The Finnish government increased the export credit and guarantee authorisations of Finnvera plc, the country’s state owned export credit finance provider, to help Meyer Turku shipyard to win the two ship Icon class order of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd (RCCL) that was unveiled yesterday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment said in a statement.

Olli Rehn, Minister of Economic Affairs and Employment, emphasised that financing is a key factor in projects of this kind.

“The Government has raised the Finnvera export guarantee authorisations by €10 billion, to €27 billion, which is important for cruise ship exports, and the export credit financing authorisations have been tripled to €22 billion. These increases have been a significant factor in obtaining the orders for Finland,” he said in the statement.

The 200,000 gross ton Icon class vessels will use LNG as fuel and they will be fitted with advanced fuel cell technology, which is a very energy efficient and clean way of making electricity. The price of the ships has not been disclosed.