On Tuesday 5 June 2012, the naming ceremony of the multipurpose deck cargo vessel built for Gaiamare Ltd was performed at STX Turku Shipyard. Godmother of the vessel, Minister of Transport Merja Kyllönen, christened the ship, given her the name “Meri”.
The festive event held on the outfitting dock of the shipyard was witnessed by representatives of Gaiamare, Meriaura, STX Finland, as well as numerous other guests invited by the shipyard and the shipping company.
The multipurpose vessel MS Meri is 105.4 metres long and approx. 18.8 metres wide. This modern and environmentally friendly deck cargo vessel, designed for global operation, can be utilised for a wide variety of tasks. Once completed, the ship will be perfect for transport of demanding project cargo such as offshore wind farm structures and for energy wood transport in the Baltic Sea area. This ice class 1A vessel is also capable of running efficiently astern in ice. The main engines of the vessel can use environmentally friendly bio oil as fuel. The vessel is also capable of operating in oil spill response activities. M/s Meri will be chartered and operated by Meriaura.
“ The vessel represents the next generation of ships especially in terms of fuel, versatile functions, environmental friendliness, and energy efficiency ,” states Jussi Mälkiä, Chairman of the Board of Meriaura Ltd.
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Offshore WIND staff, June 07, 2012; Image: meriaura