Liberty Lines Commissions First High-Speed Ferry With mtu Hybrid System From Rolls-Royce
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Rolls-Royce.
These two bullet points act as sub-headings.
- “Vittorio Morace” the world’s first hybrid high-speed ferry to IMO HSC standard with a length of almost 40 metres is fast at sea and emission-free in harbour
- A further 8 Liberty Lines ferries with mtu hybrid systems will enter into service in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia
This picture shows the first of the fleet.
This is the first paragraph.
On 27 June 2024, the Italian shipping company Liberty Lines ceremonially launched the world’s first hybrid fast ferry of this category and size in Trapani, Sicily, powered by an mtu hybrid propulsion system from Rolls-Royce. The 39.5 meter long ship has a capacity of 251 passengers, reaches a speed of over 30 knots and will significantly reduce the impact of ship operations on the environment. The “Vittorio Morace”, built by the Spanish shipyard Astilleros Armon and designed by Incat Crowther, is the world’s first IMO HSC (High-Speed Craft) hybrid fast ferry of this size and has been classified as a “Green Plus” ship by the Italian classification society RINA.
This ferry can truly be considered to be a Ship-of-the-World, with a design from an Australian-headquartered International company and German engines, that has been built in Spain.
This paragraph describes the power-train.
The battery-electric part of the drive is used for locally emission-free driving in the harbour area and as a booster. CO2 emissions are reduced by the particularly efficient mtu Series 4000 diesel engines which can also run on the renewable diesel (HVO, hydrotreated vegetable oil). Its use can lower the CO2 footprint by up to 90 per cent. Furthermore, the comparatively low overall weight of both the engines and the hybrid drive system contributes to high vessel propulsion efficiency, thereby reducing fuel consumption and emissions.
Over the last thirty years, I’ve been to several of the places served by Liberty Lines, so some excellent journeys, will be made faster, quieter and better.
Would I Go Back To Croatia?
The answer has to be Yes!
If I went back for a few days, I think, I’d fly to one city before spending a few days there. I would then travel to another city, spend a few days there before flying home.
As airlines fly to Dubrovnik, Pula, Split, Zagreb and a few other places, there are a lot of choices of route.
My preferred route, might be.
- Fly to Duibrovnik and spend 2-3 days.
- Take the ferry to Split and spend 2-3 days.
- Take the train to Zagreb and spend a day before flying home.
There are certainly lots of possibilities.
My other recommendations would be.
- Plan your trips in Dubrovnik the day before.
- Stay in a hotel with a lift in Dubrovnik.
- Stay in a hotel in Diocletian’s Palace in Split.
- Take the train between Split and Zagreb in First Class in good weather.
- If you’re coeliac like me, take plenty of snacks or eat fruit.
Plan the journey well and you’ll enjoy it.
Gluten Free Food In Croatia
Croatia is not as easy as Poland, as that country and some others in Eastern Europe, who were under Soviet domination, developed skills to cook without flour, as it was expensive.
Croatian cooking seems to use a lot of flour and breadcrumbs, but then Serbia was and probably still is a massive produce of wheat.
But I found no problems in either Split or Dubrovnik, armed as I was with a gluten free restaurant card in Croatian. These are some pictures of the food I ate.
I even found some gluten-free beer from Aberdeen in a vegetarian restaurant called Nishta.
Onward To Ljubljana
This was an uneventful journey in a comfortable train, but the weather seemed even worse, so there was no serious photo opportunities.
At Ljubljana, I changed a few notes into Euros and got a taxi in the rain.
It might have been a memorable journey through beautiful countryside, but with the rain and the dark, I couldn’t tell!
By Ljubljana, I was hungry and as my comfortable hotel had no choice of food I fancied, I walked a few hundred metres in the rain to the city centre and bought some chips and an orange juice from McDonalds.
I don’t think that the journey from Split to Ljubljana had been successful, but then it isn’t supposed to rain in the Balkans, when I’m on holiday!
Leaving Split
My train left Split at 08:27 and arrived in Zagreb at 14:30.
I was a bit worried, that it might be six hours in a scrapyard special, little better than a Pacer, when this train turned up.
The train incidentally is a Bombardier RegioSwinger tilting train.
We left Split virtually on time, with myself the only passenger in First Class.
The Anonymous Widower 