Viking Glory hailed as flagship for sustainability

Waste heat from the vessel’s engines is converted into electricity, while waste cold from LNG is used for cooling. Its hull minimizes water resistance, and an intelligent automated control system turns off air conditioning in empty cabins.

As a result, Viking Glory has 66% more cargo capacity than Amorella but is expected to produce less than three quarters of the emissions of its predecessor.

Viking Glory has Wärtsilä’s 31DF dual-fuel engines to run on LNG. The vessel will also use biogas or synthetic fuels produced using renewable energy when these are available in the future.

ABB’s azipod rotor propeller system makes it is easier to turn in port, and manoeuvring the vessel takes less time and fuel. By using the Azipod system, it was possible to plan Viking Glory so that resistance when the vessel is operating is about 8% less than for a vessel with a traditional propeller. The hull design reduces the formation of waves as well as fuel consumption.

Viking Glory has been equipped with an energy recovery system from Climeon that converts waste heat from its engines into electricity. The system is expected to generate 40% of the electricity needed for the vessel’s passenger functions.

The new vessel is also a pioneer in making use of cold waste from LNG. Cold waste is used in refrigeration facilities and cold stores.

“Efficiency, environmental requirements and the future were all taken into consideration in an entirely new way when Viking Glory was planned. Our flagship has been built as a tribute to our roots – that is, the Baltic Sea and the nature in its beautiful archipelagos. Most of our sustainability work involves different solutions that passengers don’t notice, like the vessel’s technical solutions, which have seen rapid advances. Ten years ago, Grace was the world’s most environmentally-friendly passenger ship and now Glory, which is bigger, will use about 10% less fuel,” says Viking Line’s sustainability manager, Dani Lindberg.

“Glory’s Azipod propellers and other technical innovations save considerable time in port, which gives us leeway in terms of keeping to the timetable. Every minute saved in port results in fewer emissions during the sea journey. We also do daily route planning, which means we modify our journey based on weather conditions and timetables.”

The company is developing its other vessels so that they are more energy-efficient throughout their life cycle: the steering and air conditioning systems are being updated, new technology is installed each year, and even the hull can be modified to reduce resistance. Divers regularly scrub the bottoms of the vessels to reduce water resistance and fuel consumption. As a result, no toxic bottom paints are needed.

“The vessels’ energy consumption and emissions will continue to be reduced going forward. The development of new fossil-free fuels and energy storage is proceeding at full speed, and we are closely monitoring these advances. We will be taking part in various trials and projects, for instance, testing new clean tech innovations and clean fuels,” said Lindberg.