Stena Line sails towards a leadership in sustainable shipping

AI assisted vessels to save fuel, Battery power propulsion, huge reduction of single use plastic on board, continued low level of crew and passenger accidents and an increased rate of female leaders. That are some of the highlights in leading ferry company Stena Lines sustainability review for 2018.

Stena Line has now released its third sustainability review “A Sustainable Journey” describing initiatives, improvements and challenges in the operations from the sustainability perspective as well as results on their ambitious sustainability targets. The review also highlights the main initiatives the company has worked on during the past year.  

Stena Line CEO Niclas Mårtensson said: “With size comes responsibility and our ambition is to improve our operations every year to become a leader in sustainable shipping. The past year we have had exiting developments pairing artificial intelligence with the know-how of our experienced employees on-board as well as increased focus on electrification. We have continued our efforts within crew and passenger safety as well as launched a new initiative for more diversity in our operations. This is a very exciting time for our company and I’m proud that Stena Line continues help shape the industry for European short-sea transportation.”

Stena Lines sustainability strategy is divided into five focus areas tied to the UN Global Goals for sustainable development with ambitious targets set in each focus area. They are Equality & inclusion, Good health & wellbeing, Clean energy, Responsible consumption, Life below water.

“We have more than 5,500 employees who all make big and small contributions towards our sustainability targets and it’s great to see that we are making good progress in many areas while maintaining a safe and efficient operation. Our industry has a big challenge with our fossil dependence and our total carbon emissions increased in line with freight volumes so we have more to do in this area. The initiatives started within electrification are relatively new to our industry but extremely important going forward as we gradually move to low-carbon operations,” said Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability

Highlights in 2018

Equality & inclusion

•  Equality & inclusion: A new focus area was introduced in 2018 with a target of increasing the number of female leaders to 30 % and with a zero vision of harassment.
•  Gender diversity improved: An increase of female leaders from 16 % to 19 % in 2018.
•  Partnerships: Stena Line signed the UK Chamber of Shipping pledge “Women in Maritime” and introduced a long-term partnership with EuroPride.

Good health & wellbeing

•  Safety first: Safety was again a top focus and the company could show a continued low level of crew & passenger accidents as well as a 99,8% technical reliability towards scheduled departures.
•  Safety awards: Nine vessels were recognised for their outstanding achievement in safety and received the Jones F. Devlin Award from Chamber of Shipping of America.

Clean energy

•  AI assisted vessels save fuel: During 2018 Stena Line equipped the first vessel, Stena Scandinavica on the Gothenburg-Kiel route, with artificial intelligence (AI) technology to support the captains and officers to save fuel and lower emissions. The project has been successful and when launched fleet wide, the AI assistant will make an important contribution to Stena Lines target to reduce fuel consumption by 2,5 % per nautical mile annually.
•  Electromobility for shipping: A first battery hybrid project was launched with a 1 MWh battery installation on-board Stena Jutlandica on the Gothenburg-Frederikshavn route. 
•  Shore power connections: The company connected its 14th ship to green shore side electricity in the Port of Oslo. In total 37 % of the fleet, and 20 % of the terminals, are now equipped with shore power connections and save 14,000 mt of CO2 per year.  

Responsible consumption

•  Reduced single use plastic: Stena Line has a target to reduce all single use plastic on board. In 2018 the company made huge improvements within this area and reduced the use of single use plastics on board with close to 90% in some business regions.
•  Increased amount of recycling: Another target is to improve the amount of recycled waste. The recycling in ports increased and a total of 77 % of total waste is now material recycled or energy recycled.

Life below water

•  Doubled use of ecolabel chemicals: Stena Line relies on the oceans for its existence and all operations shall have a minimal impact on marine life. During 2017/2018 Stena Line doubled the use of ecolabel detergents in passenger and kitchen areas to 60 %.
•  Innovative antifouling: Stena Line is testing several initiatives for cleaner antifouling such as ultrasonic transducers, silicon based paint and the innovative bio-repellent Selektope which was painted on new-building Stena Estrid during 2018.

The full review can be found under: www.stenaline.com/sustainability 

For more information please contact Jesper Waltersson, Group Media & Public Relations Manager, +46 704 85 85 32 or Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability, +46 704 85 51 88..

Stena Line is one of Europe's leading ferry companies with 37 vessels and 20 routes in Northern Europe. Stena Line is an important part of the European logistics network and develops new intermodal freight solutions by combining transport by rail, road and sea. Stena Line also plays an important role for tourism in Europe with its extensive passenger operations. The company is family-owned, was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Gothenburg. Stena Line is part of the Stena AB Group, which has about 15 000 employees and an annual turnover of around 36,5 billion SEK. For more information please visit www.stenaline.com