Owner's support

Among its most recent projects, Foreship takes special pride in its role in making sure Wasaline’s vision for energy efficiency, flexibility and optimised space availability on board the environmentally friendly ferry, Aurora Botnia, became a reality.

Delivered in 2021 by Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions, this Super 1A Ice Class ferry offers capacity of 1,500 lane metres for trucks and cars and space for 800 passengers to sustain the vital ‘Kvarken Link’ between Vaasa in Finland and Umeå in Sweden. Foreship acted as consultants throughout the ferry development process.

The 24,300 gt vessel is distinguished for its sustainability, with its dual fuel engines running mainly on clean-burning LNG with the option to use biogas and batteries installed to support zero emission operations in-port or peak power load efficiency at sea.

Significant aspects of the ship’s design also contribute strongly to the flexibility of a vessel which needed to maximise available lane metres in support of projected freight growth on a service link supported jointly by city authorities in Vaasa and Umeå.

Despite being the shortest distance ferry connection between Sweden and Finland, the regional link presents special challenges for ship performance. Foreship worked closely with the owner’s team from the outset to deliver the concept design and the initial General Arrangement for the ferry.

Built to SOLAS 2020 and “Stockholm agreement” stability rules, the 150m length Aurora Botnia must also be able to navigate in challenging ice conditions, for example, while the turning circles at both Vaasa and Umeå are restricted. Again, depth variations along the four hour transit include shallow stretches which demand a hull form that is optimised for both efficiency and comfort, and flexibility in machinery performance to maintain schedule.

Foreship also went on to oversee the inquiry specification and machinery concepts, to act as technical advisor in the public procurement process, and to support the shipbuilder through the construction phase. Especially valuable was Foreship’s more than a decade of experience in sizing and designing battery systems for ships.

Aurora Botnia is also a modern ferry that is documented as meeting ‘Clean Design’ notation. In addition the ship adheres to Constructional and Design requirements that include oily tank protection, installation of a 5ppm oily bilge separator and alarm, installation of an approved ballast water treatment system and compliance with Hong Kong Convention for Ship Recycling.