ESL Shipping holds naming ceremony for its second LNG-fueled dry cargo vessel

The second LNG-fueled dry cargo vessel of ESL Shipping, a member of the Aspo Group, was named Friday at the Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China. The vessel was named Haaga in honor of the shipping company’s tradition of naming its ships for places in Helsinki. The vessel's godmother is Tiina Lencioni, the wife of Roberto Lencioni, vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Aspo. According to her request, the naming gift was donated to Save the Children International’s Search and Rescue project to help child refugees in the Mediterranean.

The highly energy-efficient, LNG-fueled vessel, 160 m long and 26,000 dwt, is significantly more eco-friendly than the current generation of vessels and produces more than 50 percent less carbon dioxide emissions.

“Our wonderful shipping company investment is almost at the finish line. These next-generation vessels are helping our shipping company to reduce its carbon footprint and to improve its competitiveness and profitability,” says Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo Plc and chairman of the Board of Directors of ESL Shipping.

“We are very pleased with the building quality of Viikki and Haaga. Now, we will receive excellent and efficient tools for green sea transportation in the future,” says Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL Shipping.

Haaga and its sister ship Viikki will start operating on the Baltic Sea during the first half of 2018. This construction project is part of the Bothnia Bulk project, partly funded by the EU. Its objective is to modernize the sea route between Luleå, Oxelösund and Raahe to be more eco-friendly. These vessels have been designed in Finland, and European equipment suppliers account for roughly 60 percent of the total value of the vessel investments.

M/S Haaga, technical details:

Source: ESL Shipping