The
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
is crossed by several
cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while oth ...
lines. Some important shipping companies are
Viking Line
Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Ã…land Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from ...
,
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden.
The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is a subsidiary ...
,
Tallink
Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea r ...
,
St. Peter Line
St. Peter Line is water transport company owned by Moby SPL Limited, a Maltese-registered shipping company, which operated services from Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Stockholm and Tallinn. The company was founded in 2010 with it starting operation ...
and
Eckerö Line
Eckerö Line is a Finnish shipping company owned by the Åland-based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates one ferry between Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia). Eckerö Line should not be confused with the similarly named Eck ...
.
Eastern Baltic
![Suomenlinna seen from Viking Mariella](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Suomenlinna_seen_from_Viking_Mariella.jpg)
Tallink and Viking Line operate competing cruiseferries on the routes
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
-
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
and Stockholm -
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, calling in Ã…land (
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Ã…land, Government and Parliament of Ã…land, ...
or
Långnäs
Långnäs is a port in Lumparland on the eastern mainland of Åland, about 30 km over the road away from Åland's capital Mariehamn. Road ferries to Kumlinge (Snäckö) and Galtby via Föglö (Överö) and Kökar start here. Långnäs is an alt ...
). Additionally,
Tallink
Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea r ...
sails
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
-
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Ã…land, Government and Parliament of Ã…land, ...
-
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
and
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
-
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
. Tallink, Viking Line and Eckerö Line compete on the Helsinki - Tallinn route, which is also the busiest route in the Baltic Sea, travelled by over 6 million people in 2008.
, The busiest crossing. The fact that this route is so busy (a further 270,380 people flew between
Tallinn Airport
Tallinn Airport ( et, Tallinna lennujaam, ) or Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport ( et, Lennart Meri Tallinna lennujaam) is the largest airport in Estonia, which serves as a hub for the national airline Nordica, as well as the secondary hub for Air ...
and
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding Greater Helsinki, metropolitan area, and the ...
in 2018) has led to calls for a
Helsinki–Tallinn Tunnel
The Helsinki-to-Tallinn Tunnel is a proposed undersea tunnel that would span the Gulf of Finland and connect the Finnish and Estonian capitals by train. The tunnel's length would depend upon the route taken: the shortest distance across would h ...
.
Baltic routes are mostly served by new ships purpose-built for the routes. Older cruiseferries from the Baltic serve as ferries on other seas, or in some cases, as
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s.
Viking Line and Eckerölinjen also operate short routes from Sweden to Åland, sailing on
Kapellskär
Kapellskär () is a port about north of Stockholm, in Sweden. It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County.
Services
The port is served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Ã…land, Finland, operated ...
-
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Ã…land, Government and Parliament of Ã…land, ...
and
Grisslehamn
Grisslehamn is a locality and port located on the coast of the Sea of Åland in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. The locality had 249 inhabitants in 2010.
The name Grisslehamn was first mentioned in a document from 1376 about the ...
-
Berghamn.
Birka Line
Birka Cruises (formerly Birka Line) was an Ã…landian shipping company that operated a cruise ship on the Baltic Sea with Stockholm as the starting point under the name Birka Cruises. Birka Line has a cargo-shipping subsidiary, Birka Cargo. During ...
, owned by
Eckerö
Eckerö is a municipalities of Åland, municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
.
The municip ...
, also operates short cruises out of Stockholm.
Generally,
GTS ''Finnjet'' of 1977 is considered to have been the first cruiseferry, she was the first ferry to offer cruise-ship quality services and accommodations, and the first generation of cruiseferries operating from Finland to Sweden were highly influenced by ''Finnjets interior and exterior designs. After the fall of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
the route connecting Helsinki to
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
became highly lucrative, which led to
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
-based company
Tallink
Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea r ...
to grow and rival the two long-established companies (Viking Line and Silja Line). Eventually, Tallink purchased Silja Line in 2006.
