Birka?s bigger Baltic

The Mariehamn-based Birka Line, which operates the 1986-built 22,712g Birka Princess cruise/ ferry ship, placed an order late last year with the Finnish shipbuilding yard of Aker Finnyards for the construction of a new vessel. The 33,000g 1,800 passenger ship will cost about $167 million and is slated for delivery in the autumn of 2004.

Designed primarily for year round operations in the Baltic Sea, the newbuilding will have to meet stringent environmental requirements and will fulfill two new classification criteria. These are DNV?s Clean Design rule defining several environmental solutions as to the ship structures, and the Comfort Class rule securing a noiseless and vibration free environment for the passengers. In addition, the vessel will meet with the same environmental quality standards as Birka Princess, i.e. equipped with catalysers and closed sewage treatment systems and non-toxic hull coatings. A novelty feature will be the automatic energy saving system in the cabins which, as already installed in many hotels, uses a plastic keycard to activate or de-activate the electricity supply.

The 177m long and 28m wide ship will have 11 decks, of which five are dedicated to passenger accommodation and three for passenger public spaces such as conference area, dance lounge, several restaurants and bars, casino, shopping area, children?s playroom. In addition, a whole deck is dedicated to passenger recreation, with a huge Spa area with palm decorations. The ship has been nicknamed ?floating Caribbean?.

It will also be built to Ice Class 1 A Super classification standards. Propulsion power will be provided by means of four Wärtsilä 6L46B medium speed diesels each with an output of 5,850kW and driving twin CP propellers. Service speed will be 21 knots.

In addition to Birka Princess, Birka currently owns seven roro freight ferries of between 5,750 and 9,335 dwt which trade mainly in North European waters. The Finnyards? newbuilding would be an addition to the fleet and, although it will run cruises to the Baltic states, Poland and Gotland island, the new ship will be deployed on the company?s key ferry route between Stockholm and Mariehamn in Åland. All eight Birka Line vessels currently fly the Finnish flag but it is conceivable that they may be flagged under the Swedish flag which currently looks a more attractive tax option. The introduction of tonnage tax regimes by a number of European countries has made choice of flag a key issue in terms of operating costs.