Spliethoff Group to build 7 vessels for UPM

The Finnish forest industry company UPM has entered into a long-term charter agreement with Finnish Bore Ltd and Dutch Wijnne Barends, both affiliates of Dutch Spliethoff Group, to design and build seven state-of-the-art vessels for sustainable sea transportation for UPM in Europe, said an official press release.

“This arrangement is a consistent step in UPM’s logistics strategy. It will safeguard a sustainable, competitive and reliable shipping solution for our businesses and customers on long term,” said Lauri Rikala, director, Global Break Bulk Shipping, UPM Logistics.

Bore Ltd will build three (3) RoLo vessels for transporting UPM’s paper products and Wijnne Barends four (4) LoLo vessels for transporting the company’s pulp and other forest products. The vessels will be built in China and are scheduled to be delivered in 2021 and 2022. When taken into service, the vessels will employ approximately 60 maritime transportation professionals.

All vessels are time chartered by UPM and hence will be fully operated by the company. They will be ice-strengthened and meet the latest technological, operational, and environmental standards.

“The vessels will be fuelled with liquid natural gas (LNG) which results in a significant (approximately 25%) reduction of CO2 emissions compared with commonly used marine gas oil. In addition, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions will decrease approximately 85% and 99%, respectively. The emissions of soot particles will also decrease by 99%,” Rikala said.