Viking Line signs Letter of Intent with Xiamen Shipbuilding
Ferry Finnish media reports this morning that in a press conference to be held today onboard mv GABRIELLA in Helsinki at 11:00h local time, Viking Line is to announce that they have signed a letter of intent with the Chinese shipyard Xiamen Shipbuilding for the construction of a new cruise ferry for the Turku-Åland-Stockholm route.
The 63,000dwt newbuilding will have a length of 218 meters, a passenger capacity of 2800 and a car deck capacity of 1500 lane meters. The investment to be made by Viking Line amounts to €190 million and the LOI includes an option for a sister vessel. The final contract for the ferry is to be signed in spring 2017 and delivery is scheduled for the year 2020.
Numerous Finnish and European companies will be involved in the project, including Chinese owned but Finnish based Deltamarin, Wärtsilä, and ABB Marine. The interior design will be done by Scandinavian architects. As expected the vessel will run on natural gas (LNG).
© Shippax / Marko Stampehl
Nov 23 2016