ESL Shipping continues fleet renewal by selling its smallest, 9,000 dwt towable barge Espa to Raduga Shipping and Trading OÜ. The transaction was concluded and Espa subsequently delivered to her new owner today 18th of January. A sales gain of approximately 1.4 million euros will be recorded in the profit of ESL Shipping’s first quarter.

Espa was built in 1987 as the last vessel of the Vuosaari shipyard in Helsinki. She was designed and equipped for efficient transportation and lightering of energy coal cargoes to powerplants in Helsinki. In recent years she was mainly used for cement industry transport demand. She also spent one summer as a floating beach volley field in Helsinki. Peculiarities in Finnish shipping policy led to increasing cost of barge towing tugboats, as tugboat crew could not receive state support available to other ship types.

“Simultaneously as we are investing in the most environmentally friendly new ships in accordance with our strategy, the time has come to let go our true servant Espa,” says Matti-Mikael Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL Shipping.