Meyer Turku starts production of LNG fueled Tallink ferry

AUGUST 4, 2015 — The start of production of Estonian operator Tallink’s new generation LNG fueled fast ferry for the Tallinn, Estonia-Helsinki, Finland, route began today at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

The new ferry will be approximately 212 m in length with a gross tonnage of 49 000. The ship will operate on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn and she is designed to carry 2,800 passengers. The service speed is 27 knots.

The ship will be delivered from the shipbuilder in early 2017. The project gives approximately 2,000 person-years of employment for the shipyard and its supplier network.

The ship will feature Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines running primarily on LNG, enabling it to comply with emissions limits in the Baltic Sea Sulfur Emissions Control Area (SECA).

When operating in gas mode, the sulfur oxide (SOx) and particle emissions from the Wärtsilä DF engines are negligible at almost zero percent while the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are at least 85 percent below those specified in the current IMO regulations, and CO2 emissions are some 25 percent less than those of a conventional marine engine running on diesel fuel.

The highly innovative hull form minimizes the hydrodynamic flow resistance, which together with other innovative solutions will bring significant improvement in energy efficiency. Efficient and fast cargo turnaround in ports has been taken into account in the design of the new generation fast ferry.

Janek Stalmeister, the CEO of AS Tallink Grupp, said that the new shuttle vessel will pave the way for the next era of fast ferry service on the Tallinn-Helsinki route. “The environmental performance and many innovative solutions in the technical and service areas will be benchmarks for the market and also our shuttle service in general,” said Mr. Stalmeister.

“With the new Tallink fast ferry we are taking the next step in the technical development of the LNG ferries – all tailored to the specific needs of our customer. For the Turku yard, this order boosts our production volume in 2016 by 30% above the 2015 level,” says Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku Oy.