The Danish international shipping and logistics company DFDS’s new roll-on, roll-off passenger ferry, Aura Seaway, is on its way to Denmark from China, the company recently said.
The 230-meter-long newbuild is the first in a series of two from Chinese shipbuilder Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI).
With 4,500 lane meters and capacity for 600 passengers, the new vessel is by far DFDS’ largest RoPax ferry in terms of cargo capacity and it fulfills the new design standards of EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index). It also fulfills the CO2 emissions per trailer which are more than 20 percent lower than on the vessels currently trading on the intended routes Karlshamn-Klaipeda and Kiel-Klaipeda, DFDS said.
Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) is a leading manufacturer of high-end, heavy-lifting vessels and in a recent interview with CGTN, Vice President William Zhou of GSI spoke about the company’s latest order together with the long journey that brought them there.
Speaking on why Aura Seaway is an important deal, Vice President William Zhou says that ship customers in Europe have almost the highest standard for new building and if they can deliver ships to Europe that means GSI indeed fulfills the highest standards.
Vice President William Zhou notes that China’s accession to the World Trade Organization has been a good chance for companies to enter into the international market. “We have to be the front-runner. Today CSI fulfills all international standards, laws, and regulations. CSI has more than one thousand engineers working day and night to research all operation technologies, including the international supply chain,” the Vice President says.
Speaking about the development of the company and the province of Guangdong, Vice President William Zhou says that CSI is located in the Guangdong-HK-Macau Greater Bay Area which is an area with a lot of subcontractors meaning that most things are very easily accessible. Moreover, it’s an area exporting a lot of goods worldwide. This means that all people and companies in the area are fully engaged with the concept of a market-driven economy.
Regarding the future, President William Zhou says that GSI needs to fund its decarbonization. ‘We have more than 60 ships in our order book and almost 50 percent will be dual-fuel LNG or dual fuel methanol ships”.
