Finnlines has taken delivery of Finneco I, the first of three Eco class ro-ros from China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Jiangsu).
Finneco I will enter Finnlines’ Baltic Sea, North Sea and Biscay traffic in June 2022.
The vessel is part of Finnlines’ EUR 500 million newbuilding program which consists of three hybrid ro-ro vessels and two hybrid ro-pax vessels.
Concept planning started in 2018 with the target of creating the most environmentally friendly vessel operating in the Baltic Sea. The second ro-ro vessel, Finneco II, was launched in August 2021, the third, Finneco III, in November 2021. All three vessels will enter Finnlines’ Baltic sea, North Sea and Biscay service this year.
“The new hybrid ro-ro offers increased 40% more capacity and a significantly lower environmental footprint than Finnlines existing vessels.” “/ / 
Source: Finnlines
The new hybrid ro-ro offers increased 40% more capacity and a significantly lower environmental footprint than Finnlines existing vessels.
Two eco-sustainable Superstar ro-pax vessels are scheduled to be delivered in 2023.
Compared with the largest vessels in Finnlines’ current fleet, the cargo carrying capacity of the hybrid newbuilds will increase by nearly 40% as each vessel can transport 5.8 km cargo. In practice, this means that the vessel can carry approximately 400 trailers per voyage.
Efficient cargo operations will be ensured by the arrangement of stern ramps, internal ramps, and hoistable car decks. Having several decks and internal ramps will speed up loading and unloading. At the same the vessels will be extremely flexible – a hoistable deck makes it possible to load any type of rolling freight up to seven metres. Certain areas on the cargo decks have been dedicated for loading of paper reels.
RINA has assigned an additional class notation “Green Plus” for the vessel’s environmental performance. They have been fitted with two-stroke main engines which have a lower specific fuel consumption than four-stroke engines. An air lubrication system under the keel will reduce frictional and hydrodynamic resistance and consequently reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Zero emissions during port calls can be achieved with a 5MW battery power bank. The batteries are recharged during sailing, and 600 m2 of solar panels will also generate power. A waste heat recovery system has been added, and an exhaust gas cleaning system will cut air emissions and reduce harmful particles.
Finnlines has upgraded its onboard services for lorry drivers, who are frequent customers. The vessel has a gym, a sauna area, a dining and recreation room and a laundry for drivers to use. To add comfort on board, drivers will be allocated single cabins.
“We welcome Finneco I into our fleet. The ship will be larger and more eco-friendly than any ro-ro vessel in the Baltic Sea. The vessel will play an important role in ensuring a reliable supply of goods to and from Finland and our connections to Europe will improve greatly when the vessel starts to operate in Finnlines’ Baltic Sea, North Sea and Biscay traffic,” says Emanuele Grimaldi, CEO of Finnlines.
Ship particulars, Finneco I–III
Lengthoverall
238.00m
Breadth, moulded
34.00m
Gross tonnage
60,515t
Deadweight
17,377t
Ro-ro laneage
5,800m
Main engines
2 x 12,780kW
Service speed
20.7kts
Class
RINA
Flag
Finland
