In English (3.67 MB) - Finnlines

nlines!
ional and towards profitability
Emanuel Sparring
seven-day service, but capacity is likely to rise as state-of-the-art new
vessels currently on order begin joining the fleet in 2011.
Our desire further to expand this service reflects our belief in the
immense potential of the Russia trade, and in our ability to serve it
with the efficiency and flexibility required to speed its development.
Over the last two years, we have added steadily to our portfolio
on routes into St. Petersburg, launching a direct weekly connection
with Helsinki in 2009, and this year increasing capacity on the northern
route into the Russian city and adding calls into Ventspils and
Sassnitz. We also debuted a new “Central Line” service from Hull and
Immingham via Helsinki to St. Petersburg.
All this expansion is not just about cargo. After long years of inattention,
our passenger business is now a focus for sustained investment,
and these service enhancements open up new possibilities for
passengers travelling between Germany, Latvia and Russia.
The strength and reach of the Grimaldi Group, meanwhile, allows
us to open up ever-wider possibilities for our customers in the region.
By knitting together seamless connections with ACL into the
United States, for instance, or with Grimaldi’s Euromed service into
the Mediterranean, we are able to carry cargo efficiently into new
markets, enhancing our customers’ sales prospects at a particularly
challenging time for all of us.
Investing in a downturn is never an easy choice, but it is often the
right one. Since the crisis hit in 2008, we have worked to reorganise
our internal structure, rationalise our fleet, and rebalance our service
network. But we have also invested, in new ships and new services,
in a bid to enhance our offering to our customers.
That approach is now paying off. As the recovery inches closer,
a new Finnlines is emerging that is a modern, efficient, responsive
to its customers’ needs and, of course,
moving fast towards profitability. After
a year of struggle, we turned the corner
in the second quarter and firmly
expect to generate solid earnings
for 2010. Heartened by our progress
over the last year, we can now look
forward to 2011 with confidence.
Uwe Bakosch, CEO