ForestWave’s fourth eco-friendly multipurpose vessel emerges from Dutch yard

Dutch Ferus Smit shipyard recently launched the fourth unit in a series of six eco-friendly, fuel-efficient 12,500 dwt general cargo ships being built for compatriot maritime and offshore logistics player ForestWave Navigation.

As disclosed, the newbuilding—christened FWN Adriatic—was splashed on May 23 in the city of Leer, Germany, which is near the border with the Netherlands. The unit, along with its sister vessels, is said to be an ‘upgrade’ of the Ecobox and Ecobox DP series that the yard has been constructing over the years.

According to Ferus Smit, the new Ecobox XL design was developed to fit extra-long cargo, such as wind turbine blades, while keeping the vessel’s ‘versatility’ as a general cargo ship. The design modifications were done to ‘boost’ environmental performance and accomplish a greater reduction in the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI).

To this end, the original Ecobox hull was reportedly lengthened by over 21 meters, while the box-shaped cargo hold stretches more than 100 meters on the tank top and 112 meters above the movable tweendeck.

As divulged, fuel consumption on board the 143.78-meter-long FWN Adriatic and the rest of the series is expected to be slashed further owing to a new organic rankine cycle (ORC) waste heat recovery system, fitted into the units’ propulsion setup. Per Ferus Smit, the system works in sync with a 3,300 kW main engine. The fuel system itself is compatible with biofuel blends.

As a result of its specifications, the ForestWave Navigation’s latest addition, which has been classed by the French classification society Bureau Veritas (BV), is expected to service its routes while producing minimal harmful pollutant emissions.

At present, ForestWave Navigation, which is headquartered in the city of Groningen, is understood to operate around 29 ships with a combined capacity of 275,000 dwt. The company has built its fleet via new construction orders as well as charter agreements, with a focus on environmentally friendly units that would help the company achieve its climate neutrality goals.

In August 2022, for example, it was revealed that the Dutch shipowner would charter six 6,700 dwt ÈTA 6700 general cargo vessels.

The units were part of a project between the Netherlands-based ÈTA Shipping and Lithuania’s marine engineering specialist Western Baltic Engineering. The two had embarked on a mission to engineer the shortsea units with a vision of enabling a gradual shift to green propulsion.

What is more, in July 2024, ForestWave commissioned compatriot maritime technology company Value Maritime (VM) to retrofit two 10,600 dwt general cargo vessels with VM’s emission-reducing Filtree exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) and integrated carbon capture unit.

On the other hand, Ferus Smit has also been busy with the deliveries of plug-in hybrid dry cargo ships to Swedish maritime transportation player Erik Thun. Just weeks before marking the handover ceremony with ForestWave, the Dutch yard bid adieu to Erik Thun’s fourth Lake Vanern Max series newbuild (out of six), the 5,100 dwt 89-meter long Tidan.

As informed, the first ship from the series, Lidan, was delivered on October 2, 2024, while the second one, Spiken, was added to Erik Thun’s roster at the very beginning of December of that same year.