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some type of a sister vessel for the previous
one. We had learned lessons from the first
vessel and wanted to make it better and
more efficient, with more cargo space. We
went out to different consultants but ended
up with Deltamarin, and the cooperation has
been really good. We had had a long history
of cooperation with Deltamarin, so it was not
hard to select them.”
“The mentality of Deltamarin people in
the offices in Turku and Helsinki is quite
Finnish and straightforward, so it’s quite easy
to work together compared to when you go
to China, where it’s a little bit different,” says
Granberg with a laugh. “You know when you
say something in Finland during a meeting,
it sticks. If you agree on something, the
agreement is kept.”
“Viking Line also has a big focus on the
hydrodynamics of the vessel and Deltamarin
has a lot of experience with very good hull
forms. That’s where you find the biggest
savings. Ships are a huge investment. We have
to have this vessel for 25–30 years or more,
so it must continue to be energy-efficient
throughout its lifetime.”
“We went to more than 20 shipyards
in Europe and Asia, and from there we
shortlisted three shipyards in China. We had
to go to Asia because the delivery times were
too long in Europe. Of course, there were
shipyards in Europe with shorter delivery
times, but the financial situation of those
shipyards was unclear. We have seen cases
where, after we have signed a contract, the
shipyard has gone bankrupt, so we have to
thoroughly investigate the capacity and the
financial situation of shipyards. Of course,
things could happen in Asia too, but we
did the due diligence and together with
Deltamarin we selected the best shipyard
in China for this project. Deltamarin had
long experience and cooperation with XSI,
building pure car and truck carriers at this
shipyard, so they know what XSI could do,
what its capacity was and so on. It’s not a big
shipyard, so it’s a shipyard that can fully focus
on our project. We prefer it when shipyards
don’t have too many different products and
can focus on us. This is perhaps opposite to
what many other shipowners do.”
When asked about what most
satisfied him with when working
with Deltamarin, Granberg answers, “The
hull form. They have model-tested it in the
Netherlands, and I think we will get very nice
hull forms, which will contribute to very low
SUCCESSFUL CLIENT STORIES
We went out to different
consultants but ended up
with Deltamarin,
and the cooperation has
been really good.