Finnlines said it is continuing capacity expansion efforts in response to growing volumes. The Baltic Sea ro-ro and passenger vessels operator has purchased MS Europalink as reports further progress in its vessel lengthening program.
Finnlines Plc’s fully owned Swedish subsidiary, Rederi Aktiebolaget Nordö-Link, has purchased a Star class passenger-freight vessel, MS Europalink, from the Grimaldi Group in accordance with an earlier signed purchase agreement.
MS Europalink will be fitted with exhaust gas scrubbers in mid-March and will sail under Swedish flag, starting on Finnlines’ Malmö–Travemünde route. The vessel will also undergo refurbishment in the public areas. This modern ro-pax vessel was built at Fincantieri Shipyard in Italy in 2007 and has a capacity of 4,215 lane meters and 554 passengers.
In addition, Finnlines said its lengthening program is progressing according to plan, and now the second vessel, MS Finnwave, is 30 meters longer. The capacity of the vessel is now 4,192 lane meters, which means that the lengthening added 1,000 lane meters. MS Finnwave has returned to the normal traffic on Uusikaupunki/Turku–Travemünde route. By the end of May, a further two vessels, MS Finnsun and MS Finnsky, will be lengthened. Finnlines has an option to lengthen two additional vessels, which have not yet been decided.
Tom Pippingsköld, CFO of Finnlines, said, “We respond to the growing demand by increasing our vessels’ cargo and passenger capacity. This enables us to utilize our bigger tonnage more efficiently and, also serve our customers even better. In addition to improving the customer service, we continue investing in sustainable development – by increasing our energy efficiency and reducing emissions per transported ton.”