IGINIA, the hybrid ferry of RFI Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Gruppo FS Italiane) built by the temporary association of companies between T. Mariotti and San Giorgio del Porto shipyards, has just arrived back in the Strait of Messina where she will resume service in the next few days.
The ship has returned from Genoa, after undergoing hybridisation work and the required warranty checks between March and July this year.
IGINIA was originally delivered to RFI with some equipment prepared for future hybridisation. Equipped with a photovoltaic system, the ship has been green-oriented since its first voyage.
The conversion to hybrid propulsion included the installation on each propulsion unit of an electric motor powered via a converter by battery strings, sized to allow manoeuvres to berth and depart ports in electric mode, without the aid of endothermic propulsion motors.
The battery strings are charged by the same electric motors, used in axis generator mode, during navigation and/or alternatively by the auxiliary generators or in port via the shore connection.
