Viking Line Abp has announced the signing of a letter of intent with the Chinese company Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co. Ltd. for a vessel scheduled for delivery in spring 2020. The aim is to finalize the agreement in the first months of 2017. The total investment is approximately €190 million, and the letter of intent also includes an option for an additional vessel.
The main objective is for the vessel to be a collaborative project, involving several Finnish and European suppliers, such as Deltamarin, Wärtsilä, and ABB Marine. The new vessel is scheduled to operate on the route Turku (Finland) – Åland Islands – Stockholm (Sweden).
The ship will be 218 meters long and have a gross tonnage of 63,000 tons. It will have a capacity of 2,800 passengers and a cargo lane length of 1,500 meters. Viking Line will hire Scandinavian architects to design the interiors.
“Our intention is for the ship to run on liquefied natural gas. We have extensive experience in this field thanks to our M/S Viking Grace, the world’s first large-engine passenger ship powered by liquefied natural gas. That said, great emphasis has been placed on implementing environmentally friendly solutions, including a wide range of new technologies. Thanks to many years of work, we now have the expertise to develop this project in conjunction with the EU’s Auroral Marine project,” explains Jan Hanses, CEO of Viking Line.
