Zurich-based automation specialist ABB has been contracted to provide Azipod propulsion for Viking Line’s LNG-fueled ferry being built in China.
According to ABB, this will be the first installation of Azipod propulsion in a cruise ferry application.
Additional scope of ABB’s supply includes electrical power generation and distribution systems and bow thruster motors, for the vessel being built by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry.
Scheduled for delivery in 2020, the 13-deck, 63,000 gt vessel, 2,800-passenger capacity ship will connect the Finnish port of Turku, Åland Islands and Stockholm, Sweden.
Like her high-profile, European-built predecessor Viking Grace, the new cruise-ferry will feature LNG engines.
ABB said that the Azipod units are designed and built in Helsinki, adding that the majority of the marine equipment onboard the new vessel will be sourced in Northern Europe.