Wasaline has successfully completed sea trials following a major battery upgrade on board Aurora Botnia, which now features the largest battery capacity ever installed on a RoPax vessel worldwide.
The vessel’s battery capacity has been expanded from 2.2 MWh to an impressive 12.6 MWh. The upgraded system has been approved for operation in traffic by DNV.
The new batteries, supplied by marine battery manufacturer AYK Energy, can store nearly five times more energy than the previous battery packs, significantly enhancing the vessel’s energy efficiency and environmental performance.
The upgrade was started in normal operations and finalized at BLRT Repair Yards in Finland. Wärtsilä completed the system integration within a tight schedule, ensuring minimal operational disruption. The Danfoss drives were configured for the added batteries and updated to their latest versions, equipping Aurora Botnia with state-of-the-art drive technology. Foreship did the evaluation and basic Design.
Jonas Teir, Technical Director of Wasaline, says:
“This has been an interesting but also highly demanding project, particularly given the limited timeframe. The entire propulsion system was upgraded during docking, and battery optimization continued while the vessel was back in operation. Our partners did a tremendous job”.
“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all above partners involved, to Rescue Team Finland for excellent on site assistance with everything from fire watches to installation work, to Tallinn Shipyard for steel and pipe works and a special thanks to the entire crew especially the technical department onboard for their professionalism and extreme adoptability that is needed to execute this kind of a project during normal operations.”
