Bergen Group to build two new cruise ferries for Fjord Line
Artist impression of the new cruise ferries ordered by Fjord Line
Fjord Line in Norway has signed a Euro 206 million contract with Bergen Group Fosen, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bergen Group, to build two new cruise ferries.
The ships will be delivered in March and October 2012 respectively and enable Fjord Line to offer daily departures on the service between Bergen, Stavanger and Hirtshals.
The two sister ships have a length of 170m, a beam of 27.50m and a design draught of 6.50m. Each vessel will have just over 300 cabins, of which a large proportion will be suites, and have space for about 1,500 passengers. The cargo deck has a capacity of up to 600 cars in the ro-ro cargo bay, or a lower number in combination with larger trucks and cargo. The ships will offer restaurants, cafes, duty free shops and well-equipped facilities for meetings, functions and conferences.
The hull of the two cruise ferries will be built at the Bergen Group's Polish partner Stocznia Gdansk while all the outfitting and finishing of the newbuildings will be carried out at Bergen Group Fosen shipyard.
“We have for a long time been in the market for used tonnage as a supplement to the 1993 built Bergenfjord, but the assessment concluded that construction of two new vessels will give us the best competitive edge on the service between Western Norway and Denmark. Bergen Group Fosen has been selected as the supplier based on the shipyard's proven expertise in constructing large cruise ships suited for our waters,” says CEO of Fjord Line Group, Ingvald Fardal.
The contract between Fjord Line Danmark AS and Bergen Group Fosen AS is signed subject to final funding and approval of the companies' respective boards within 30 days from contract signing.
The ships’ design is by Bergen Group Ship design and Bergen Group Fosen. Finn Falkum Hansen has been the architect of the new vessels and he has previously designed two of the ships in the ‘Hurtigruten’ coastal service, the Trollfjord and the Midnatsol. Fjord Line's new cruise ferries will be equipped with fuel-efficient engines and environmentally harmful emissions to air and water will be minimal.
“The Bergensfjord will be phased out of the service when both of the new cruise ferries have been delivered and put into operation,” says Fardal.Images for this article - click to enlarge
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