ABB will provide a shore connection system for Megastar, a shuttle vessel operated by Estonian operator Tallink
Meyer Turku-built Megastar makes three return journeys between the Estonian and Finnish capitals per day, with an overnight stay in Tallinn where it needs to keep generators running to ensure energy availability for onboard systems.
The LNG-powered passenger and car ferry carries up to 2,800 passengers and 646 cars.
ABB’s scope of supply for the retrofit includes switchboard, shore connection cabinet and a shore connection control board with three separate ship-to-shore communication links to safeguard against loss of connection – redundant wifi, optical fibre and hardwired serial data communication. Megastar also features ABB’s propulsion motors, medium voltage generators and thruster motors. The shore connection will allow the ship to plug into the local grid for overnight layovers in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, covering its energy needs in port by drawing on land-based power.
With commissioning due to take place in January 2022 while the ferry is in operation, Megastar will be the second vessel in the Tallink fleet to feature an ABB-supplied shore connection.
MyStar, a Tallink vessel currently under construction in Rauma Marine Constructions shipyard in Rauma, Finland, will also have the technology fitted upon its delivery in 2022. Both ferries will use the plug-in ABB shore power systems installed at the Old City Harbor, Port of Tallinn in 2020.
Tallink Grupp head of ship management Capt Tarvi-Carlos Tuulik said, “From next year, both shuttle ferry Megastar and our newbuilding MyStar – the most environmentally friendly vessel on the Baltic Sea – will be able to leverage the ABB shoreside infrastructure that already exists at the Port of Tallinn’s Old City Harbour, to cut down harbour emissions and noise during overnight stays.”
ABB Marine & Ports head of service Jyri Jusslin added, “The Baltic Sea is a global hub for sustainable shipping initiatives, and we are honoured to support Tallink on its sustainability journey.”
“Our shore connection solutions comprise onboard and shoreside infrastructure and will allow Tallink to reduce the overall impact of its operations and contribute towards a cleaner port environment in a historical part of Tallinn.”
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