The size of Baltic cruiseferries is limited by various narrow passages in the Stockholm,
Ã…land
Ã…land ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...
ian and Turku
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
s, meaning ships that traffic these routes can't be much larger than 200 meters. The single narrowest point is
Kustaanmiekka
Suomenlinna (; until 1918 Viapori, ), or Sveaborg (), is an inhabited sea fortress the Suomenlinna district is on eight islands of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finla ...
strait outside Helsinki, although ships making port at the city's west harbour do not have to pass through the strait. Viking and Silja Line have wished to keep their terminals in the South Harbour, however, as it is located right next to the city center. The longest ships to maintain scheduled service through the Kustaanmiekka strait were
MS ''Finnstar'' and her sisters with a length of 219 meters. The longest ship to have ever navigated through the narrows past
Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna (; until 1918 Viapori, ), or Sveaborg (), is an inhabited sea fortress the Suomenlinna district is on eight islands of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finla ...
sea fortress was
MS ''Oriana'' (260 m), but that was only possible due to extremely good weather conditions.
Tax-free sales
![2019-06-15 Viking Grace from Stockholm 09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/2019-06-15_Viking_Grace_from_Stockholm_09.jpg)
The expansion of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
has limited the growth of the industry as duty-free sales on intra-EU routes are no longer possible. However, as
Ã…land
Ã…land ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...
is outside the
EU customs zone, duty-free sales are still possible on routes making a stop at
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Ã…land, Government and Parliament of Ã…land, ...
or other harbours on the islands. Another popular destination is
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
with its lower taxes on alcohol.
The ferries have been criticized because of the low prices of alcoholic beverages which encourage passengers to become drunk and act irresponsibly. Due to the relatively cheap price of the cruises and availability of duty-free alcohol (which makes it considerably cheaper than on "land" as both Finland and Sweden have a relatively strict taxation of alcohol) many big parties involving vast amounts of alcohol consumption are held on the ships.
[Silja Line]
Special Cruises
(Swedish)
Many Finns also buy
snus
Snus ( , ) is a tobacco product, originating from a variant of dry snuff in early 18th-century Sweden. It is placed between the upper lip and gum for extended periods, as a form of sublabial administration. Snus is not fermented. Although used s ...
from ferries as its sale is illegal in Finland due to EU regulations.
Accidents and incidents
* 10 July 1986,
a murder took place onboard MS ''Viking Sally'', and approximately a year after that, on 28 July 1987,
another one. ''Viking Sally'' was later renamed ''Estonia''.
* 14 January 1993, MS ''
Jan Heweliusz'' sank near Rügen island, claiming 55 lives.
* 4 March 1994, MS ''
Sally Albatros'' ran aground near
Porkkala
Porkkalanniemi ( sv, Porkala udd) is a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland, located at Kirkkonummi (Kyrkslätt) in Southern Finland.
The peninsula had great strategic value, as coastal artillery based there would be able to shoot more than half ...
, causing her to partly sink.
* 28 September 1994, MS ''
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
'' sank claiming 852 lives.
* 19 January 2009, MS ''
Rosella
Rosellas are in a genus that consists of six species and nineteen subspecies.
These colourful parrots from Australia are in the genus ''Platycercus''.
''Platycercus'' means "broad-tailed" or "flat-tailed", reflecting a feature common to the ...
'' had to anchor just outside
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Ã…land, Government and Parliament of Ã…land, ...
,
Ã…land
Ã…land ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...
due to water in its fuel. When weighing the anchor, she hooked the cables of internet traffic to Ã…land.
[Fakta om fartyg: (Swedish)]
* 29 August 2009, a fire was extinguished on MS ''
Finnfellow'', carrying 74 passengers at the time.
[DN]
Brand på färja utanför Åland
(Swedish)
* 9 October 2010, MS ''
Lisco Gloria
MV ''Lisco Gloria'' was a ROPAX ferry, sailing under a Lithuanian flag for the shipowner DFDS Seaways. An explosive fire engulfed the ship while en route to KlaipÄ—da on 9 October 2010.
Specifications
The ship was built in 2001 at the Szczecin Sh ...
'' caught fire while travelling through
Fehmarn Belt
Fehmarn Belt (), (, former spelling ''Femer Bælt''; ) is a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Ferries oper ...
