Tallink Grupp and Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) have signed a letter of intent to build an environmentally friendly ropax for the Tallinn/Helsinki service.
The €250 mill ship will be built at Rauma shipyard. Along with the signing of the letter of intent, RMC will also strengthen its organisation by recruiting.
Planning of the ropax will start in spring 2019 and building will commence in 2020 for delivery at the end of 2021. The new vessel will be the biggest newbuilding order received by RMC thus far. Her passenger capacity will be 2,800.
The LoI is significant for RMC, and recruitment of more employees is already underway, explained Jyrki Heinimaa (pictured), RMC CEO, “This is outstanding news for shipbuilding in Rauma. RMC’s four-year journey has been consistent and the letter of intent with Tallink represents a natural continuation of our development. The order’s impact on employment will total around 1,500 person-years. We will hence recruit a significant amount of new talent to Rauma shipyard in the near future.”
Rauma shipyard has built four vessels for the Tallink Group over the years. In addition, two more vessels were designed by the shipyard. ‘Baltic Queen’, the previous vessel built at the Rauma shipyard, was completed in 2009 and operates on the Tallinn/Stockholm route.
“We are very pleased to announce that Rauma shipyard’s shipbuilding tradition, together with Tallink, will continue with RMC’s building of a new shuttle ship. It is a great honour to be signing a letter of intent with our old friends at Tallink who have always shown appreciation for the shipbuilding expertise in Rauma.
“This is an opportunity for us to utilise our long standing experience and to help steer the ship traffic between Finland and Estonia in a more environmentally friendly direction,” Heinimaa added.
During the coming months, Tallink Group and RMC will work on finalising the contract and financial arrangements.
RMC’s previous car and passenger ferry ‘Hammershus’, built for Danish ferry operator Molslinjen, began operating in Denmark in September. The company is also co-operating with the shipyard in Turku on building blocks for a large cruise ship.
