seatec - Finnish marine technology review 1/2005 | Page 46

Aker Finnyards, a part of Aker Yards, and the Estonian Tallink Group, signed a contract in October 2004 for a big new cruise ferry for delivery in spring 2006. Worth 165 million euros, the contract means 1,700 man years of work at the Rauma shipbuilding yard. he new vessel will be one of the biggest cruise ferries in the Baltic Sea, having space for 2,800 passengers. “We are extremely proud that Tallink has chosen us to build this challenging, new generation vessel,” said Jyrki Heinimaa, President of Aker Finnyards. “We consider this order a display of trust in our cruise ship and ferry building expertise.This is the third order for a new ship we have received from Tallink within the last couple of years.” When delivered in spring 2006, the new vessel will start regular cruises between Helsinki and Tallinn. Currently servicing that route, the cruise ferry Romantika, delivered T 44 SEATEC 2005 by Aker Finnyards in spring 2002, will instead start cruising between Stockholm and Tallinn, together with its sister ship Victoria, built in Rauma in 2004. “The new generation cruise ferry will be designed for passage between Helsinki and Tallinn.The guiding principle in design is attention to the comfort and luxury of present-day passengers.There will be maximal use of modern technology onboard. There will be 900 cabins, and the conference centre will be world-class,” says Enn Pant, Chairman of AS Tallink Grupp. Besides passengers, the vessel is designed to carry private cars and freight units, and will have 1,130 lane metres, or over one kilometre of vehicle deck space. The vessel now ordered will have a length of 212 metres, a beam of 29 metres, and a gross tonnage of 48,300t. Propulsion by four diesel engines totalling 26,240 kW will provide a service speed of 22 knots. For further information, please contact: Aker Yards Tore Langballe, SVP Communications and Investor Relations tel. +47 90 777 841 Aker Finnyards Jyrki Heinimaa, President tel. +358 2 836 4000 AS Tallink Grupp Enn Pant, Chairman tel. +372 6 409 800 Photo Aker Finnyards Tallink orders a third cruise ferry from Aker Yards