. All 204 passengers and 32 crewmembers were rescued, but the ship was deemed a constructive total loss.
* 20 September 2020 MS ''
Amorella'' ran aground in the
Ã…land Archipelago on her route from
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
to
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. All 207 passengers and 25 of the 74 crew members were evacuated. The incident only caused damage to the ship, leaving the passengers unharmed.
* 21 November 2020, MS ''
Viking Grace
MS ''Viking Grace'' is a cruiseferry constructed at STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland for the Finland-based ferry company Viking Line. The ship was delivered to her owners on 10 January 2013, and entered service on 13 January 2013. She is the ...
'' ran aground while attempting to dock at
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Ã…land, Government and Parliament of Ã…land, ...
en route from
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
to
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
. The ship was towed into the harbour overnight and the 331 passengers and 98 crew, who had slept on board, were evacuated later that morning. No investigation was started about the incident.
Cruiseferries as a cultural phenomenon
Travelling by cruiseferry has been a significant experience for many middle-aged Finns from their childhood and youth, exciting and a little bit sinful. Tens of thousands of Finns along the decades have made their first trip abroad on a cruiseferry. In the first decades, when fashion phenomena arrived in Sweden significantly earlier than in Finland, Stockholm showed people what Finland would look like after a couple of years. Later, travelling by cruiseferry has become a more mundane, family-friendly way of travel, where people can enjoy being together and sit at a ready-made table but still not always choose the cheapest alternative.
According to journalist
Riku Rantala, a cruiseferry trip is still a manifestation of Finnish culture, like a part of modern folklore: "The ferries offer escapism, glamour and a promise of adventure". In Finland, the cruiseferries carry a connotation of liberated consumption of alcohol and the pursuit of sexual relations.
Heidi Köngäs
''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Used ...
wrote in 1989 that the reason for the erotic aspect of the night abroad a cruiseferry is based on knowledge that everyone you meet will also be spending the night on the ferry.
[Köngäs, Heidi]
Uiva kapakka. Yö ruotsinlaivalla on mässäilyã, diskoa ja viinaa.
''Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
'' 17 May 1981, p. 30.
History
In the early 20th century it was possible to take a personal car over the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
as cargo on a passenger of cargo ship, with about twenty cars lifted onto a ship by a
container crane
A container crane (also container handling gantry crane or ship-to-shore crane) is a type of large dockside gantry crane found at container terminals for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships.
Container cranes consis ...
. Passenger ship traffic over the Baltic Sea started improving in the 1950s, when the
Nordic Passport Union
The Nordic Passport Union allows citizens of the Nordic countriesIceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finlandto travel and reside in another Nordic country without any travel documentation (e.g. a passport or national identity card) or a reside ...
came into force in 1954 and the number of personal cars in Finland started increasing despite the need for
import license
An import license is a document issued by a national government authorizing the importation of certain goods into its territory. Import licenses are considered to be non-tariff barriers to trade when used as a way to discriminate against anoth ...
s.
[Vuoristo, Pekka]
Lauttabisneksen luvattu reitti
''Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
'' 15 November 1987, pp. 56-57. However, the Finns were averse to driving in Sweden because of the
left-hand traffic
Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...
until 1967 when Sweden too switched to right-hand traffic. Traffic by
charter bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es from Finland to Sweden and thereafter to middle and southern Europe also increased since the 1950s.
[Erikoishuokea loistomatka Hampuriin](_blank)
advertisement for Suomen Turistiauto Oy, ''Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
'' 2 August 1959, p. 2.[Dumell, Mats: ]
Meritie Ruosiin (Sjövägen till Sverige)
', 2007, video 60 min. Accessed on 5 June 2022.
When car ferry traffic across the
Øresund
Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width v ...
strait between
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
started, the Finnish Car Club, the Road Traffic Association and the Finnish Truck Association started pressuring shipping companies to improve car ferry traffic between Finland and Sweden. The first car ferry connection between Finland and Sweden was a route over the
Kvarken
Kvarken ( sv, Kvarken, Norra Kvarken (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Swedish mainland to the Finn ...
