Meyer Turku has started the building of a new generation LNG-powered fast ferry to Tallink for the Tallinn-Helsinki route.

The new ferry will be approximately 212 meters in length with a gross tonnage of 49,000. The ship will operate on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn and is designed for 2,800 passengers. The service speed is 27 knots. The ship will be delivered in the beginning of 2017. The project gives approximately 2,000 person-years of employment for the shipyard and the supplier network.

The new environmentally friendly ship will use LNG as fuel and she will comply with the new and stricter emission regulations for the ECA areas, including the Baltic Sea. The hull form minimizes the hydrodynamic flow resistance, which together with other solutions will bring significant improvement in energy efficiency, according to the shipyard. Efficient and fast cargo turnaround in ports has been taken into account in the design of the new generation fast ferry.

Janek Stalmeister, 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“, he added.

“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 percent above the 2015 level”, stated Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku.