The ro-ro vessel in question has become the first out of four Finnlines' Breeze class to receive a new midsection, making the ship approx. 30 m longer.

In result, Finntide is now 217.77 m long, offering 4,213 lane metres of cargo capacity. That's roughly 1,000 lm more than previously.

Three other sister ships of Finntide will undergo jumboisation at the Polish Remontowa Shipyard in what's Finnlines' EUR 70 mln worth Energy Efficiency and Emission Reduction Investment Programme.

Finntide returned onto the Uusikaupunki/Turku-Travemünde route on November 26th, while the next ship left for the shipyard on November 28th.

The whole lengthening project will be completed by May 2018.

"Finnlines has continued to invest in its fleet to become a more environmentally-friendly and a more sustainable shipping company. We continue to optimise our operations and seek for growth in order to strengthen our competitive position. In response to growing demand, we are expanding our fleet capacity through this lengthening programme. This way we can serve our customers better and grow together with them," Tom Pippingsköld, CFO, Finnlines, commented.

Photo: Finnlines/Remontowa Shipyard