, the narrowest part of the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast (West ...
, from
Vaasa
Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas), to
Umeå
Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County.
Situated on the Ume River, Umeà ...
, where the ship ''
Korsholm III'' of the shipping company Ab Vasa-Umeå started trafficking in December 1958. A group of shipping companies having cooperated for decades, the Finnish
Bore
Bore or Bores often refer to:
*Boredom
* Drill
Relating to holes
* Boring (manufacturing), a machining process that enlarges a hole
** Bore (engine), the diameter of a cylinder in a piston engine or a steam locomotive
** Bore (wind instruments), ...
and SHO-FÃ…A (later
Effoa) and the Swedish
Rederi AB Svea
Stockholms Rederi AB Svea (originally Sveabolaget, later often referred to as Rederi AB Svea or simply Svea) was a Swedish shipping company founded in the 1870s. It operated a wide variety of ships carrying freight and passengers around the world ...
found each other in this regard too and founded a joint company named Oy Siljavarustamo - Ab Siljarederiet in 1957 to handle the ferry traffic. The passenger steam ship SS ''Silja'' from
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
and the cargo steam ship SS ''Warjo'' from
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
were not car ferries as such. Siljavarustamo ordered its first car ferry in 1959, when a competing shipping company
Vikinglinjen had entered the market with its car ferry SS ''Viking'', which first trafficked from
Galtby in
Korpo
Korpo (; fi, Korppoo ) is an island located in the Turku archipelago. It is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland. As of 1 January ...
via
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Ã…land, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Ã…land, Government and Parliament of Ã…land, ...
to
Gräddö
Gräddö is a locality in Rådmansö parish in Norrtälje Municipality in Roslagen.
History
Gräddö was first mentioned in documents in 1547.
In 1739, the Swedish troops intended to be deployed in the War of the Hats embarked from here.
I ...
in
Norrtälje
Norrtälje is a locality and the seat of Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 17,275 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the largest towns in Roslagen.
History
Norrtälje’s early history dates back to the Iron Age. Around 225 ...
, until its traffic switched to
Pargas
Pargas ( fi, Parainen) is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the centr ...
in Finland to
Kapellskär
Kapellskär () is a port about north of Stockholm, in Sweden. It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County.
Services
The port is served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Ã…land, Finland, operated ...
in Sweden.
The first proper car ferries
The ship MS ''Skandia'' was built in the
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...
shipyard for Silja's Turku-Norrtälje route in 1961, which was the first ship in Finland to have a roll-through car deck with aft and bow gates.
Rederi AB Slite converted its cargo ship MS ''Slite'' to a car ferry in 1959 to traffic between Mariehamn and Simpnäs in Sweden.
In 1964 Slite received the recently completed car ferry MS ''Apollo'', with its red-painted sides bearing the marketing name ''Ã…landspilen'', meaning "the Ã…land Arrow" in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
. The fourth cruiseferry company was
Ålandsfärjan founded in 1963, with its first namesake ferry having been converted from the 1933 ship SS ''Brittany'' trafficking over the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. It started traffic between Mariehamn and Gräddö in Sweden.
In autumn 1964 and 1965 the ship ''Wappen von Hamburg'' of the Swedish
Stena Line
Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...
trafficked between Turku and Stockholm, first under the name ''Jätten Finn'' and then under the name ''MacFinn'', with its highlights being a dance restaurant,
bingo
Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers
** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland
** Bi ...
and
roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...
. Stena Line also transported passengers in summer 1966 between
Kemi
Kemi (; sme, Giepma ; smn, Kiemâ; sms, Ǩeeʹmm; Swedish (historically): ''Kiemi'') is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and to Rovani ...
and
Luleå
Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...
with its small ship ''Afrodite''. In 1966 Vikinglinjen, Slite and Ålandsfärjan now known as SF-Line founded a common marketing company
Viking Line
Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Ã…land Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from ...
and adopted the red colour of Slite's ''Apollo'' as the theme colour of all their ships. Soon also Siljavarustamo was discontinued and replaced with a joint marketing company between three shipping companies called
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden.
