Scunthorpe Telegraph reported that the New Year will be getting off to flying start for the Scunthorpe TATA Steel works after it was revealed plates produced in the town are to be used to build one of the world's most environmentally friendly cruise ships.
The share in the EUR 240 million contract from the Finnish shipping line STX Finland has been hailed as a significant breakthrough for the Scunthorpe plate mill.
Delighted TATA Steel bosses claim the initial contract to supply 900 tonnes is a result of the company's new customer focused approach to selling products.
The agreement in Finland to build the environmentally friendly, new generation cruise ferry for the Finnish firm Viking Line includes an option for a sister ship.
The ship will be built at Turku shipyard in Finland and will be delivered to Viking Line at the beginning of 2013. The 57,000 tonne cruise ferry will use liquefied natural gas, making it the most environmentally friendly big passenger vessel to date.
Mr John Morrisroe spokesman at TATA Steel said that "This is our first ever plates order with STX. The 900 tonnes order is a significant breakthrough for us. This is a major success for the new industry long ship building sub sector. It also involved the Scunthorpe based plates technical team with support from Swindon Technology College."
The 214 meter long ferry will carry 2,800 passengers and 200 crew on a route between Finland and Sweden. The vessel has been specially designed to operate in the delicate and shallow waters of the Finnish and Swedish archipelago. The wave forming and noise generation have also been minimized. The ferry will have 880 passenger cabins ands 1,275 lane meters for trucks and a separate car deck with approximately 500 lane meters for passenger cars.
Mr Juha Heikinheimo president of STX Finland said that "The signed agreement is an indication of the competence that the Finnish shipbuilding cluster has as a builder of innovative and highly environmentally friendly ships. I am delighted that we get the opportunity to build at Turku Shipyard a cruise ferry for our domestic shipping company Viking Line to operate between Turku and Stockholm."
(Sourced from www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk)
