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Finnlines reports that it has acquired the MS Europalink in response to growing volumes. The vessel is due to be fitted with exhaust gas scrubbers in mid-March, when it will sail under the Swedish flag and operate on the company's route between Malmo and Travemunde.

Additionally, the ship operator says its vessel lengthening programme - designed to reduce bunker costs per transported unit - "is progressing well" and according to plan at the Remontowa S.A. shipyard in Gdansk, Poland.

The second vessel to be lengthened, the MS Finnwave, has been extended by 30 metres. The capacity of the vessel is now 4,192 lane metres, which means that the lengthening has added 1,000 lane metres overall.

The Finnwave has resumed operations along the Uusikaupunki/Turku-Travemunde route. By the end of May, a further two vessels, MS Finnsun and MS Finnsky, are due to be lengthened. Finnlines also has an option to lengthen two additional vessels, which have not yet been selected, the company says.

Back in November, Bunker Index reported that the maiden 'Breeze series' ro-ro vessel, the MS Finntide, had been lengthened after arriving in Gdansk on September 25.

During the Finnish firm's lengthening process, a vessel is cut in two and a 30-metre section inserted between the parts. The sections are then welded together again, thereby adding lane metres to the vessel capacity.

The capacity increase is expected to considerably reduce the energy consumption per transported unit - and thus improve energy efficiency - compared to the original vessel.

As previously documented, Finnlines' EUR 70 million Energy Efficiency and Emission Reduction Investment Programme (EEERI) was launched last year. It followed the company's EUR 100 million Environmental Technology Investment Programme (ETI), which included the installation of exhaust gas scrubbers, investments in propulsion and reblading, and silicone anti-fouling, and which came to an end in April 2017.