A year at the helm: Driving Finnlines forward

We are soon closing the books for 2025, and this provides a good opportunity for me to look back and summarise my first year as President and CEO.

After a somewhat slow start to the year, optimism finally began to return to the company. The ro-ro fleet rationalisation and the investments made in our passenger traffic formed a very stable and solid platform for the entire Finnlines Group.

In this editorial, I would like to share some key takeaways from my first year leading our company together with my Executive Committee colleagues and our shared views on the nearby future.

A new chapter of growth, resilience and mindset shift

I have had the privilege to work with Finnlines for past 15 years which gives me quite a good understanding of our business, service offering, company culture and operating environment.

Following two distinct five-year periods, one of stability (2015–2019) and one of transformation amid global volatility (2020–2024), Finnlines entered a new phase under my leadership.

As we look ahead, Finnlines must combine its historic strengths – fleet and operational excellence – with new competencies in service, customer experience, and digital transformation. The 2025–2029 period is not only about recovering profitability but also about preparing the company for a more customer-centric, software-driven future.

Driving our smart fleet renewal

Over the past two decades, Finnlines has ordered or purchased twenty vessels. The total investment has been nearly two billion euros. During the past decade, more than two hundred million euros has been invested in upgrading our existing fleet.

In April 2025, Finnlines announced a new investment programme, which consists of three new methanol-powered ro-pax vessels to enter the route between Finland and Germany in 2028–2029. These vessels will play a vital role in meeting our goal of reducing our environmental footprint.

Optimising the fleet is not only about investing in new tonnage but also about developing our current service offering. During 2025, we introduced low-carbon transportation solutions, electrified ship operations, introduced the use of bio-fuels, improved tonnage utilisation and developed our route network.

Building a customer oriented future

While historically, the smart fleet renewal has been our main driver of success, future value creation will increasingly come from service excellence, work quality and digital experience. To succeed, we must all embrace this shift. Only by providing the right training for our people, investing in good leadership and maintaining a focus on service excellence, we can shape the future together.

Throughout 2025, we invested in creating a more inspiring work environment, strengthening cooperation across the whole Finnlines Group and introducing several improvements in the way we communicate internally.

To build engaged teams, all employees must be respected and have access to the information they need.

Future-ready through agility and resilience

Following the vote at the IMO in mid-October to postpone the discussions regarding the potential adoption of the IMO Net-Zero Framework, it is evident that national interests continue to shape the outcomes, adding further uncertainty to the green shipping transition. Despite this, we need to prepare ourselves for more stringent environmental regulations entering into force. Already next year, the ETS compliance for all emissions will reach 100% and FuelEU will continue pushing us towards new heights.

By 2030, the share of alternative fuels must increase significantly, adding even more complexity to our future.
However, thanks to our newbuildings arriving in just a couple of years, we could not be in a better position to manage the regulatory challenges ahead. I see also reasons for remaining positive in seizing new
market opportunities. We are already investing heavily in taking part of the Polish market growth, a market presence that may bode well for playing a strategic role in Ukraine’s reconstruction when it begins.

Due to the unstable geopolitical situation, new opportunities are emerging in new industrial cargo logistics
across the Baltic Sea. With our modern and well equipped ro-ro fleet, we could well become their preferred carrier in our region.

Delivering today, investing in tomorrow

Financially, we can already see that 2025 is shaping up to be a strong year for Finnlines. After a few years of margin pressure, our fleet investments are once again delivering acceptable results. Despite market uncertainty, Finnlines has maintained exceptionally stable, high-level performance, something that our customers clearly value.

We have shown that we cannot succeed by only maintaining our current position but we need to continue
investing decisively in the future. Finnlines’ strategy is not just a plan; it is a promise of continuous development.
We believe the future of maritime freight transport and passenger travel will be built on customer trust, a modern
fleet, smart services and skilled personnel.

This direction guides our work every single day. Only by fostering trust and loyalty can we reach the new heights
required to offer superior service that meets transport needs and enhances the passenger experience, today and
tomorrow.

I am extremely honoured and proud to serve as your President and CEO, and of the results we have been able to deliver to our owner, the Grimaldi Group this year.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful Year 2026!