Five European ferry operators are to receive European Union grants totalling €48 million towards the cost of installing exhaust scrubber systems to meet the 0.1% sulphur emissions limit in force since January.

The awards are among the latest under the multiannual Motorways of the Seas programme, part of the EU’s Connect Europe Facility (CEF), and include €8 million for the Grimaldi group’s Finnlines division, €9 million to DFDS, €8 million to Stena Line, €7 million to Brittany Ferries and €6 million to Scandlines.

The European Commission invited bids for the current phase of CEF financial support last September. From 700 applications, 276 projects were recommended to the CEF Committee in June and confirmed earlier this month, marking a record €13.1 billion round of investment in transport infrastructure.