Finnish Shipping Company Wasaline to Expand Battery Capacity of Hybrid Ferry Aurora Botnia

Finnish shipping company Wasaline has decided to expand the onboard battery capacity of its dual-fuel hybrid ferry Aurora Botnia to further reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The company plans to increase Aurora Botnia’s battery capacity by an additional 10.4 MWh in autumn 2025 with batteries from AYK Energy.

The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are scheduled to be operational in January 2026 and are expected to reduce GHG emissions by 23%, according to Wasaline.

Wasaline’s Aurora Botnia, constructed in 2021 at Rauma Marine Constructions, aims to achieve fully carbon-neutral operations by 2030.

The hybrid vessel is equipped with dual-fuel engines that run on LNG and biogas, 2.2 MWh batteries, and electric-powered Azimuth thrusters. The new battery upgrade is projected to further decrease fossil energy use by approximately 10,000 MWh annually.

Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director of Wasaline, stated: “We are continuously working to establish the Vaasa–Umeå route as a green shipping corridor. There’s a growing demand for environmentally friendly transport, and intermodal cargo transportation from Europe is increasing yearly.

“This means the entire transport chain can be carbon-neutral today. Expanding our battery capacity is a major step that allows us to make our vessel even more sustainable and allocate more capacity to batteries and biogas. Our collaboration with Finland’s and the region’s energy clusters makes innovative solutions like this possible, and we are proud to be a forerunner in the industry.”

Chris Kruger, Founder and President at AYK Energy, added that the project represents the largest battery retrofit on a vessel to date.