The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is a subsidiary ...
in 1971.
Before this the group's four companies had been marketing their car ferry trips under the simple name ''Ruotsinlaivat'' ("Ships to Sweden"), including "train-ship-train" packages in cooperation with the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
and
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
railway companies.
Price contests and fun cruises
![Birka Princess Stockholm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Birka_Princess_Stockholm.jpg)
The international truck traffic needed cruiseferry traffic on the Baltic Sea more and more in the 1960s, because the truck traffic had increased after the buying power of the Finns had strengthened and Finnish export trade had been directed to the western market instead of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
after the
war reparations
War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war.
History
Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history.
R ...
had been paid in full.
Since the national holiday law 1960, the amount of free time the Finns had had increased to 18 to 24 days per year. Also the frequent immigration to Sweden in the 1960s increased need and demand for cruiseferry travel. On national holidays and in summertime the cruiseferries were packed with
Sweden Finns
Sweden Finns ( fi, ruotsinsuomalaiset; sv, sverigefinnar) are a Finnish-speaking national minority in Sweden.
People with Finnish heritage comprise a relatively large share of the population of Sweden. In addition to a smaller part of Sweden F ...
coming to visit their relatives. The newspaper ''
Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
'' described the elbow tactics of deck passengers on fully-booked night trips on cruiseferries. According to the writer, politeness on a ferry was a crime, because if you were polite you were left without a seat, much less a cabin: "If you even after this acted politely, you were left without food, drink and snacks".
[Saari, Mauno; Lamberg, Seija]
Meri on tumma ja naama harmaa Ruotsinlaivan yöreitillä
''Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
'' 4 August 1971, p. 11. Off-season, the ferries attracted passengers by even offering deck tickets for free to spend money on board on
tax-free shopping
Tax-free shopping (TFS) is the buying of goods in another country or state and obtaining a refund of the sales tax which has been collected by the retailer on those goods. The sales tax may be variously described as a sales tax, value added tax, ...
and restaurant services.
Mere deck tickets were enough for many: instead of expensive cabins, many people on night-time ferry trips either kept awake for the entire night or slept on indoor chairs or in
sleeping bag
A sleeping bag is an insulated covering for a person, essentially a lightweight quilt that can be closed with a zipper or similar means to form a tube, which functions as lightweight, portable bedding in situations where a person is sleeping o ...
s on the outer deck or in the corridors.
Journalist
Maija Dahlgren wondered in the magazine ''
Suomen Kuvalehti
''Suomen Kuvalehti'' (lit. "Finland's picture magazine", or "The Finnish picture magazine") is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.
History and profile
''Suomen Kuvalehti'' was founded in 1873 and pu ...
'' in 1971 how passengers who had come to the ferry just for the travel had to endure raging, vomiting, shouting expletives and crazy partying, while the ferry crew could do nothing more than futilely spread their arms about it.
[Dahlgren, Maija]
Puolin & toisin: Kuvottavat ruotsinlaivat
''Suomen Kuvalehti
''Suomen Kuvalehti'' (lit. "Finland's picture magazine", or "The Finnish picture magazine") is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.
History and profile
''Suomen Kuvalehti'' was founded in 1873 and pu ...
'' #32/1971, p. 35.
Along with the cruiseferries, Swedish people also started to get interested about visiting continental Finland, but especially about short alcohol-infused pleasure trips to the
Ã…land
Ã…land ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...
islands and back.
Eckerö Linjen
Eckerö Linjen is a Finnish shipping company operating a ferry between Berghamn harbour in Eckerö in the Åland Islands and Grisslehamn in Sweden. The company is owned by the Åland based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Linjen should no ...
had transported passengers and cars to Mariehamn from
Grissleholm in Sweden already since 1960, and for summer 1961 Effoa experimented with a fast passenger traffic connection from Stockholm to Mariehamn on the
hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...
ship ''Sirena''.
