AS Tallink Grupp and Finnish shipbuilding company Rauma Marine Constructions Oy (RMC) have signed a letter of intent to build an environmentally friendly car and passenger ferry for the scheduled service between Tallinn and Helsinki.
The ship, with a value of approximately EUR 250 million, will be built at Rauma shipyard, and will have a passenger capacity for 2,800 people.
The planning of the Tallink Shuttle ship will start in spring 2019 and building will commence in 2020. The vessel, the biggest newbuild order as of yet for RMC, is planned to be delivered to Tallink at the end of 2021.
The letter of intent is significant for RMC, and recruitment of more employees is already underway, says Jyrki Heinimaa, CEO, Rauma Marine Constructions.
“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 a total of four vessels for Tallink Grupp over the years. In addition, two more vessels have been designed at the shipyard. Baltic Queen, the previous vessel built at Rauma shipyard, was completed in 2009 and operates on the Tallinn-Stockholm route.
During the upcoming months, Tallink Grupp and RMC will work on finalizing the contract and financial arrangements.