Polferries opts for Italian ro-pax design

Polferries’ parent, the Polish Baltic Shipping Company(PZB), has entered into a ten year charter agreement with the shipbuilder’s owning group, under a deal which includes an option to purchase after six years.

The Varsovia is the latest iteration of the Visentini ro-ro/ro-pax template, first applied in the European short-sea trades during the mid-1990s.

As one of the last remaining European bastions of large ferry construction, privately-owned Visentini has maintained international competitiveness by efficiently building a design type that has been continuously refined and adapted in conjunction with the originator, Trieste-based consultancy NAOS Ship & Boat Design, over a production run spanning some 30 years.

The Visentini class is distinguished by cost-effectiveness and a comparatively high service speed capability in laden condition, typically using a twin engine, twin-screw propulsion solution. Hydrodynamic efficiency in the current generation has been enhanced by the development of the FlexBow 2.0 design form. 

Destined for the Swinoujscie/Ystad route linking Poland with the Scandinavian market via southern Sweden, Varsovia is a lengthened and modified version of the Visentini-built A.Galeotta, which made her debut with French operator Corsica Linea out of Marseilles in January 2023.

The latest vessel is fitted out with 920 passenger berths and the ro-ro capacity embraces some 2,875 lane metres for freight on three decks, plus two deck levels dedicated to around 200 cars. Vehicular access and egress is solely by way of a stern ramp across the main deck threshold.

The primary power plant comprises two MaK M43-series medium-speed, dual-fuel engines, rated at 11,580kW apiece. Originally manufactured as 12-cylinder M43C diesels, MaK engineers subsequently converted the machinery so as to render an LNG dual-fuel capability. The LNG fuel tank is to be installed at a later date by the shipowner.  

Since the Caterpillar Group terminated production of its MaK brand at the end of 2022, to concentrate on service and after-sales support, the engines in the Varsovia rank among the last from the German factories. While the MaK M43C figures in previous ro-pax tonnage out of Visentini’s yard, Corsica Linea’s A.Galeotta is powered by two Wartsila 12-cylinder 50DF dual-fuel engines.

Propulsive effect in the new ship is delivered by two controllable pitch propellers, with 2,000kW shaft generators interposed on the drivelines. The arrangements are expected to enable the vessel to make about 24 knots at 85% maximum continuous engine output, while meeting the onboard electrical load at sea. Electrical power will otherwise be derived from a substantial auxiliary outfit of two 2,000kW diesel gensets and one 1,600kW dual-fuel aggregate. Manoeuvring will be accomplished using two 1,800kW bow tunnel thrusters.   

The River Po channel between the Rovigo yard and the Adriatic has been deepened so as to allow navigation of the larger design class encapsulated by the Varsovia. Final interventions and painting of the newbuild will be carried out in drydock at Trieste, with the ship expected to begin her regular run by July.

Polferries’ fleet of five vessels connect Poland and Sweden daily on the Gdansk/Nynashamn and Swinoujscie/Ystad routes. As a further stage of capacity modernisation, one of three 196m ro-pax vessels ordered by Polskie Promy from Remontowa Shipbuilding’s Gdansk yard will be to PZB’s account for deployment by Polferries. Deliveries of the trio are scheduled in 2025, 2026 and 2027. 

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