Finnish ferry operator Wasaline has signed a biogas contract with Gasum and a Fuel EU Maritime pooling agreement with Stena Line which enables Wasaline to use only biofuels in the future.
According to Wasaline, this will make the Vaasa – Umeå route the first international green shipping corridor in operation, following support from the DNV-led Nordic Roadmap. Wasaline’s climate goal of being carbon neutral was initially set to 2030 but has been achieved already.
The cooperation between Wasaline, Stena Line and Gasum is enabling the use of high-quality certified biogas in the daily operation of ferry Aurora Botnia. Aurora Botnia is already equipped with batteries and an extension of the battery capacity of 10.4 MWh was announced earlier in 2025. After the conversion with additional battery capacity, to be managed jointly by AYK energy, Foreship and Wärtsilä in January 2026, Aurora Botnia will have the biggest battery capacity on a ro-pax, with a total of 12.6 MWh.
Peter Ståhlberg, MD Wasaline, said: “We have attended many seminars where shipping companies are talking about the growing costs with EU Emission Trading system (ETS) and focusing on how to get exceptions from the rules. We have instead focused on the opportunities. We have constantly worked with the possibilities to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint, and we have seen the coming rules as an opportunity for our traffic between Finland and Sweden. With this unique collaboration with Stena Line and Gasum, Wasaline can achieve carbon neutrality already now as a forerunner for the industry. This also means that all cargo and passengers travelling with Wasaline are sustainable with no additional extra charges for being carbon neutral.”
Vegar Rype, DNV Segment Director ro-ro and ferries, added: “At DNV we have been actively collaborating with partners, through the Nordic Roadmap, to launch green shipping corridors and we are very pleased to see the Vaasa – Umeå route, operated by Wasaline, recognised as the first international green shipping corridor in operation. This milestone directly supports the ambitions of both the Clydebank Declaration and the Ministerial Declaration on zero-emission shipping routes between the Nordic countries.”
Stena Line CEO Niclas Mårtensson said: “By integrating Aurora Botnia into Stena Line’s FuelEU Maritime pool, we gain access to biogas previously unavailable for Stena Line which enables further emission reductions for the entire pool, lowers fuel costs and strengthens our strategic position as biofuels become increasingly scarce under more stringent regulations.”
Jacob Granqvist, VP Maritime, Gasum, concluded: “We are very delighted that Wasaline has chosen Gasum to deliver them biogas for the daily operations of Aurora Botnia, and we are proud to facilitate this collaboration with Stena Line. Renewable biogas is one of the already available concrete solutions for reducing emissions in maritime transport. Our goal is to continuously increase biogas availability to our customers in the years ahead.”
Wasaline hybrid ferry ‘Aurora Botnia’ (source: Wasaline)
