Finnish yard completes cruise ferry conversion

Cabins and public spaces onboard Silja Serenade were redesigned and refurbished, giving a more modern look to the shopping, restaurants and leisure areas. The cabin interiors were renovated by Huuhka & BLRT Interior.

Apart from refurbishment of the public spaces, the ferry underwent dock repairs in order to align vessel’s mechanisms and devices with latest DNV class requirements. The scope of works comprised repair of sea valves and connections, work on piping, bow thruster, propellers and propeller shafts and reshimming, repair of metal components in ballast tanks with subsequent painting of tanks with corrosion-resistant coating, and repair of both port and starboard steering gear.

While in the dry dock, corroded welds were repaired, and the underwater hull was cleaned and coated with abrasion resistant ice coating. To maximise passenger safety and comfort, the ship stabiliser control system was adjusted and rescue equipment and lifeboats were repaired.

“The success of such projects is ensured by smooth cooperation of all three parties involved – the customer, the supplier and the yards – on every phase of the project. Having reliable partners among suppliers and contractors, we can always offer competitive prices and terms,” said Vesa Marttinen, Turku Repair Yard MD.

All works were completed on time. “Silja Serenade has always been a beautiful, gorgeous ship. This renovation makes sure that it will keep its place among the pioneers of the Baltic Sea and will certainly enable us to meet the wishes of our customers on the Helsinki-Stockholm route”, said Margus Schults,CEO of Tallink Silja.

The dry dock at Turku Repair Yard is one of the largest in the Baltic, at 265m x 70m x 7.9m, while the yard has, additionally, a floating dock of 101m x 21.6m x 6m. Its voyage repair team can carry out repair works in ports or at sea. The yard works in cooperation with BLRT Grupp’s other ship repair yards, Tallinn Shipyard in Estonia and Western Shiprepair in Lithuania.