Press release 6.5.2019
Finnish shipping company Eckerö Line has signed a letter of intent for a new cargo ship. The vessel will start sailing from Vuosaari in Helsinki to the A terminal in Tallinn in June. The Finnish-flagged vessel will carry not only cargo but also car passengers, for whom the new twice-daily service will offer a low-cost alternative for travelling between Finland and Estonia. The volume of freight and cars carried by Eckerö Line has been growing strongly in recent years, and the introduction of the new vessel will further increase the volume. The partial transfer of truck traffic to Vuosaari will also reduce heavy traffic in the Helsinki city centre area.
Managing Director of Eckerö Line Taru Keronen believes in the strong growth of the Helsinki-Tallinn route. ”We see great potential in the route, and we want to be part of its development. Our money figures have been growing well in recent years, and more and more passengers are taking their cars with them when they travel to Estonia. We are now bringing a completely new solution to the route, which will accelerate the shift of growing heavy traffic to Vuosaari and create a new alternative for freight and car travellers,” says Keronen.
Finnish-flagged vessel creates jobs in Finland and Estonia
The new vessel will be registered under the Finnish flag. Eckerö Line is the only Finnish flag operator on the Helsinki-Tallinn route, and its second vessel m/s Finlandia is also registered under the Finnish flag.
The vessel will be docked in May and is expected to enter service in June. The opening of the new route will create new jobs in the ports of Vuosaari and Tallinn and for the new vessel. ”The launch of the new vessel will create around 80 new jobs in Finland and Estonia,” says Taru Keronen.
Two kilometres of freight and over 350 customer seats
The vessel is owned by Eckerö Line's parent company Rederi Ab Eckerö, from whom it will be chartered. It was built in Spain in 2000 and last operated between Liverpool and Dublin with P&O Ferries. The vessel carries 366 passengers and has a small shop, comfortable passenger facilities, a café and seating saloon and cabins. The cargo lane is two kilometres long, slightly more than the passenger vessel m/s Finlandia already operated by Eckerö Line.
”We offer a fast and practical freight alternative to the congested Helsinki city centre. Our number of cargo departures will increase to ten per day when we add up the new vessel and the cargo carried by m/s Finlandia,” says Eckerö Line's Director of Freight. Markku Onniselkä.
The new vessel will operate two round trips a day with a journey time of three hours. The name of the vessel will be published after registration.
