Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Tourism, Transport

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 00:10

Tallink Grupp buys ro-pax vessel from Navirail

BC, Tallinn, 01.07.2020.Print version
Listed Estonian shipper Tallink Grupp on Tuesday announced to the stock exchange that it has signed a contract with Navirail OU for the purchase of ro-pax vessel MS Sailor for 8.5 million euros, informs LETA/BNS.

The vessel is a ro-pax type cargo ferry, built in 1987 at the Gdansk shipyard in Poland. It is 157 meters long and 25 meters wide with a gross tonnage of 20,921. The vessel has a total of 60 cabins, accommodating 23 crew and 119 passengers. The ship has 1,500 lane meters for ro-ro cargo and pax vehicle transportation on board. The vessel’s speed is about 19 knots, Tallink said.


The vessel is currently owned by Navirail OU, but has until recently been chartered out to shipping company DFDS and has been operating on the Paldiski-Kapellskar route. Originally built in late 1980s for Neste OY, the vessel has previously been owned by Nordo Link and Finnlines and operated until 2015 under the name Finnsailor.


"The recent crisis has made it very clear that we need to strengthen our fleet with ro-pax vessels to ensure that whatever happens in the world, we are able to react to any changes fast and have the necessary flexibility within our fleet to scale up either ro-ro cargo or passenger transport as necessary," Tallink CEO Paavo Nogene said.


"During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an urgent and great need to secure ro-ro cargo transportation between our home markets and this was mainly done with our passenger ferries that are geared for operating feasibly if they carry both cargo and passengers. Carrying only ro-ro cargo with a minimum number of passengers with such large passenger ferries is not economically viable and can only be done for a short time with subsidies," Nogene added.


The vessel was registered to Tallink Grupp on June 30 under the Estonian flag in the Cyprus Ship Registry similarly to Tallink Grupp’s other vessels and will be handed over to Tallink Grupp in Paldiski on July 9. The company will make decisions and announce the vessel’s route and schedules in the near future.






Search site