Shipping company Finnlines is making a major investment, introducing two brand new vessels on the Kapellskär – Långnäs – Naantali route. On 15 September the first vessel, M/S Finnsirius, made her maiden call at Port of Kapellskär and was welcomed with a celebratory water salute.
Finnlines operates daily services on the Kapellskär – Långnäs – Naantali route. Now the vessels on the route are being replaced with two brand new, newly-built vessels. The first vessel to be introduced is Finnsirus, making her maiden call at Port of Kapellskär on 15 September. The second vessel, Finncanopus, will arrive in January 2024.
“We extend a very warm welcome to Finnsirius. It is incredibly positive that our biggest RoRo customer is continuing to expand and develop at Port of Kapellskär. We have a long-standing, good collaboration with Finnlines, which means that we are developing side-by-side,” says Nicklas Ebersson, Marketing Manager Cargo at Ports of Stockholm.
Both vessels are Superstar class combined freight and passenger vessels and are the largest vessels in the Finnlines fleet. This means a significant increase in capacity on the route when the new vessels replace the current vessels, Finnswan and Europalink. The cargo capacity per vessel will increase by 24 percent to 5,200 lane-metres and the passenger capacity will double from the current 554 to 1,100 passengers. New for both vessels is that foot passengers will now be able to travel, without needing to travel by car, which was not possible previously.
“Our two new vessels are an investment in more sustainable shipping and increased volumes. Now with Finnsirius coming into operation on the Port of Kapellskär route we are able to offer new possibilities for our freight customers. Finnsirius offers our customers a convenient way to travel from Sweden to the Åland Islands and Finland, with a wide range of cabin categories, conference possibilities, several restaurants and a large shop,” says Antonio Raimo, Line Manager at Finnlines.
Finnsirius will operate evening departures from Port of Kapellskär and morning sailings from Naantali.
Port of Kapellskär is one of Sweden’s largest and most important freight transport ports and an important link between Sweden and Finland. The location of the port, in combination with the extremely short approach fairways, make it possible to transport goods and passengers rapidly to and from the Stockholm and Greater Stockholm Region.