Image: Finnlines

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Finnlines announced on Tuesday that it has decided to exercise the option to lengthen two additional vessels as part of its EUR 70 million Energy Efficiency and Emission Reduction Investment Programme, which was launched with the lengthening of four vessels in 2017.

The first two vessels, MS Finntide and MS Finnwave, have already been operating in their extended length. By the end of May 2018, a further two vessels, MS Finnsky and MS Finnsun, are due to be lengthened.

The lengthening of the two additional vessels, MS Finnbreeze and MS Finnsea, is scheduled to be carried out in September-December 2018.

According to Finnlines, each lengthened vessel will have a capacity increase of around 30 percent. After the modification, the vessel is 217.7 metres long and has a capacity of around 4,200 lane metres.

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

"These two lengthened vessels in addition to the previous four, will help us meet increased demand and enable us to serve our customers more efficiently. One of our strategic decisions is to focus on improving our operational performance. This decision to lengthen another two vessels will help us to increase competitiveness and improve efficiency of capital employed on our fleet. This investment is also in line with sustainable development: by increasing our energy efficiency further we will contribute to reducing emissions per transported tonne," remarked Tom Pippingskold, CFO of Finnlines.