A Fascinating Year For Finnlines, Says Mr Grimaldi
As written in Week 9, Finnlines has performed very well last year. The official figures are now available in the Annual Report, downloadable via below link.
• Revenue increased by 13.2%
• EBITDA improved by 9.5%
• Cargo units: 709,000
• Passengers: 619,000 (including freight drivers)
New Finnlines service between Scotland and Spain
On March 1, Finnlines launched a new ro-ro connection between the Scottish port of Rosyth and Bilbao. The new service is added to those that already link Bilbao with Belgium, Finland, Estonia, Russia, the UK and Sweden.
Source: Cadena de Suministro
Powered by a growing Finnish economy, Finnlines was able to achieve new records.
The full year 2017 result was EUR 82.7 (68.1), an improvement of +21%.The Finnlines fleet is being expanded.
Photo: Knud E. Hansen
The Finnlines fleet saw a reshuffle after the purchase of EUROPALINK, last week.
At the end of April, NORDLINK, already renamed FINNSWAN, will move from the Malmö–Travemünde route to the Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär route.
She will be one of the first ships of this cargo capacity (4,215 lane metres) to service the Finnlines customers.
Before, she will undergo refurbishment in the public areas.
Finnlines Plc’s fully owned Swedish subsidiary, Rederi Aktiebolaget Nordö-Link, has purchased the ro-pax EUROPALINK from the Grimaldi Group. The last few years this ferry was active in the Mediterranean, although she is a sister of the Star-class ro-pax ferries (FINNSTAR, FINNMAID, FINNLADY, NORDLINK).
She will be fitted with scrubbers and get an upgrade of her public spaces in mid-March. She will then sail under Swedish flag on the Malmö–Travemünde route.
Finnlines’ lengthening programme is progressing well according to plan. The second vessel, FINNWAVE, is 30 metres longer, adding 1,000 lane metres of garage deck.
The total capacity is now 4,192 lane metres. She is back in service on the Uusikaupunki/Turku–Travemünde route.
By the end of May, a further two vessels, FINNSUN and FINNSKY, will be lengthened. Finnlines has an option to lengthen two additional vessels. Which ones have not yet been decided yet.
Remontowa S.A. shipyard in Gdansk has finished the first lengthening project for Finnlines. FINNTIDE (2012) has been lengthened by 30m in less than two months, adding 1,000 lane meters of garage deck.
After the modification she has a capacity of 4,213 lane meters.
The lengthening is part of Finnlines’ Energy Efficiency and Emission Reduction Investment Programme, which was launched this year. Through this EUR 70 million investment programme, the Company will lengthen four of its “Breeze series” ro-ro vessels with options for two more ships. The whole lengthening programme will be completed by May 2018.
FINNTIDE has returned to the normal operation on Uusikaupunki/Turku–Travemünde route on 26 November 2017. The next vessel to be converted leaves for the shipyard on 28 November 2017.
Photo: Remontowa
Finnlines can look back with great satisfaction on the first three quarters of the year.
The January–September 2017 result improved by almost 12%, and was the best nine-month result in Finnlines’ history.
Finnlines sees the recovery of Finland’s economy as one of the explanations for its success, apart from the different actions to strengthen its competitive position. The growth of 10% is reflected in the export and import volumes.
In response to growing demand, Finnlines will be expanding its fleet.
Infographic © Finnlines
Finnlines Plc has sold the ro-pax vessel FINNEAGLE to the Grimaldi Group following a strategy “to optimise the use of Finnlines’ vessels and routes in order to improve its profitability.”
The 1999-built FINNEAGLE was chartered out to the Grimaldi Group from June 2017. The delivery of the 2,459 lane meter vessel to the Grimaldi Group will take place this month. She is currently in drydock in Gdansk.
Photo: FINNTIDE (for lengthening) and FINNEAGLE in Gdansk © Jakub Bogucki
The Port of Naantali has started to extend an existing quay from 178m to 228m in order to create additional vessel handling infrastructure.
This will support Finnlines’ plans to expand its traffic between Finland, Åland and Sweden, enabling Finnlines larger vessels to enter the port.
The €4m construction work has started in September 2017 and the works should be ready before May.
Photo © Port of Naantali