Finnlines Stretches Breeze Fleet

Finnlines Finnish RoRo and RoPax operator Finnlines will lengthen four of its “Breeze series” ferries, with an option for two additional vessels, in response to increased demand. Finnlines has signed a contract with Remontowa S.A. shipyard in Gdansk, Poland where the actual work will commence in mid September 2017. The yard is committed to perform this work in less than two months for each vessel, Finnlines said. The whole lengthening programme will be completed in May 2018 and is expected to increase vessel capacity by around 1,000 lane metres. The close to 30% capacity increase is expected to reduce the energy consumption per transported unit compared to the original vessel. Remontowa shipyard is currently installing inline hybrid scrubbers and new propeller blades on MS Finneagle. Furthermore, the passenger capacity of the vessel will be increased to 800 by building new passenger areas. The above investments will amount to approximately EUR 70 million (USD 74.7m), Finnlines said.