From January, Finnlines will be connecting Spain and Belgium twice a week with three new ships. According to the Finnish shipping company, these are among the most efficient in the world.
The ships will serve the Biscay services with a twice-weekly connection between the ports of Bilbao, Vigo and Zeebrugge. The service will be operated with the new Eco series vessels, which offer a large loading capacity for any type of cargo and are equipped with innovative energy-saving technology, according to Finnlines.
With this new service, Finnlines, together with its parent company Grimaldi Group, aims to consolidate its Iberian network with a connection from the Atlantic coast to the North and Baltic Seas.
The service will depart from both Zeebrugge and Bilbao on Wednesdays and Saturdays, while the service from Vigo will depart on Thursdays and Sundays.
Via the port of Zeebrugge it will be possible to establish connections to Ireland, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden, while from Antwerp the Grimaldi network to North and South America, West Africa and the Far East can be used.
Finnlines wants to offer an alternative to road transportation
The three ultra-green hybrid ro-ro vessels deployed for the service each have a transport capacity of 5,800 loading meters, which corresponds to around 400 trailers. In addition, the innovative layout enables faster and more efficient loading and unloading processes as well as greater flexibility when loading long and heavy goods up to a height of 7 meters.
To reduce emissions, the vessels are equipped with numerous advanced technologies such as air lubrication, a high-performance battery bank and solar panels. The ships in the Eco series sail under the Finnish flag.
“Finnlines transports its goods with a focus on sustainability and reliability, keeping CO2 emissions low compared to road transportation. The strengthening of the service between Bilbao, Vigo and Zeebrugge aims to provide a sustainable and reliable alternative to road transport,” says Blasco Majorana, Line Manager of Finnlines.
“The development of Motorways of the Sea has been at the heart of our Group’s activities for years and we are therefore pleased to have the trust of our stakeholders who support our actions in the Bay of Biscay as well,” Majorana continues.
