zoomImage provided by ABB; Image courtesy: Viking Line

Technology company ABB has won its first marine automation system contract for a cruise ferry in China.

The deal was signed after the technology package for Chinese-built Viking Line vessel has been extended to include the ABB Ability™ System 800xA, which integrates power, propulsion and vessel management systems into one platform.

Adding marine automation to the technology package would improve project management, as well as result in greater vessel efficiency and digitalization, according to ABB.

“Extending our arrangement with ABB to include the full automation package made perfect sense, given that ABB has the dedicated local automation team and access to global engineering resources that will ensure both responsiveness and delivery of a vessel benefiting from the highest levels of systems integration,” Jan Hanses, President and CEO, Viking Line.

The 63,000 gross ton LNG-fueled cruise ferry, which is being built at Xiamen Shipbuilding, will have space for 2,800-passengers when it joins services connecting the Finnish port of Turku, the Åland Islands and Stockholm, Sweden, in 2020.

As well as the ABB electrical power generation, distribution systems and bow thruster motors, the vessel will be the first cruise ferry in the world to feature twin XO 2100-type Azipod® units.

“As ABB’s first marine automation contract for a cruise ferry in China, this is a breakthrough in a crucial territory where our marine business continues to increase, but it also confirms that our ‘Electric. Digital. Connected’ strategy is gaining traction in a growing number of sectors and markets,” Juha Koskela, Managing Director, ABB Marine & Ports, said.