Finnlines exercises options

When Finnlines ordered three ropax newbuildings from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri back in February this year, the agreement included options for two additional vessels which the Finnish shipping company now has decided to exercise.

The original trio will be delivered by summer 2006 and will be the biggest ropax vessels

ever built in the world and the fastest in their size-class. The cargo capacity of each vessel is 4,200 lane metres, their passenger capacity 500 passengers and service speed is 25 knots. The total cost of five vessels will be 500 million euros ($640 million).

Three of the new vessels will be placed on Finnlines’ Finland-Germany route and two on the FinnLink route between Finland and Sweden. Vessels which will be freed from the FinnLink service will be transferred to the rapidly increasing Nordö-Link (Sweden-Germany).

This investment of five vessels will increase Finnlines’ roro/ropax capacity by some 25%.