Port accessFinnlines, from the Grimaldi group, has shored up its commitment to the Port of Bilbao with the incorporation of a large ro-ro vessel in the weekly service that joins Bilbao with the North of Europe. The “Finnsky”, like its sister ships “Finnbreeze”, “Finnsea” and “Finnsun”, which also ply the route, is 188 metres in length and can transport close to 200 platforms, 600 vehicles, 470 TEU and 75 reefers.
These ships are the first units of next-generation vessels with enhanced loading capacity and which are more environmentally sustainable.
the Port of Bilbao
Finnlines’ decision to include the new ships on this service is due to the important rise in traffic with Bilbao, particularly with the cargo of Swedish/Finnish enterprise Stora Enso, one of the world’s biggest paper producers. The shipping company has also strengthened exports from the automotive firm Renault between Bilbao and Antwerp, and won new contracts including the shipping of Iveco trucks and the exporting of Seat vehicles to the Russian market.
Other projects it has signed on for recently include shipping Talgo trains from Bilbao to Kazakhstan.
The weekly North of Europe route run by Finnlines, whose representative is Consignaciones Toro y Betolaza, puts in at Bilbao, Antwerp (the hub of its parent company, Grimaldi), Helsinki (the home port of the Finnish shipping company), St Petersburg (Russia), Kotka, Lubeck (Germany) and Zeebrugge (Belgium). It has also extended the admission of cargo for the ports of Aarhus (Denmark) and Travemünde (Germany), with a transit time of eight and nine days respectively.
