Reporting a profitable second quarter, Finnish RoRo and passenger services operator Finnlines has reiterated its decision to order more environmentally-friendly vessels.
“We are … about to further order two Superstar class RoPax vessels, in order to strengthen our well developing passenger business growth,” Emanuele Grimaldi, President and CEO of the company, said.
“These vessels will be the best and most environmentally friendly units in their category, carrying 5,800 lane metres of cargo and close to 1,000 passengers,” he added.
The new order would follow the recent investment of EUR 500 million in three new ice-class roll-on/roll off (RoRo) ships.
With the upcoming order for two Superstar class ships , Finnlines aims to ensure it will remain “a forerunner in sustainable development for both passenger and cargo transports within the Baltic Sea.”
In line with its strategy, the company has made a number of investments in its existing fleet, both environmental and capacity related.
“We have invested in emission abatement technology covering almost all our vessels and also lengthened six of our vessels in order to benefit from economies of scale. These investments have contributed to our sustainable development… Other efforts to reduce energy consumption and emissions include changing of propeller blades, timetable planning, route optimisations as well as optimising speed, load and trim,” Grimaldi further said.
For the three-month period ended June 30, 2019, Finnlines reported a result of EUR 30.4 million (USD 33.6 million), compared to EUR 25.8 million seen in the corresponding period a year earlier. This represented the company’s best second-quarter result ever.
In addition, the company recorded revenue totaling EUR 157.9 million in Q2 2019, an increase of 2 percent when compared to EUR 154.3 million posted in the same quarter last year.
Finnlines is part of the Italian Grimaldi Group that operates a fleet of more than 120 vessels and serves over 120 ports in 50 countries.