Finnlines - Grimaldi Group

4
Fleet Fitness
Finnlines successfully reschedules
Finnlines has scored a major coup with the renegotiation of the delivery dates on
the six ro-ro newbuildings it currently has on order at China’s Jinling yard.
The move will allow for a near-perfect synchronisation of its fleet reorganisation
plans, with new owned ships arriving to replace more expensive chartered
tonnage leaving the fleet.
When the order was placed in late 2007, at a cost of more than Euro 240 million,
it was intended that the first two vessels would join the fleet at the end of
this year, with the remainder arriving over the course of 2011.
The new schedule will push those deliveries back significantly. Now, the first
two ships will arrive at the end of first-quarter 2011 and the next two in the
fourth quarter. The final pair will not be delivered until fourth-quarter 2012. As
they set sail under Finnlines’ colours, a total of seven chartered vessels will leave
the fleet.
Once the final ship is delivered, Finnlines’ fleet will total 25 owned ships,
including ten ro-ros, a far cry from a year ago, when expensive chartered vessels
added substantially to the company’s cost base as demand plunged with the
crisis.
Finnlines has high hopes for these state-of-the-art new ships, which are being
built to ice-class 1A, are capable of 20 knots, and have capacity for 3,245 lane
metres of rolling cargo. Among the other key features are hoistable car decks
that take clearances on the main deck to as high as 7m.
The first two ships are now taking shape at Jinling under the supervision of
an experienced team. The first is due to be launched at the end of May, and as
of April the hull was completed and the main equipment installed, while the
superstructure and funnel were ready to be lifted on board. The second vessel is
scheduled for launch in early June.