Finland's Finnlines has chartered out an elderly ro-pax as it logged higher profit for the first quarter.
The long-term bareboat agreement with an unnamed operator will see the 34,000-gt Finnclipper (built 1999) leave the fleet in May.
Last week, the company inked a $240m order for three new hybrid ro-ro vessels at CSC Jinling Shipyard in Jiangsu, China.
The company's net profit in the first three months rose 48.6% to EUR 16.5m ($19.58m), while revenue was 11.6% higher at EUR 134.9m.
CEO Emanuele Grimaldi said: "The year has started extremely well."
Cargo volumes reached 187,000 units, from 165,000 in 2017.
The vessels also carried 40,000 cars, compared to 32,000 the year before, plus 304,000 tons of non-unitised freight, down from 310,000 tons last year.
In addition, 125,000 passengers were transported, up from 115,000 in 2017.
Looking ahead, the owner said Finland's sea freight growth is expected to continue at a positive pace.
"Therefore, we are confident that the year 2018 will be another successful year for Finnlines,” it added.