After ten years, traffic between Sweden and Ã…land was joined by the Ã…landian company
Birka Line
Birka Cruises (formerly Birka Line) was an Ã…landian shipping company that operated a cruise ship on the Baltic Sea with Stockholm as the starting point under the name Birka Cruises. Birka Line has a cargo-shipping subsidiary, Birka Cargo. During ...
in 1971 and the Stockholmian company
Ã…nedin-Linjen, named after the TV series ''
The Onedin Line
''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham.
The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, nam ...
'', in 1973. Birka Line's
MS ''Birka Princess'' became known as the fictional cruiseferry ''Freja'' from the Swedish TV series ''
Rederiet
''Rederiet'' (''High Seas'' or ''The Shipping Company'') was a (318 episodes) Swedish soap opera that aired on Sveriges Television between August 1992 and April 2002. The cast featured many popular and renowned Swedish actors.
The 45-minute epis ...
'' (1992-2002).
From ferries to entertainment centres
![MV Apollo passenger ferry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/MV_Apollo_passenger_ferry.jpg)
When the main selling point of the cruiseferries in the 1960s was fast and cheap passage over the sea, this was overshadowed by relaxed entertainment on board in the 1970s. This was influenced by the 24-hour rule which had come into force in Finland at the turn of the decade: a trip abroad had to last at least 24 hours before the passengers had the right to bring tax-free alcohol and tobacco bought on board to Finland. So the ferries started trafficking from Helsinki to Stockholm in 1972 to lengthen a two-way trip to over 24 hours. The first ferries to depart from Helsinki were Silja Line's
MS ''Aallotar'' and
MS ''Svea Regina'', and in 1974 Viking Line brought their own ships to the route, the German-built ''Viking 5'' and the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
-bought 1967 ship ''Viking 6''. At the same time, conference trips among corporations and organisations became a new business for the ferries: the 1975 Silja Line ships
MS ''Svea Corona'' and
MS ''Wellamo'' on the Helsinki route had conference rooms for 150 people.
Tax-free products on ferries were sold in small on-board
kiosk
Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...
s in the 1960,
until the first tax free stores were opened on Silja's
MS ''Fennia'' and Viking Line's
MS ''Apollo'' in 1970. MS ''Fennia'' also had a
swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
for the first time. At the same time the first
night club
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
s appeared on the ferries. The first
discotheque
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
on Viking Line's ships was under the car deck of the 1979 ship
MS ''Turella''. In the 1970s the ferries also started having
ball pit
A ball pit (originally called a ball crawl, also known as a ball pool or ball pond) is a padded box or pool filled with small colorful hollow plastic balls generally no larger than in diameter. They are typically marketed as recreation and exe ...
s for children.
In the 1980s the size of the cruiseferries grew rapidly: in 1993 the total gross
tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...
of the Finnish cruiseferries was over 84 percent larger than in 1980, even though the number of the ferries had diminished by 28 percent from 43 to 31. The shipping companies renovated their ships at a fast pace as it was economically feasible: after a few years of use, the ships could be sold for more money than they had originally cost, usually to foreign buyers.
Also the number of passengers grew twofold during the 1980s, up to over 11 million passengers in 1990.
[Nurmi, Esko]
Laivamatkailu lyö taas ennätyksen
''Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
'' 21 August 1990, p. 42. The selection of services also grew, and the ferries became popular entertainment centres, competing more with spa hotels than with other ways of travel across the sea, with swimming pool departments and visit by top artists. In 1987 40 percent of Silja Line's revenue came from travel tickets, another 40 percent from restaurant and tax free sales and the remaining 20 percent from cargo traffic. The respective figures for Viking Line were about a third each.
In contrast, one half of the revenue of
Wasa Line
Wasaline, previously Oy Vaasa-Umeå Ab (1948–1965), Vaasa-Umeå AB (1965–1979), Oy Vaasanlaivat – Vasabåtarna Ab (1979–1991) and Wasa Line (1991–1993) are different names for the Finnish List of ship companies, shipping company that c ...
was from tax-free sales in restaurants and shops.
In 1990, ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine listed Viking Line as the ninth largest vendor of tax-free products in the world in a listing mostly consisting of international airports.
