By
Richard Humphreys |
Silverstream Technologies will use Posidonia International Shipping Exhibition 2026 – a global shipping exhibition and conference held in Athens, Greece, from 1-5 June 2026 – to showcase its first Greek installations for ferry operator Minoan Lines.
Silverstream, which develops air lubrication systems for the shipping industry, will exhibit alongside long-standing Greek partner Franman, a maritime supply and service company, and will share insights from its latest work with Minoan Lines and parent company Grimaldi Group.
The installations form part of a ro-pax newbuild programme at China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyard. The wider order includes four vessels for Grimaldi Lines, two for Minoan Lines and three for Finnlines, making it Silverstream’s largest ro-pax contract to date.
The agreement builds on a partnership between Silverstream and Grimaldi Group that began in 2018 and has seen Silversteam work on 18 Grimaldi-operated vessels, spanning ro-ro, ro-pax and pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) segments. With the latest contract, Silverstream’s total orderbook with Grimaldi rises to 35 vessels across subsidiaries including Grimaldi Lines, Minoan Lines, Finnlines and Atlantic Container Lines.
According to Gilberto Zambrini, sales director at Silverstream Technologies, experience gathered across more than 150 installed vessels and over a decade of operational deployment shows performance validation can be integrated into everyday operations without disrupting schedules. The debate around energy efficiency in the ferry market is shifting away from theoretical potential towards proven operational results, he adds.
“Ferry operators don’t lack energy efficiency technologies,” wrote Zambrini in a blog post. “What they lack are solutions that deliver measurable, repeatable savings in real operations.”
He added the technologies most likely to gain traction in the ro-ro and ro-pax sectors are those that can be “consistently measured, commercially trusted and operationally adaptable” as operators respond to growing commercial and regulatory demands.
Zambrini argues operational flexibility and continuous optimisation are becoming increasingly important in ferry operations, where vessel performance depends heavily on route profiles, schedules and real-world operating conditions.
The company’s presence at Posidonia is expected to focus on how air lubrication technology can support ferry operators seeking practical, verifiable pathways to improved efficiency and decarbonisation.
Learn more about the upcoming Posidonia exhibition and conference.