AS Tallink Grupp, the listed Estonian cruise ferry company and Meyer Turku Oy have signed a contract for the construction of the LNG powered fast ferry for Tallinn-Helsinki route shuttle operations, Tallink said in a statement.
The two parties signed a letter of intent regarding the project on 11 December last year
The dual fuel ship will be about 212 metres in length with a passenger capacity of 2800. The fast ferry will cost around €230 million and will be built at Meyer Turku shipyard for delivery in the beginning of 2017.
The project will provide approximately 2000 man-years employment for the shipyard. The new environmentally friendly ship uses LNG as fuel and she complies with the new and stricter emission regulations for the ECA areas including the Baltic Sea. The ship, with a gross tonnage of 49 000 and service speed of 27 knots, will bring significant improvement in energy efficiency.
Highly innovative hull form design minimizes the flow resistance and ensures that the ship operates well in ice conditions. Efficient and fast cargo turnaround in ports has been taken into account in the design of the new generation fast ferry.
According to the contract 20% of the total cost will be paid during the construction period and the rest after the delivery of the vessel. AS Tallink Grupp plans to finance 80% of the new ship cost in 2017 by long term loan. The loan terms will be concluded in the near future. According to the strategy Tallink will continue deleveraging during the current and next year. The management aims not to exceed the curent debt level due to the new ship investment.
Janek Stalmeister Stalmeister, CEO of AS Tallink Grupp, says that Tallink wants to develop sea travel and to revolutionise business concepts and this project will be one of the attempts to succeed on that. “We have brought a new understanding to the fast ferry services with the Shuttle concept and now the time is right to take the next step. We have learned from our own experience, listened to our customers and experts and we are now very excited about the end result”, added Stalmeister.
