Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) and Kvarken Link have signed a construction contract to build a new Vaasa/Umeå ferry, following a letter of intent agreed just over a week ago.
The construction agreement calls for the building of a car and passenger ferry at RMC.
“We reached an agreement in a little over a week after signing the letter of intent. Now begins the real work. We would like to express our appreciation to the ministers and officials at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of Finland, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and the Ministry of Finance, for their role in making this project a reality,” said Jyrki Heinimaa, RMC CEO.
The ferry will be completed in 2021 and will operate daily between Vaasa (Finland) and Umeå (Sweden).
Kvarken Link, who has ordered the vessel, is owned by the city of Umeå and the city of Vaasa, both of whom serve as guarantors for the financing.
The vessel order, worth around €120 mill, will have a positive impact on employment, totalling around 800 person-years, RMC said. The ferry will accommodate about 800 pax and will have a freight capacity of 1,500 lane meters for trucks.
She will be designed to be environmentally friendly, with machinery running on a dual fuel solution – LNG and biogas. The ferry will be designated as Ice Class 1A Super, in order to guarantee that the vessel is able to navigate as independently as possible in the challenging ice conditions that are a feature of the Kvarken region.
During the autumn of last year, RMC also signed letters of intent for a new ferry for Tallink, to operate the Helsinki/Tallinn route, plus naval vessels.
Due to the growing number of orders, RMC has increased the workforce at the shipyard. Other recruitments will take place in the near future, the company said.
