Tallink Grupp and Meyer Turku have signed a Letter of Intent for the construction of an environmentally friendly car-passenger ferry for Tallinn-Helsinki route shuttle operations.

The ship will cost around 230 million euros and will be built at Turku shipyard for delivery in the beginning of 2017. The project will provide approximately 2000 man-years employment for the shipyard, according to a joint statement from both companies.

The new ferry will be about 212 metres in length and 49,000 tons.

The ship will operate on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn with up to 2,800 passengers.

The ship will bring significant improvement in energy efficiency which is achieved by applying numerous innovations and new technical solutions, according to the statement.

Green values, reduction of all emissions, minimizing the amount of waste and increasing recycling utilization, have been very carefully taken into account in the design of the ferry. The ship uses LNG as fuel and she complies with the new and stricter emission regulations for the ECA areas including the Baltic Sea.

Management Board Member of Tallink Grupp, Janek Stalmeister said that with the new ferry Tallink aims for an upgrade of the Tallinn-Helsinki route ferry service.

“As the market leader and a long time operator on the route we have a good understanding of customer expectations and know what needs improvement. I am confident that the world-class experience of Meyer Turku will be once again a valuable asset for us to deliver a high quality new ferry, which will strengthen our competitive advantages,” he said.

Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku, said: “A series of six ferries between years 2002-2009 has been delivered to Tallink and this ship will be the seventh newbuilding for the same shipowner. I´m very happy that Meyer Turku will continue the excellent and trusting cooperation with Tallink. This new ferry prototype gives us an excellent opportunity to apply improved design & building methods. For all these reasons this Letter of Intent signed today is very important to Meyer Turku and to the entire Finnish shipbuilding cluster.”

Over the next few months Tallink Grupp and Meyer Turku will work on the final shipbuilding contract and financing.