Deltamarin has signed a contract with China Merchants Jinling shipyard (Weihai), previously known as AVIC Weihai, to design Finnlines’ flagship ropax vessels
Work on the vessel design will mainly be carried out at Deltamarin’s offices in Finland. Deltamarin earlier provided the shipyard with consultancy and contract design services on the project.
Finnlines head of newbuilding Mikael Lindholm said Deltamarin and CMJL shipyard were chosen based on the companies’ extensive experience building ropax vessels.
CMJL shipyard’s deputy general manager Justin Liu said “This contract with Deltamarin further deepens the collaboration between our two companies. We and the end customers have always been very satisfied with the support provided by Deltamarin in these demanding projects. We look forward to providing Finnlines with these eco-friendly Superstar ropax vessels.”
The company did not give extensive details about the nature of the newbuilds but said the new ropax vessels “will be among the most environmentally friendly vessels of their type.” And Deltamarin managing director Janne Uotila said “Finnlines is at the forefront when it comes to sustainable shipping operations that also perfectly fit the values of our company.”
Deltamarin and CMJL shipyard have worked together previously. The latest projects are the E-Flexer ropax vessels for Stena Line and the Rosa dei Venti roro vessel for Italian firm Giovanni Visentini Trasporti Fluviomarittimi.
The contract between Finnlines and CMJL covers two hybrid vessels, which will be introduced on the Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär route between Finland and Sweden after their expected delivery in 2023. The Superstar ropax concept plan design was implemented in co-operation with Grimaldi, Finnlines and Nordic naval architect Knud E Hansen. Both vessels are expected to serve as flagship vessels for Finnlines in terms of size and technology. The vessels will be 235 m by 33 m with a loading capacity of 5,100 lane m for rolling freight and carry roughly 1,200 passengers.
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