Cruiseferry traffic also expanded on the
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast (West ...
in the 1980s, where
Wasa Line
Wasaline, previously Oy Vaasa-Umeå Ab (1948–1965), Vaasa-Umeå AB (1965–1979), Oy Vaasanlaivat – Vasabåtarna Ab (1979–1991) and Wasa Line (1991–1993) are different names for the Finnish List of ship companies, shipping company that c ...
had to compete with
Folkline trafficking from
Kaskinen
Kaskinen (; sv, Kaskö) is a town, municipality and island of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The population of Kaskinen is () and the municipality covers an area of (excluding ...
to
Gävle
Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...
(1982-1984) and its successor
KG-Line (1986-1989) and
Jakob Lines
{{Infobox company
, name = Jakob Lines
, logo = Jakob lines logo.png
, logo_size = 250px
, caption =
, type =
, genre =
, fate = Acquired by Wasa Line
, predecess ...
trafficking from
Jakobstad
Jakobstad (; fi, Pietarsaari) is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of () and covers a land area of . The population density is . Neighboring municipalities are Larsmo, Pedersöre, and Nykarleby. The ci ...
and
Kokkola
Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland.
The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of ...
to
Skellefteå
Skellefteå (, locally ) is a Cities in Sweden, city in Västerbotten County, Sweden. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 73,246 inhabitants in 2021.
The city is historically industrial, with mining being a large part of that i ...
and
Örnsköldsvik
Örnsköldsvik (, ) is a locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017.
Its natural harbour and archipelago is in the Gulf of Bothnia and the northern boundaries of the Hig ...
. During the
early 1990s depression in Finland
The early 1990s depression in Finland was one of the worst economic crises in Finland's history, even worse there than the 1930s Great Depression.
The depression of 1991–1993 had a deep effect on the economy of Finland throughout the 1990s, espe ...
, Wasa Line had full control over the traffic across the Gulf of Bothnia once again after it had acquired Jakob Lines and KG-Line had gone out of business.
In the early 1990s the shipping companies suffered from the bankruptcy of
Wärtsilä Marine
Wärtsilä Marine ( fi, Wärtsilä Meriteollisuus; sv, Wärtsilä Marinindustri) was a Finnish shipbuilding company.
The company was created in 1987 in order to improve shipbuilding productivity by combining the Wärtsilä and Valmet yards unde ...
at a time when both Viking Line and Silja Line had new ships in construction at the shipyard.
Getting the bankruptcy clear took 24 years and produced a line of documents 50 metres long. The early 1990s depression hit the business after the bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine, and the ferries to Sweden had to compete with ferry traffic to
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
which had become free after the country had regained independence. One of the companies within the Viking group, Rederi Ab Sally, had gone under Silja Line's ownership because of financial difficulties in 1987. In 1993 Rederi Ab Slite in the Viking group went bankrupt, and the sole company left was
SF-Line, which changed into Viking Line Oyj and discontinued the former marketing cooperative.
Difficulties and fusions in the 2000s
![MS RG I](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/MS_RG_I.JPG)
After Finland and Sweden had joined the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
the countries had to fit in with the prohibition of tax-free sales of alcohol and tobacco products in intra-EU transport in early July 1999. The solution was found in Ã…land's position in travel between Finland and Sweden: the area of the autonomous region is considered a "third area" in indirect taxation, allowing for tax-free sales of products in transport between Ã…land and other EU member states. In practice, this meant that all cruiseferries between Finland and Sweden have since made a quick stop at Ã…land to fulfil the condition of the edict. For ferries on northern routes this was not possible, so tax-free sales on the northern ferries ended completely in 1999. Silja Line soon ceased all activities of
Wasa Line
Wasaline, previously Oy Vaasa-Umeå Ab (1948–1965), Vaasa-Umeå AB (1965–1979), Oy Vaasanlaivat – Vasabåtarna Ab (1979–1991) and Wasa Line (1991–1993) are different names for the Finnish List of ship companies, shipping company that c ...
, but this was replaced by
RG Line
RG Line Oy Ab was a Finnish shipping company founded in 2001 that operated a ferry line between Vaasa, Finland and Umeå, Sweden until the end of 2012. Nowadays the Vaasa-Umeå line is operated by Wasa Line.
