Aspo Plc News

The world's most eco-friendly bulk carrier m/s Viikki, owned by ESL Shipping, a subsidiary of the Aspo Plc, has started operating on the Baltic Sea.The 25,600-dwt vessel, 160 metres long and fuelled by liquefied natural gas, produces less than half of the carbon dioxide of previous vessel generation, thanks to LNG and many advanced technologies.M/s Viikki was built in China, and after completion first sailed to Japan to load a cargo of raw materials. From there, she arrived to the Baltic Sea through the Northeast Passage, which shortened the journey from Japan by three weeks and reduced the emissions of the journey by 40 per cent compared with going through the Panama Canal."We are highly aware of the discussion about the environmental issues relating to the maritime industry.

The Swedish shipping company owned by Aspo's ESL Shipping, AtoB@C Shipping has acquired a 4,100 dwt dry bulk carrier of ice class 1A built in 2000. Previously, AtoB@C operated the vessel under a long-term time charter.The shipping company also owns the sister vessel of the newly acquired dry bulk carrier.This transaction improves the availability of vessel capacity ideal for customer contracts. It is expected to have a slight positive impact on profitability, but no significant impact on the balance sheet. The acquisition has been financed by using Aspo Group's existing financial instruments.Two months ago, ESL Shipping completed the acquisition of AtoB@C Shipping."Together we form a strong Nordic shipping company that is customer-driven.

Finland’s ESL Shipping, an Aspo Group company, has taken delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled bulker Viikki from the Jinling shipyard in Nanjing, China.Viikki's sister ship Haaga was delivered on August 20. The 160-meter, LNG-fueled vessel of 25,600 dwt emits over 50 percent less carbon dioxide than the previous generation of vessels.Like its sister ship Haaga, Viikki will first head from the shipyard to Japan, from where it will arrive fully laden at the Baltic Sea approximately at the end of October. The plan is that both vessels will travel to the Baltic Sea via the Northern Sea Route.This shortens the travel time by nearly three weeks compared to the route via the Panama Canal and, therefore, significantly reduces the environmental impact of the trip.

ESL Shipping, a shipping company fully owned by Aspo has completed the transaction concerning the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of AtoB@C Shipping AB and AtoB@C Holding AB that offer shipping services.Total of 444,255 new Aspo's shares issued as part of the purchase price of the Transaction have been registered in the Finnish Trade Register today on 31 August 2018. After the registration of the new shares, the total number of shares in Aspo is 31,419,779.As announced earlier, the new shares were issued as share consideration in connection with the Transaction in addition to the cash consideration payable to the sellers and the shares are subject to a two-year transfer restriction and pledge.

At this year's SMM exhibition, MacGregor, part of Cargotec, plans to unveil a new digital solution it says is set to change the face of breakbulk stowage. Alongside this, the company has developed other elements of its digital portfolio, MacGregor Smart, and will showcase these capabilities during daily presentations at the exhibition held September 4-7 in Hamburg, Germany.OnWatch Scout: building on years of remote-equipment access with offshore cranes, MacGregor will now offer a new intelligent prediction service for equipment on merchant vessels. MacGregor OnWatch Scout can predict and monitor upcoming critical issues and communicate them to customers, reducing unplanned downtime and giving back more cost control to the operator or owner of the equipment.

Finnish dry bulk shipping company ESL Shipping has taken delivery of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled bulk carrier named Haaga.The next-generation 25,600 dwt bulk carrier is 160 meters long and was delivered Monday to Aspo Group's ESL Shipping from Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China.LNG-fueled vessel generates less than 50% of the carbon dioxide emissions of the previous generation of vessels. The vessel can also be fueled by completely carbon-free biogas, once the availability of carbon-free biogas improves over time.The vessel incorporates several innovative solutions to reduce its environmental footprint by minimizing its energy consumption and emissions.

Finnish dry bulker ESL ShippingLtd, a shipping company fully owned by Aspo Group, is going to acquire all the outstanding shares of AtoB@C Shipping AB and AtoB@C Holding AB (AtoB@C) that offer shipping services. The enterprise value is EUR 30 million. The final purchase price will be mainly financed by Aspo's existing financing reserves, and approximately EUR 4.2 million will be covered by new shares issued by Aspo Plc. The transaction will require the competition authority's approval in Finland to be completed. It is estimated that the transaction will be completed in the third quarter of 2018. AtoB@C is engaged in the shipping business with 30 vessels in size of 4,000-5,000 tonnes. AtoB@C owns six dry cargo vessels in full, and it has a share of 49% of two vessels.

Viikki, the new eco-friendly dry cargo vessel of ESL Shipping, part of Aspo Plc, was successfully launched today at the Jinling shipyard in Nanjing, China. “The longstanding work in this project becomes concrete today when we see the vessel floating for the first time. There is still a lot of work ahead before her delivery, but I’m confident that we will get a superb vessel tailored to our needs”, comments Captain Jussi Vaahtikari. Viikki is the first LNG-powered handyzise bulk carrier in the world and is a forerunner in energy efficiency and eco-friendliness. The 160-meter vessel of 26,000 dwt fueled by liquefied natural gas produces more than 50 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions than vessels of the previous generation.

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, and ESL Shipping Oy, part of Aspo Plc, have agreed to jointly develop and test an autonomous discharging feature on MacGregor bulk handling cranes. It is designed to offer safety and efficiency advances. The cranes will be fitted on board ESL Shipping's two new liquefied natural gas-powered handysize bulk carriers. "Autonomous crane operation improves efficiency and safety," says Leif Byström, Senior Vice President, Cargo Handling at MacGregor. "Our new environmental friendly LNG fuelled ships will be operated in very demanding trade with high number of voyages, port calls and crane operation hours annually.

ESL Shipping Oy, a subsidiary of Aspo Plc, has secured a contract to order two new ice-strengthened dry cargo vessels from the Indian ABG Shipyard Ltd. Expanding ESL Shipping's so-called Eira class, the vessels will be approximately 18,800 dwt bulk carriers equipped with on-deck cranes, and they will be designed to meet the highest Finnish ice class (1A Super). The total value of the investment will be around $60.5M. The vessels are destined for operation in the Baltic Sea and will be commissioned in 2008 and 2009. A similar vessel ordered from China at the end of 2003 is about to be commissioned in January 2006. The vessel investment will be financed with cash, loans and with the revenue from the sale of current fleet assets.