BERG delivers the world's first GreenForge shafts to the maritime market

BERG Propulsion is offering the shipping industry its first opportunity to select propeller shafts made using the climate neutral GreenForge® production process, in a maritime sector that is highly exposed to anticipated carbon pricing.

Three Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) ro-ro vessels due in service from 2026 to carry aircraft parts across the Atlantic are already set to take advantage of sustainable wind power, courtesy of their rotor sails, while their hybrid propulsion, power management and control technology is coming from BERG.
In addition, BERG will supply propeller shafts made from recycled scrap steel, using the GreenForge® production – a process developed by Björneborg Steel which draws on renewable electricity sources and makes pioneering use at scale of the fossil-free biogas rDME or bio-propane instead of propane. The process is audited as cutting 95% of the CO2 generated in conventional production, with other measures mitigating the remaining emissions to ensure full climate neutrality.

Björneborg Steel indicates that producing the six propeller shafts for LDA using the GreenForge® process will result in a reduction of 160 tonnes of CO2 compared to the conventional method.

Kajsa de Mello, Operations Director, BERG Propulsion said: “BERG is delighted to work with Sweden’s cutting-edge steel industry and pioneer the use of maritime GreenForge®. We are proud to be the first supplier in the world to offer customers propeller shafts using this process. It is fitting that the first sea-going application should be low emission ships.”

The world’s first climate neutral propeller shaft for LDA is due delivery from Björneborg Steel to the BERG plant in Hönö, Sweden in March, with five more to arrive before the end of June 2025.

Based on demand, Björneborg aims to shift its full production to the GreenForge® process in 2027.