Grimaldi awards scrubber contract to Wärtsilä for Trasmed GLE roros

Trasmed GLE S.L. has selected four of Wärtsilä’s I-SOx open loop scrubbers with exhaust de-plume systems for the RoPax vessels Volcan del Teide and Ciudad de Granada, which operate in the Mediterranean Sea. Each vessel will have four scrubbers installed, one on each main engine. 

The order was booked in November 2021 and the installations will take place in 2022. The order represents the first time that Wärtsilä has received an order to carry out a RoPax scrubber retrofit in the region. 

Trasmed GLE S.L. was formed in June 2021 when Grupo Armas Trasmediterránea agreed to transfer a number of vessels to multinational logistics company Grimaldi Group in a EUR160 million deal. Trasmed GLE S.L. serves routes connecting Barcelona and Valencia on the Spanish mainland with the Balearic islands of Menorca, Majorca and Ibiza.

The scrubbers will enable MARPOL Annex VI sulphur cap compliance, by scrubbing 3.5% HFO down to the 0.5% limit. Wärtsilä’s scrubbers are flexible and will permit Trasmed GLE’s vessels to operate at a lower 0.1% sulphur limit to meet both worldwide and ECA regulations if necessary.

Sigurd Jenssen, Director at Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment, said: “We are delighted to see Trasmed GLE S.L. joining the ranks of maritime leaders committed to meeting environmental regulations and reducing shipping’s impact on the planet. Not only does this announcement build on our long relationship with Grimaldi and the Group’s subsidiary companies, but it also confirms the wider trend we are seeing across the shipping industry that shipowners are investing in quality, flexible and lifecycle-based technologies for their vessels, either at the newbuild stage or as retrofits.”