Wasaline – A dash better

Wasaline is the most eco-friendly and trustworthy shipping company of the Baltic Sea. We provide cruise experiences that are greater than our size and we are the smartest cargo solution for Kvarken’s logistics.

We take care of our customers, our staff and the environment. Flexibility is one of our strengths.

The Association for Finnish Work has awarded the Key flag symbol to Aurora Botnia as a recognition of a product made in Finland.

Wasaline’s environmental policy and practice

Environmental policy

The environmental policy of Wasaline entails the entire organization and our way of working. The company transports both passengers and goods across the Kvarken strait on a daily basis. This is the northernmost all year round ferry crossing in the world. The Wasaline route cuts across the Unesco world natural heritage site and the waters are rich in natural species.

The company takes great responsibility for keeping the sea clean for future generations along the Ostrobothnian coast in Finland and the Västerbotten coast in Sweden. The municipalities on both sides of the Kvarken strait have set clear environmental targets: the municipality of Umeå with the local Agenda 2030 programme, and the city of Vaasa’s ambition to become climate neutral by 2035. Wasaline has set its own targets for environmental contribution to complement these strategies.

The ferry, Aurora Botnia, is a modern ship with 2 cargo decks. It accommodates around 800 passengers and has a freight capacity of 1,500 lane meters for trucks and cars. The vessel is designed to be environmentally friendly, with a machinery running on a dual fuel and battery solution. The main source of fuel is liquefied natural gas, LNG. The vessel will also be able to utilise biogas.

Everything from the design of the ferry to passenger flow and experience is taking the environmental aspects into account. Here are some examples:

Flexible use of passenger areas with intelligent ventilation and lightning
Smart Harbors and automatic registering of cars
Smart cabins
Environmentally friendly materials

Environmental practice

New environmentally certified ferry – Wasaline has ordered a new state-of-the-art ferry that challenges the standard of the marine sector. The ferry has an environmental certification and will run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), enabling even more sustainable transports. The new ferry is designed to meet the requirements of today and tomorrow.

Technology – Wasaline has made several technical upgrades to reduce fuel consumption, which results in reduced emissions and energy consumption. This initiative has continued since the ferry began its operations in 2013.

The shipping company continuously optimises the use of energy through equipment control and replacement of inefficient components in all areas of operation. Among other things, frequency converters have been installed on the engine fans and automated climate control throughout the ship, induction stoves have been installed in the galley and the light fixtures onboard are currently being replaced by LEDs.

Stating a positive example – These actions and initiatives are a part of making the shipping company a matter of pride for the entire region. We feel that our environmental practice is a part of something bigger and hope to inspire other companies in the region to revise their environmental policy, for a more sustainable world.

Plastic – The amount of plastic and microplastics found in the environment pose a global threat to which we are all obliged to respond. Wasaline has taken a huge step towards becoming a more environment-friendly company by making the ferry operations free of plastic as far as possible. This is a continuous process where actions have been taken to reduce the use of plastic.

In our efforts to stop using disposable plastic onboard, Wasaline has stopped using plastic wrappers in the café, stopped handing out balloons and replaced plastic bags with other alternatives, such as paper, fabric and biodegradable bags. We no longer sell make-up containing micropIastics and the latest initiative is to replace clothes made from fleece fabric with more sustainable materials.

Wasaline also requires its subcontractors to reduce their use of plastic in order to minimise the risk of it ending up in the ocean.

Waste management and sanitation – Wasaline has sorted it waste for a long time, but has recently improved its waste management system and taken measures to encourage passengers to sort their waste. Wasaline has also revised the vacuum system to reduce water consumption and the running time of the pumps. For instance, we have installed waterless urinals.