HELSINKI (News release) -- UPM enters into a long-term charter agreement with the Finnish Bore Ltd and the Dutch Wijnne Barends, both affiliates of the Dutch Spliethoff Group. Together, the companies will design and build seven state-of-the-art vessels for sustainable sea transportation for UPM in Europe.

"This arrangement is a consistent step in UPM's logistics strategy. It will safeguard a sustainable, competitive and reliable shipping solution for our businesses and customers on long term," says Lauri Rikala, Director, Global Break Bulk Shipping, UPM Logistics.

Bore Ltd will build three (3) RoLo vessels for transporting UPM's paper products and Wijnne Barends four (4) LoLo vessels for transporting the company's pulp and other forest products. The vessels will be built in China and are scheduled to be delivered in 2021 and 2022. When taken into service, the vessels will employ approximately 60 maritime transportation professionals.

All vessels are time charterered by UPM and hence will be fully operated by the company. They will be ice-strengthened and meet the latest technological, operational and environmental standards. "The vessels will be fueled with liquid natural gas (LNG) which results in a significant (approximately 25%) reduction of CO2 emissions compared with commonly used marine gas oil. In addition, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions will decrease approximately 85% and 99%, respectively. The emissions of soot particles will also decrease by 99%," he continues.

"Since the establishment of Spliethoff in1921, the company has been transporting forest products for our clients - it's in our DNA", says Michael van den Heuvel, CCO of Spliethoff. "We are very pleased to be able to offer UPM these next generation sustainable vessels. Minimising our environmental footprint has long been a focal point for the Spliethoff Group and the reduction of emissions is a fundamental part of this. The new vessels running on LNG fit well in our continuous drive for greener operations."