Castrén & Snellman acted as legal advisor to Finnlines in an arrangement in which Finnlines has signed a EUR 50 million loan agreement with The European Investment Bank (“EIB”). Nordea Bank Finland Plc (“Nordea”) will, in favour of EIB, guarantee the loan facility and the subsequent counter guarantee covering 80 per cent is issued by Finnish Export Credit Agency Finnvera Plc (“Finnvera”) in favour of Nordea. The loan will be used for Finnlines’ EUR 100 million Environmental Technology Investment Programme.
The aim of the programme is to improve the ships’ fuel economy and to reduce the emissions by installing exhaust gas scrubbers as well as by reblading and treating the vessels with silicone anti-fouling for reducing hull friction. By these measures Finnlines can meet the new stricter MARPOL sulphur emission regulations that came into force in the beginning of 2015 in a cost efficient way.
The environmental programme was initiated in 2014 and by now 18 out of 22 ro-ro and ro-pax vessels are equipped with scrubbers, 7 have been rebladed and 2 repainted. Scrubbers, new propellers and the reduced hull friction will improve the fuel efficiency which in turn will also reduce the overall fuel consumption leading in the reduction of the CO2, NOx and SO2 emissions.
In 2015, Finnlines’ overall fleet fuel consumption decreased over 8 per cent compared with 2014. Measured as Finnlines’ environmental footprint, this means a 75,000 tons CO2 emission reduction, approximately 1,700 tons NOx emission reduction and 5500 tons SO2 emission reduction (i.e. 91 per cent) on an annual basis. The programme is to be completed by early 2017.
