Finnlines Bags USD 55 Million EIB Loan for Eco Retrofits

Finnish ferry operator Finnlines has inked a EUR 50-million (more than USD 55 million) loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance part of its Environmental Technology Investment program aimed at reducing emissions by retrofitting the company’s vessels.

According to the company, the EUR 100-million program substantially lowers the environmental footprint and meets the new MARPOL Annex VI sulfur emissions regulations, which came into force at the beginning of 2015.

The majority of the program consists of retrofitting Finnlines’ current fleet with exhaust gas cleaning systems, complying with the 0,1% limit on sulfur content in the exhaust gasses when operating in the EU Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs).

“We here at Finnlines appreciate greatly the Finnvera, Nordea and EIB cooperation in financing part of our EUR 100 million Environmental Technology Investment Programme,” Tom Pippingsköld, CFO of Finnlines, pointed out.

The environmental program was initiated in 2014 and by now 18 out of 22 RoRo and RoPax vessels are equipped with scrubbers, 7 have been re-bladed and 2 repainted.

In 2015, Finnlines’ overall fleet fuel consumption decreased by over 8 percent compared to 2014.

Finnlines said it will also implement propulsion and hull efficiency measures on 11 of its ships.

All works are set to be completed by early 2017 in shipyards in Poland, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.