Finnish ro-ro specialist Bore has ordered three LNG-powered Ro-Lo vessels at Wuhu Shipyard in China, it has confirmed.
The ships have been ordered on the back of a long-term charter to Finnish forest products group UPM. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The ships are due to be delivered between 2020 and 2021 and will expand Bore’s fleet to eleven, mainly ro-ro vessels.
“Bore and UPM have designed the concept for the RoLo vessels to be built for the sustainable sea transportation of UPM’s paper products in Europe, combining best features from pure roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) with lift-on lift-off (lo-lo) transportation concepts,” the shipowner said.
“The new design of the ro-lo vessels will meet the flexible cargo transportation requirements of forest products in different forms.
“Also, these vessels can take ro-ro cargo, be suitable for container transport, be loaded with both high and heavy as well as project cargo thanks to excellent deck strength, but also bulk cargo can be transported using a hydraulic bulk head.”
“For Bore this charter agreement is a major milestone,” said chief executive Hakan Modig.
“Together with our customer, the vessels are designed to take our environmental thinking one step further by introducing the LNG engines into our fleet.
“Also, the special requirements from our customer for their paper product trade have been a driver for the concept.”
Lauri Rikala, director break bulk shipping UPM Logistics, added: “UPM decided to enter into this partnership with Bore based on the good business and technical knowledge and approach towards innovative and sustainable shipping solutions that Bore has shown.
“This arrangement is a consistent step in UPM’s logistics strategy and will safeguard sustainable, reliable and tailor made shipping solution on long term.”
