Estonia's fifth major islands ferry to be built by a Polish shipyard
The best bid for building Estonia's new large islands ferry was submitted by the Polish shipyard CRIST S.A., the Ministry of Climate said. The contract is valued at €49.93 million.
According to the successful bid, the new ferry will be able to accommodate up to 380 passengers, 110 cars or eight trucks. The ferry will also include a restaurant.
The vessel's main power source will be electricity charged from shore and stored in batteries. For emergency situations, the ship will also be equipped with auxiliary generators running on biodiesel.
The state had initially planned the cost of the vessel at €41.9 million.
Additional funding for signing the contract and launching the shipbuilding process will be secured from CO2 funds, the ministry said. The project will also receive €28 million in funding from the European Union's Modernization Fund.
In accordance with the Public Procurement Act, the successful bidder must, before the contract is signed, pass a review of grounds for exclusion and a qualification decision. The law also prescribes a 10-day period for contesting the procurement. If these stages are successfully completed, the State Fleet will be able to sign a design and construction contract for the ferry with the company.
Under the contract, the vessel must be delivered within 30 months of signing, meaning it could enter service by the end of 2028.
CRIST S.A. is a Polish shipyard with more than 30 years of experience in shipbuilding. The company's core activities include ship construction, ship repair and the production of various steel structures for the maritime and industrial sectors. Among the shipyard's reference projects are the fully electric ice-class ferries Altera and Elektra, which operate in Finland.
The tender for the fifth ferry, held for the third time, was conducted in the form of a competitive dialogue procedure.
At the beginning of September, the State Fleet began negotiations with four European shipbuilders. In total, three rounds of negotiations took place during the procurement process, during which details related to the shipbuilding and the terms of the construction contract were clarified in order to reach the best value-for-money bids. By March 16, two bids had been submitted: one from the Polish shipyard CRIST S.A. and a joint bid from the Estonian company Baltic Workboats AS together with UAB Vakaru Baltijos Laivu Statykla.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
