The new eco-friendly dry cargo vessel of ESL Shipping, a member of the Aspo Group, was christened on June 28, 2017 at the Jinling shipyard in Nanjing, China. ESL Shipping says the first of the two ordered vessels was christened Viikki in honor of the shipping company’s tradition to name its ships for places in Helsinki. Viikki is the first ecologically designed district in Finland, and has won a number of national and international awards. The vessel’s godmother is Anne Lexelius, Director, Raw Materials, Procurement at SSAB. According to her request, the christening gift was donated to the Clean Baltic Sea project.
“We are proud to reduce the carbon footprint of our shipping company with these innovative vessels. These new vessels are a significant step towards even greener shipping,” says Aki Ojanen, CEO of Aspo Plc and chairman of the Board of Directors of ESL Shipping.
The 160-meter vessel of 26,000 dwt fueled by liquefied natural gas produces more than 50 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions than vessels of the previous generation.
“Our new vessels are full of innovation, and they are pioneers in eco-friendliness and transportation efficiency,” says Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL Shipping.
Viikki will start operating in the Baltic Sea during the first half of 2018. The construction of its sister vessel is also proceeding on schedule, and it will be christened in September.
“SSAB assumes responsibility for sustainable oceans by such means as our work to minimize carbon dioxide emissions from our production and our transport operations”, says Thomas Hörnfeldt, SSAB’s VP Sustainability & Public Affairs.
This construction project is part of the Bothnia Bulk project, co-funded partly 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 all vessel systems.
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Source: ESL Shipping
