New Swedish Shipping Company Formed

The Gothenburg-based company was established on 12 April and has already signed long-term agreements with pulp and forestry product manufacturers Stora Enso and Metsä Board.

“Together we can offer a strong mix of experience and competence, which can support a growing forest industry”, says Ragnar Johansson, Managing Director Wallenius SOL. “Wallenius has experience from industrial shipping, ship owning, ship building and ship management. SOL brings the competence of logistics from forest industry and other types of cargo in this geographical area”.

Wallenius SOL will have service in the region around the Baltic Sea including the Gulf of Bothnia, operating from five ports with regular calls to the continent and the UK.

Specially designed vessels built to Finnish/Swedish ice class 1A Super will ensure year-round service, even in the Gulf of Bothnia. The fleet in service in the Baltic Sea will initially consist of five vessels.

The company has ordered a further four neo-Panamax dual-fuel LNG Ro-Ro vessels from Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles, with delivery scheduled for 2021. Once completed, the quartet of vessels will be the largest RoRo vessels with Swedish/Finnish ice class 1A Super classification.

The vessels will be equipped with two Type C LNG tanks, and will have a speed of 20 knots. The vessels will be 241.70 metres long, 35.20 metres wide and will have a capacity of 5,800 lane meters.

The vessels will be classified by Lloyd’s Register, and will fly a Swedish Flag.

Consultancy Knud E. Hansen has been retained for detailed design collaboration. The vessels have been designed to ensure they are among the most environmentally efficient vessels in the Baltic region.