AS Tallink Grupp announced, that the company has signed supply contracts for LNG with partners both in Finland and Estonia to be prepared for the launch of the new LNG-driven fast ferry Megastar starting on Helsinki-Tallinn route next year. In Estonia, the supplier will be AS Eesti Gaas and in Finland Skangas.
Head of Shipmanagement in AS Tallink Grupp, Captain Tarvi-Carlos Tuulik was glad that the company was able to find several good cooperation partners in a totally new branch.
Image courtesy: Meyer Turku
“Tallink has the aim to be the motivator for industry developments and it’s good to have strong partners in several countries, who share the same ambition – to drive the environmentally friendly energy usage and development of the supply chain in the region. With Eesti Gaas and Skangas we feel well prepared to welcome the new member, fast passenger ferry Megastar to our fleet, to serve one of our most important and busiest routes”, said Tuulik.
“Eesti Gaas is the expert in the natural gas business on the Estonian market, we have imported and distributed natural gas for several decades. Today we are stepping into a new era, supplying Tallink`s Megastar is our first large LNG project in maritime transport,” said the General Manager of Eesti Gaas, Mr. Ants Noot. “It is great, that we were able to offer the best price and conditions in the high competition environment”, said Noot.
“We are very happy that Tallink has chosen Skangas as a supplier for the new Megastar ferry”, said Tommy Mattila, Director, Marketing and Sales, Skangas. “Annually we perform around 1000 LNG bunker operations in the Nordic countries. Our recent partnership with Tallink underlines our capability of delivering according to the marine demands for efficient, safe and reliable LNG bunkering”.
LNG has very energy efficiency, and it is safe and has low costs on maintenance and operations, not being dependant of the land lines.
LNG is also used in energy production and land transportation. It is an environmentally sustainable fuel, enabling to decrease the CO2, NOx and SOx emissions significantly and produces practically no soot particles. Tallink has chosen LNG as one of the future development directions to further improve the environmental performance of the company`s fleet and boost the industry`s development towards sustainable operations.
Megastar will be 212 meters long and will accommodate altogether 2800 passengers. Megastar will use LNG as fuel, but will also be able to run on marine diesel. With LNG, her environmental performance will improve much by creating no Sulphur or soot particles and decreasing the Nitrogen and CO2 emissions. She will be a 49 000 GT ship with a service speed of 27 knots. Designed for the Tallinn-Helsinki route exclusively, Megastar will comply with the current and future emission regulations for the ECAs (Emission Control Area), including the Baltic Sea.
AS Eesti Gaas is a consolidated group comprising AS Eesti Gaas and also AS EG Ehitus and AS Gaasivõrgud. The goal of the Eesti Gaas Group is to provide high-quality integral services in order to make life convenient and environmentally-friendly by using natural gas.
The LNG company Skangas is the leading player in the Nordic LNG market. The company supplies LNG for shipping, industrial and heavy road transport needs. We help our customers reach their environmental and operational targets by offering efficient and stable LNG deliveries. Skangas is a subsidiary of the Finnish natural energy gas expert Gasum Ltd, and its shareholders are Gasum Ltd (51%) and the Norwegian Lyse Energi AS (49%).
Source: Tallink