Tallink Newbuilding

[Nick the Greek]

Today, on the 21st of April 2005, the keel laying ceremony of the big cruise ferry ordered by Tallink took place at Aker Finnyards shipyard in Rauma. The contract worth 165 million Euro was signed on October 28, 2004. The construction of the vessel means 1,700 man-years of work at the Rauma yard.

On the occasion, Talling Group and Aker Finnyards signed a Letter of Intent of building a sister ship to the next generation cruise ferry. The planned delivery for the new vessel is May 2007.

The vessel will be one of the biggest cruise ferries in the Baltic Sea, having capacity for 2,800 passengers. The guiding principle in designing the vessel is paying attention to the comfort and luxury of present-day passengers. There will be maximal use of high-tech solutions onboard.

927 cabins, several restaurants and places to entertain of various style and class as well as a remarkable conference centre with over 450 seats make the new ship a multi functional sea-based hotel with excellent ambience.

Sources: Tallink and Aker Finnyards for an artist's impression

[Nick the Greek]

When delivered in spring 2006, the vessel will start regular cruises between Helsinki and Tallinn. On that route now, the cruise ferry “Romantika”, delivered from Aker Finnyards in spring 2002, will start cruising between Stockholm and Tallinn together with the sister ship “Victoria”, built in Rauma in 2004.

Besides passengers, the vessel is designed to carry private cars and freight units, and will have 1,130 lanemetres, i.e. over a kilometre of vehicle deck space.

The vessel has a length of 212 metres, a beam of 29 metres and a gross tonnage of 48,300. Propulsion by four diesel engines totalling 26,240 kW will provide a service speed of 22 knots. Classification of the vessel is to the highest ice-class – 1 A Super. The catalytic reduction units to be installed for better control of exhaust emissions will make the vessel most environmentally friendly.