Remontowa builds Finnish project vessels

The Finnish chartering and operations company Meriaura Oy will add into its fleet a new type of multipurpose deck cargo vessels ordered from the Polish shipyard, Remontowa. The vessels are designed for heavy project cargoes on deck, and will be built according to the Finnish-Swedish ice class I A. The objective of Meriaura is to become one of the leading transporters of heavy project cargoes in the Baltic Sea. Modern year-round tonnage for project cargo transports in the Baltic Sea and especially within the icy Finnish coast has never existed.

The main characteristics of the vessel are length overall 101 m, beam 18.80 m, height 6.55 m, deadweight of 4600 tonnes and an operating speed of 13 knots. The vessel is designed to carry heavy cargoes on deck and its main cargo will be to transport steel ship blocks for Aker Yards. The shipbuilder and Meriaura Oy have signed a long-term transportation contract for transportation of the ship blocks.

In the design of the vessel concept, special attention is paid to the overall safety and efficiency of the cargo transportation, the sea-keeping performance and ice-going capabilities of the vessel. Transportation of ship blocks with this new type of vessel will considerably reduce the risks to the schedule due to weather and ice conditions. The capacity and flexibility of the new vessel concept will be much higher than with conventional barge transportations, and at the same time the transportation will be more economical.

The sea fastening and securing of the ship blocks onto the deck will be carried out with specially designed equipment and the vessel concept includes several innovative and patented solutions. The order holds a possibility of several additional vessels. The first vessel will be delivered in summer 2007 for Oy Gaiamare Ab, a part of the Meriaura Group. The investment budget is about $18 million per vessel.