Ceremony in port with local authorities and government representatives. The ship, Gnv Virgo, will sail with zero emissions between the Ligurian port and that of Palermo
Grandi Navi Veloci carried out the first liquefied natural gas refueling of a passenger ferry employed on a regular service, Gnv Virgo. The activity, carried out in the port of Genoa together with Axpo Italia and with the support of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea and the Genoa Port Authority, was performed with a ceremony in the presence of the main authorities: Edoardo Rixi, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport; Marco Bucci, President of the Liguria Region; Emilio Robotti, Councillor for Sustainable Mobility of the Municipality of Genoa; Matteo Paroli, President of the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea; Admiral Antonio Ranieri, Maritime Director of Liguria and Commander of the Port of Genoa, as well as several representatives of the territorial shipping industry.
On the occasion of this first refueling, the fuel used is not simple fossil LNG, but bio-LNG, obtained from organic biogas. The bio-LNG used is managed through a mass balance system recognized by the European Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) and certified by the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC).
Thanks to this refueling, the unit will be able to make its first Genoa-Palermo round trip with net greenhouse gas emissions equal to zero, demonstrating that near-zero impact maritime operations are already technically possible today, provided there is availability of alternative fuels like bio-LNG. Although the use of this fuel still depends on its market availability, the initiative fully aligns with the European decarbonization path and anticipates the standards foreseen for 2050.
“This moment represents a real turning point for GNV in the path to reducing the environmental impact of our fleet. The introduction of LNG into our daily operations not only drastically reduces polluting emissions but also allows us to gain concrete experience with the technologies that will guide the future of European maritime transport, confirming our commitment to increasingly sustainable and competitive navigation,” stated the CEO of GNV, Matteo Catani. “We are working,” he continued, “so that the use of bio-LNG can become a structural solution for our operations, while being aware that today the availability of this fuel remains limited and requires significant investments, as well as the development of a supply chain capable of ensuring stable, large-scale supplies. Costs are still high and the quantity of product on the market is not sufficient to cover a growing demand. It is a complex path, which requires the commitment and collaboration of all actors involved in the supply chain.”
The bunkering, conducted according to current safety regulations and the Guidelines for the regulation of Ship-to-Ship bunkering of LNG and bio-LNG in Italian ports published by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in May 2025, allowed for a refueling of 500 cubic meters of bio-LNG, sufficient to guarantee the necessary autonomy to cover the Genoa-Palermo route.
