21.06.2024 | Press release

Naming ceremony for innovative dry goods vessel: “Helios” benefits from having the world’s largest solar module structure on board an inland waterway vessel

Duisburg, 21 June 2024 – The latest vessel operated by Europe’s largest inland waterway shipping company was named at a ceremony in Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, yesterday. The “Helios”, a modern dry goods vessel operated by HGK Shipping, will sail for ADM, one of the world’s leading food and agricultural groups. The design not only includes the HGK Shipping standards for optimising operations in shallow waters and a diesel-electric drive system with “future-fuel-ready” capability, but also the installation of solar panels. The module, which has been inserted to make use of solar power and is larger than any other one found on an inland waterway vessel anywhere in the world, reduces the emissions significantly on the vessel that has been designed precisely for this purpose.

The “Helios”, which is 135 meters long and 11.45 meters wide, will mainly transport rape oilseed to Germany to the ADM business sites there. Vegetable oils are made from these seeds at the oil mills for many different applications. Thanks to the solar panels, which are inserted on the vessel’s hatches and can generate up to 90 megawatt hours of electricity, the vessel acts as its own power station for on-board operations. This saves up to 70 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The diesel-electric drive system also minimises the emissions of greenhouse gases and makes the vessel an important element for “greener” supply chains.

„It’s our goal to establish resilient and sustainable operations in dialogue with our customers from a wide variety of sectors so that they perfectly meet our customers’ requirements."

Steffen Bauer, CEO HGK Shipping GmbH

"We’re setting a spectacular milestone in the long-standing relationship with ADM, which is based on
trust, through the ‘Helios’,” says Steffen Bauer, the CEO of HGK shipping, categorising the naming ceremony in the context of the close working relationship between the shipper and the logistics specialist.

Auf der "Helios" findet sich die weltweit größte Solaranlage, die bislang auf einem Binnenschiff installiert wurde.

Florian Bleikamp, the Managing Director of HGK Dry Shipping, adds his comments in the light of the new arrival to the fleet, “In order to best support our customer’s efforts for greater sustainability in its transport operations, we’re combining various technological measures to reduce CO2 emissions on board the ‘Helios’. The result fills us with a sense of pride. The journeys made by this vessel will make an important contribution for even more environmentally friendly goods traffic between the ARA ports and Central Europe in future.”

“Putting the ‘Helios’ into service is an outstanding example of how HGK Shipping and ADM as a logistics company and supplier can together develop sustainable and innovative transport solutions,” says Max Barghahn, the Head of Transportation EMEA at ADM. “The inland waterway system plays a central role in our supply chains. It makes it possible to supply raw materials to our production sites in an efficient and resource-saving way and helps us reduce CO2 emissions.” Carsten Radau, the Transportation Manager EMEA at ADM, adds, “Innovations and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions are a significant part of our strategy. The ‘Helios‘ is an important step to guarantee reliable supplies for our production sites and, at the same time, minimise our ecological footprint. This cooperation underlines our commitment to using sustainable logistical solutions.”