Rauma Marine Constructions: Rohe bunkered with care and professionalism

Rauma Marine Constructions is a shipbuilding company on the West coast of Finland. With around 300 staff members and over twenty partner companies, Rauma Marine Constructions specialises in the construction and maintenance of car and passenger ferries, naval vessels and icebreakers.

In the recent years, the shipyard has been working on, among others, a ship called MS Spirit of Tasmania IV, a car and passenger ferry that’s destined for Australia. As the ship, handed over to the shipowner in late September 2024, was being prepared for the handover, multiple tests were run to ensure everything goes as planned. One of these tests included a bunkering test, where the ship had to be bunkered with LNG to its full capacity to test out some safety mechanisms and to make sure that everything runs smoothly when bunkering.

Careful scheduling ensures safety and a smooth delivery

In order to run the test, the shipyard needed a fuel provider. Rauma Marine Construction’s System responsible, LNG-Systems, Toni Haapanen, contacted Rohe Solutions in the beginning of 2024 to discuss the possibility for bunkering. The LNG-fueled vessel had to be bunkered to its full capacity within 72 hours so that the ship’s finishing work could be continued on schedule. Thus, the LNG supplier had to be able to deliver nearly 800 cubic meters of LNG to the ship’s tanks within the time window.

Rohe Solution’s Sales Manager Mikko Korpinen assured that with Rohe’s new, high-capacity trailers this would now be possible. Rauma and Hamina, where Rohe’s trailers are filled with LNG, are almost 400 kilometres apart.

“Rohe performs deliveries with a 100 % reliability across Finland. Distance is only one of the many details in a bunkering process that plays into reliable deliveries, so it was not a challenge for Rohe”, Korpinen says.

Before the bunkering, Rohe staff visited the Rauma Marine Constructions site to discuss some details related to the process and to map out the pier area needed for the bunkering. Some safety details were discussed, such as the fact that no hot work or electrical work could take place during bunkering to eliminate any sources of ignition. Rohe always takes time to plan each bunkering case to ensure the safest possible delivery.

“Working with LNG has to be done with care to ensure safety. Our professionals and subcontractors always prioritise safety”, Korpinen explains.

Success thanks to good communication and seasoned professionals

The bunkering itself took place in the middle of the summer. Timing was crucial, since there were a lot of steps to the process. For instance, the LNG tanks of the ferry had to be carefully dried and cooled down to be ready to be bunkered with LNG.

Haapanen describes the process as follows:

“The bunkering took four days altogether. Three LNG trailers came in daily from Thursday to Sunday, so it was quite the process, and a lot of people had to be on stand-by for the duration of it. The entire process went down really smoothly.”

Rauma Marine Constructions didn’t have to worry about any of the needed hoses, fittings and manifolds since Rohe brought them all along. Thanks to good communication between Rauma Marine Construction, Rohe’s professionals and trusted subcontractors, there were no major issues, and minor ones could be handled with ease.

“Special thanks to Rohe Solutions for handling the process well. The meetings before and after the bunkering added a nice touch. We were constantly informed on the project’s status and were also able to give feedback to ensure the next bunkering process is even better”, Haapanen tells.