-deck, 63,000 gt vessel has a passenger capacity of 2,800 people and will connect the Finnish port of Turku as well as Åland Islands and Stockholm in Sweden. Azipod electrical propulsion is especially suited to the high efficiency and fast turnaround required to navigate the archipelago between Finland and Sweden, ABB stated.
Like her high-profile, European-built predecessor »Viking Grace«, the new cruise-ferry will feature LNG engines. However, while the earlier Viking Line ship includes conventional shaftline propulsion technology, the latest contract calls for the first installation in a cruise-ferry application of twin XO 2100-type Azipod propulsion. Azipod XO units are the propulsion solution of choice in the cruise ship market. Like all Azipod propulsion units, the XO-type features control systems and advanced condition monitoring, and is designed for optimized energy efficiency and maintainability. Classed by DNV-GL the ship will also draw on ABB’s long experience in providing Azipod propulsion systems for ships operating in ice conditions, with the Azipod XO units designed to match the ship’s ice class 1A Super notation.
Viking Line has stated that its contract with XSI includes an option to build a second cruise ferry at the yard.
