The most environmentally friendly vessel on the Baltic Sea, MyStar, commissioned by Tallink Grupp, currently under construction in Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) shipyard, Finland, due to be completed in 2022, will be christened according to the traditions of shipbuilding in Rauma shipyard this summer, on 12 August 2021. The godmother of the new vessel will be the President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid, Tallink Grupp says in a press release.
As part of MyStar’s christening event, after the christening ceremony, the vessel will be also launched. Historically, the ship launching – another important milestone in the shipbuilding process – meant that the ship which was built on dry land, was now complete and ready to be tested for its seaworthiness.
The launching of the vessel takes place in the shipyard’s dry dock where the vessel is built until now and during the ceremony, the valves are ceremonially opened by the honorary guests and the dry dock is filled with water surrounding the vessel. Following the christening and launching of the vessel, the shipbuilding works, which until now have been taking place on the exterior of the vessel will now transfer to take place in the interior of the ship.
According to the shipbuilding tradition, the proposal to become a patron to the vessel is made, as a rule, to a prominent and influential female member of the society. Since the godmother of Tallink Grupp’s current flagship, LNG-powered shuttle vessel Megastar is the Finnish President Tarja Halonen, which deemed it very becoming and logical that the godmother of MyStar, which will be operating in tandem with shuttle vessel Megastar on the Tallinn-Helsinki route between Estonia and Finland, will be the President of Estonia.
Commenting on the choice of godmother for the new Tallink Grupp shuttle vessel MyStar, Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp, said that the activities and input of President Kersti Kaljulaid in helping to raise awareness and speaking out on the issues of environment and climate change both on the Estonian as well as on the international scene has been instrumental in choosing her as the godmother.
President of the Republic of Estonia and godmother of MyStar, Kersti Kaljulaid commented: “Two years ago, when the Estonian vessel Admiral Bellingshausen embarked on her Antarktika200-expedition voyage, it helped us to tell several stories – to introduce Estonia as a seafaring nation, Estonia as a high-tech country, as well as to raise public awareness of global environmental issues. Although MyStar and Admiral Bellingshausen are very different, at first glance, however, the story that these two ships are telling us, is similar. Estonia is a seafaring country and every year, there are more Estonian-flagged vessels that proudly display our national colours. This time, the addition to the fleet of our national-flagged vessels is very special indeed – both in terms of its size and the technology onboard, as well as for aiming to further reduce the emissions. Also, similarly, Tallink plays a special role in the Estonian economy, both as an employer as well as enabling tens of thousands of people to travel to work.“
Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp, commented: „For us, this new vessel symbolises new hope for a better future, because ships which are more environmentally friendly and energy efficient mean a cleaner Baltic Sea and better living environment for all of us. The tandem of our vessels Megastar and MyStar which will be operating on the Tallinn-Helsinki route in 2022, will create a green bridge linking Estonia and Finland. We are particularly pleased that in spite the difficult pandemic year behind us, we have been able to proceed with our strategic key investment projects as planned and despite all the challenges, MyStar has will be completed in 2022.“
MyStar is another important step for Tallink Grupp towards achieving even greater energy efficiency and eco-friendliness for its shipping operations on the Baltic Sea. Similarly, to the current flagship vessel Megastar, the MyStar is mainly LNG-powered and comes equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology and innovation onboard and will meet all the current and known future emission regulations.
Jyrki Heinimaa, President and CEO of Rauma Marine Constructions commented: ”MyStar is the most energy efficient vessel, among several vessels built for Tallink Grupp here, in the RMC shipyard at Rauma. Our aim is to be at the forefront of environmentally friendly shipbuilding and we are proud to be a part of shaping the shipping industry between Tallinn and Helsinki towards a more environmentally direction in cooperation with our significant and longstanding client.”
To find the name for the new shuttle vessel, Tallink Grupp organised an international naming competition. The name MyStar was proposed by Marietta Kähära from Finland, who explained that MyStar is every traveller’s very own star on the Baltic Sea.
The next major milestone in the construction process of Tallink’s new shuttle vessel MyStar is the completion of the vessel and delivery to Tallink Grupp by Rauma Shipyard, which is scheduled to take place in the first half of 2022.
The construction of Tallink Grupp’s vessel MyStar begun in Rauma shipyard (RMC), Finland last year, on 6 April 2020, and it is the largest vessel built in the RMC shipyard to date.
The first major milestone in the process of MyStar construction – keel laying – took place last year in September 2020, when the first keel-block was laid into Rauma shipyard’s dry dock.
In the autumn of 2020, LNG-tanks, main engines and electric motors were delivered and installed on MyStar. In April 2021, or exactly one year after start of the construction, all the blocks of the ship’s hull were installed, and the underwater part of the ship’s hull was complete – in other words – the vessel reached its complete length – 212 metres. In the dry dock at RMC shipyard, currently, the construction of the rest of the ship’s hull that is above water is in full swing until the completion of the vessel’s hull.
The vessel is christened on 12 August 2021 in the dry dock and according to Tallink’s tradition, immediately after the christening the ship is floated in the dry dock – the launching takes place.
Following the launching, the construction works of MyStar will continue the interior of the vessel. The ship’s interior design is created by the Finnish renown architecture firm dSign Vertti Kivi & Co.
Traditionally, the vessel receives her name during christening. It is believed, based on the old shipbuilding customs that the blessing and launching of the vessel bears great significance in securing the longevity and good fortune to the new vessel. In the ancient times, during the blessing of the vessel, the gods were offered sacrifices to secure their favour. The distant memory of this custom lives on today, symbolised in the contemporary custom to smash a bottle of champagne against the stern of the ship during christening event. A good fortune is believed to be granted to the vessel, when the bottle is smashed already with the first swing against the ship’s stern. Tallink’s ships are traditionally christened with Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Réserve as christening champagne.
MyStar fact box
• Built in Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC), Finland, year of completion 2022
• 2800 passengers
• Passenger cabins: 46
• Decks: 12
• Lane meters: 3190 lm on 4 car decks
• Length - 212m
• Width - 30.6m
• Gross tonnage – 50,000
• Max speed 27 knots
• Ice class: 1A
• Main engines output: 42,000 kW
• Reference vessel: Tallink shuttle vessel Megastar
AS Tallink Grupp is one of the leading providers of passenger transport and cargo transport services in the northern part of the Baltic Sea region. The company owns 15 vessels and operates several ferry routes under the brand names of Tallink and Silja Line. AS Tallink Grupp employs around 4,000 people in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Russia and Germany. The shares of Tallink Grupp are listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange.
Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC), founded in 2014, is a Finnish fully domestically-owned shipbuilding company, that represents the strong Finnish traditions in the industry. RMC is specialised in ship construction and maintenance, including construction and maintenance of icebreakers, car and passenger ferries, and vessels for use by the armed forces. The company represents world-leading expertise in Arctic shipbuilding, an area heavily relied upon by the knowhow and competitiveness of the Finnish marine industry.