Finnlines - Grimaldi Group

New vessels and
a new terminal
for Finnlines
FoR A comPANy lIkE FINNlINES, wHIcH IS FocuSSEd oN AcHIEvINg
STEAdy gRowTH wHIlE mAINTAININg quAlITy, THE SHIPPINg yEAR IS
INvARIAbly mARkEd by A STREAm oF lAuNcHES ANd NAmINg cEREmo-
NIES, INAuguRATIoNS ANd SPEcIAl ANNouNcEmENTS AS NEw SHIPS
JoIN THE FlEET To EmbARk oN NEw SERvIcES AloNg NEw RouTES.
This year is no different. on January 30th,
the latest ro-ro vessel to join the fleet was
delivered at yizheng shipyard in china, officially
joining the Finnish register and hoisting
the Finnish flag the following day.
like its sister ships mS Finnbreeze and
mS Finnsea, which were delivered last year,
mS Finnsky was deployed in the North Sea
and the baltic Sea after it arrived in kotka
– via Singapore, Suez and gibraltar – in midmarch.
A fourth sister vessel, mS Finnsun, has
now followed mS Finnsky into the fleet. delivered
on February 7, the vessel left the yard
for loading in Shanghai on February 15 and
carried cargo for djendjen in Algeria via Singapore
and Suez on her way to Finland. She
is now employed carrying cars to Russia.
christening ceremonies for
ms finnsky and ms finnsun
The arrival of a new vessel is a special
moment for any shipping company – the
arrival of twins is an even greater joy! – and
Finnlines will be celebrating the debuts of
mS Finnsky and mS Finnsun this April at
8
separate christening ceremonies at two of
our key ports.
mrs. barbara Engholm will act as godmother
to mS Finnsun, which will be christened
in Travemünde on April 14. barbara is
the wife of björn Engholm, who was formerly
prime minister of Schleswig Holstein and a
candidate for chancellor of germany and is
now chairman of the port of lübeck.
mrs. Saara wahlroos, the wife of Nordea,
Sampo and uPm chairman björn wahlroos,
is set to christen mS Finnsky in a ceremony
at the Antwerp Euroterminal on April 20.
The celebrations will be particularly heartfelt
for these vessels. They are latest of a
group of six modern ships designed specifically
for fuel efficiency and operational flexibility.
They will replace expensive chartered
tonnage and so give Finnlines not just a significant
jump in quality but a financial boost
as well.
maiden call to copenhagen malmö port
The same might be said of our new home at
the copenhagen malmö Port (cmP), where
we made our maiden call last may and at-
tended a memorable opening ceremony over
three days in September.
The SEk 1 billion development of Northern
Harbour is the largest port investment in
Sweden for decades. centred on a 25-hectare
area that can be expanded to 150 hectares,
it is equipped with two double ramps,
two ro-ro berths and a new Autogate system.
At the inauguration, cmP chief executive
Johan Rostin described the Northern Harbour
as “a port for the future, of immense
importance in supporting international goods
traffic, new transport flows and malmö’s
strategic location in the baltic Sea region.
Finnlines chief executive uwe bakosch
concurred, adding that the company was
“delighted to be the first company to move
to these new facilities and to have the possibility
to further develop our services in the
near future.”
bakosch added that, cargo aside, the new
terminal could prove fundamental for the
development of the company’s fast-growing
passenger business between malmö and
Travemunde, “reinforcing malmö as a gateway
between Sweden and the continent.”