Innovation

During a demonstration in 2024 where all activity between Turku and Stockholm was run on biogas, emissions were reduced by up to 100%. Viking Line is the first business operating with fossil free travel on the Baltic Sea, enabling carbon neutral travel from Finland for the first time. When we look closer at the green corridor initiative that Viking Line contributes to, the company is just one of many actors within the project itself. According to Dani Lindberg, Head of Sustainability at Viking Line, the company has been a driving actor regarding the initiative, but not alone – it requires a collaborative and diplomatic collaboration between stakeholders to make sustainability work. Other partners in the green corridors include the ports of Helsinki, Tallin, Stockholm and Turku.

With Viking Line’s green corridor initiative, sustainable fuel is key. This means that Viking Line is considering solutions for long-term. The transition with biogas, Lindberg emphasises, could be made somewhat easy, because some of Viking Line’s ships were already run on liquefied natural gas, which meant that no bigger investments were required to switch to biogas regarding these ships. At the same time, different routes of Viking Line use different solutions, e.g., the Helsinki-Tallinn route focuses on the development of electrification. Additionally, Lindberg says, it’s of outmost importance that states get more involved so that the goals, not least SDG 7, can be reached.

The set deadline for carbon-neutrality is 2035, which according to Lindberg is reachable. This is of course dependent on multiple different factors, but Viking Line is continuously scrutinising solutions and preparing for long-term resilience. The plannings of an electrical ferry between Helsinki and Tallin is an example of planning ahead when biogas might not suffice forever. From Viking Line’s perspective, their activities will be aligned to contribute to the company’s overall goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Inspiration

Lindberg’s 17 years at Viking Line has resulted in a deep comprehension of the company’s decision-making processes and the versatility of the work, including both external and internal actors. His main source of inspiration was to implement fossil free travel for customers, pioneering with a bookable product on the Baltic Sea. The original idea started from the thought of offering a fossil free transport for people and goods.

“The entire process, everything from decision to implementation to actual bookable product was a thrill to be part of.”

He also highlights that it wasn’t only the feasible product that inspired him, but also introducing a new way of thinking. While the transition from fossil fuels to biogas makes a considerable part of achieving SDG 7 – with Viking Line continuously working on reducing emissions - it also lays the groundwork for market shaping. Thus, although the focal purpose of the innovation was to reduce emissions, Lindberg underlines that their efforts stretch beyond their own operations.

“We want to introduce this way of thinking to the market and to our consumers to have them understand that in the future this will probably become mandatory - and that it's very likely that that costs of travel will go up, while at the same time keeping the cost as low as possible to our customers.”

Overall impact

In 2024, for a week Viking Line ran exclusively on biogas on its vessels starting from Turku. At the time, Viking Line claimed that this reduced their emissions by 90 percent. However, according to Lindberg, that was only the number they were comfortable with publishing and in reality, the reduction was probably closer to 100%.This is because of increased visibility to the supply chain: where the manure used to produce biogas is from, where the gas is produced - everything from acquiring raw material to distribution. The implementation of running on biogas has enabled Viking Line to disregard the total dependence on fossil fuels, offer consumers an environmentally sustainable product, and offer shared value in the market.

“Because we have the technology, we have the infrastructure, we have the partnerships, we can produce emission reduction value at ours. We generate emission savings for other ship owners, and they can buy their share of the value instead of doing it themselves, which leads to reducing the overall emissions from shipping.”

Running exclusively on biogas had the immediate effect of reducing CO₂ emissions to become carbon neutral. From a long-term perspective, Viking Line has pioneered and therefore laid the groundwork for other maritime businesses to finding solutions that work in their operations.

“The whole sector is very much trying to find solutions cutting emissions and still being able to operate and create value. It's the ones who are working now, doing their risk taking and being the early movers that are trying to find the solutions that can be replicated elsewhere.”

Business benefit

As Viking Line is one of the first on the Baltic Sea to embrace a carbon neutral, and even carbon negative transportation service, it leads to companies that want to reduce their carbon footprint to favour them. A feasible example is Felix Ketchup by Orkla Group, that has joined Viking Line’s and Scandic Trans’s green maritime corridor, reducing the CO₂ emissions in the transport by 90 percent from 1512 kg to 102 kg.

Another benefit of the innovation for Viking Line, is risk mitigation. Since there are regulations to follow in maritime operations, such as the FuelEU Maritime Regulation in force as of 2025, Viking Line is mitigating the risk of possible financial penalties. The risk of failing in a reduction of greenhouse gas, that is well-to-wake measured, is minimal, as carbon neutrality is already practicable today.

A third benefit for Viking Line, is the symbiosis between the commercialisation of the innovation and customers. Giving the option to travel with 100 percent renewable fuel attracts customers to be involved. In turn, when customers are paying for the biofuel surcharge, Viking Line can increase their use of biogas even more.

“Apart from already increasing the use of biogas, we separately offer our customers the option of choosing their trip to be on a renewable fuel that then provides additionality, meaning that the amount they pay for we use to increase the amount of renewable fuel in our fuel mix.”

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Social and environmental benefit

As the maritime sector can be viewed as quite traditional and even conservative to change, Viking Line has begun the process of distancing themselves from fossil fuels. In the last 15 years they’ve reduced CO₂ emissions by almost one third. The use of biogas doesn’t emit any particulate matter, which helps contribute to cleaner air. Viking Line is also enabling a guarantee of a 100 percent fossil free travel on their routes for both people and products, a fossil free guarantee that is still affordable. Viking Line’s work aligns with SDG 7 and SDG 12, i.e., by increasing the demand for renewable fuel, decreasing costs and sustainable management of natural resources. 

Because Viking Line has the infrastructure to run fossil free, they are also able to compensate for other maritime actors who aren't able to meet the criteria of the FuelEU Maritime Regulations. As Viking Line purchases biogas to a higher emissions reduction value than the current criteria, their supplier is able to sell their "credits" to other actors that lack the necessary infrastructure to reduce their emissions at this time.This contributes to the overall goals by the European Commission to reduce emissions at sea and support the environment.

Interview

Dani Lindberg, Head of Sustainability & DPO