New hybrids on Grimaldi's seas
It was of course Malta that hosted the breaking of the champagne bottle. The christening ceremony for “Eco Malta”, the latest ro-ro vessel delivered to the Grimaldi Group, took place in the port of Valletta. It is the sixth unit of a dozen hybrid sister ships belonging to the GG5G (Grimaldi Green 5th Generation) class and built in the Chinese Jinling shipyard located in Nanjing.
The Archbishop of Malta himself, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, proceeded to bless the “Eco Malta”. The christening climaxed with the cutting of the ribbon by the vessel’s godmother and Malta’s First Lady Miriam Vella. The “Eco Malta” has a transport capacity of over 500 trailers and still halves the carbon emissions of previous generations of ro-ro ships.
At the same time, Finnlines, also part of the Grimaldi Group, saw the delivery of the “Finneco II”. It is second of three ro-ro vessels in the Eco class to be delivered at the China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Jiangsu) in China. The vessel, which is 238 m long with a cargo capacity of 5,800 lane metres to carry 400 trailers per voyage, will enter the shipping company’s Biscay line. (sh)