The company was founded in 2001 by ...
founded by the Vaasa restaurant and hotel entrepreneur
Rabbe Grönblom
Rabbe Anders Grönblom (May 3, 1950 in Helsinki, Finland – June 29, 2015) was a Finnish-Swedish businessman who started a successful pizza business in Vaasa, Finland. His first company—a pizzeria—was called ''O sole mio'' and it was ...
, which ended up going bankrupt in 2011. After this the city of Vaasa and the municipality of Umeå founded a common shipping company, NLC Ferry, to handle traffic over the Kvarken under the marketing name Wasaline on the ferry
MS ''Wasa Express'' which had already trafficked the route before.
Ferries on the Turku-Stockholm and Naantali-Kapellskär routes started using the
Långnäs
Långnäs is a port in Lumparland on the eastern mainland of Åland, about 30 km over the road away from Åland's capital Mariehamn. Road ferries to Kumlinge (Snäckö) and Galtby via Föglö (Överö) and Kökar start here. Långnäs is an alt ...
harbour in
Lumparland
Lumparland is a municipality of Ã…land, an autonomous territory of Finland. It is the smallest municipality on mainland Ã…land.
The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The mun ...
on 1 July 1999, which had previously been in passenger ship use in the middle 1970s and was now reopened after renovation. Stopping at Långnäs along the way saves an hour of traffic time compared to the daytime ferries stopping at Mariehamn.
At the turn of the millennium, the cruiseferry companies underwent difficulties also for other reasons than new regulations on tax-free sales. Sales profits started to diminish when Estonia joined the EU in 2004 and Finland had to lower the taxation of alcoholic beverages to avoid excessive "booze hoarding" from Estonia. Silja Line had the most difficulties and ended up sold to the British-American company
Sea Containers
Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two main business areas: transport and container leasing. It filed for bankruptcy on 16 October 2006. In 2009 its maritime container interests were transferred to a new company SeaCo ...
in 2004. However, Sea Containers itself soon went bankrupt and sold Silja Line to
Tallink
Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea r ...
in 2006, which was a smaller company than Silja Line but was the most financially stable along the Baltic Sea cruiseferry companies. Maritime professor
Jorma Taina has estimated that the "huge hotel department stores" on the Helsinki-Stockholm route had come to the end of their life and saw the future of the Baltic Sea transport in the
ropax
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...
ships that were more modest than the cruiseferries and combined passenger cabins with effective cargo spaces. In addition to Tallink and Viking Line,
Finnlines
Finnlines Plc ( fi, Finnlines Oyj, sv, Finnlines Abp) is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Bal ...
also started to concentrate on ropax ships, of which it ordered five from the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
shipyard
Fincantieri
Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...
and deployed some of them on the route from Finland to Sweden.
[Finnlinesin Itämeren laivaston kehitys](_blank)
Finnlines 2004. Accessed on 2 January 2008. The same passenger group "without need for ''humppa'' and karaoke" was sought by
SeaWind Line
SeaWind Line was a subsidiary of the Finnish passenger shipping company Silja Line, later owned by the Estonian company Tallink. In 2010, the Sea Wind brand ceased to exist and the remaining ship, MS ''Sea Wind'', was transferred to Tallink colo ...
owned by Silja Line and then by Tallink, trafficking the Turku-Stockholm route from the 1990s to 2008.
Around 2017 Estonia overtook Sweden for the first time as the most popular ship travel destination among the Finns. On the other hand, travel to Finland among the Swedes has increased.
The greater effect of the cruiseferries
![GTS Finnjet Helsinki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/GTS_Finnjet_Helsinki.jpg)
The frequent passenger and car traffic between Finland and Sweden served as an inspiration and development of cruiseferry operations worldwide, particularly from Finland and Sweden to other destinations. The largest and fastest cruiseferry in the world,
GTS ''Finnjet'' was built at the Wärtsilä Helsinki shipyard in 1977, which trafficked from Helsinki to
Travemünde
Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...
in Germany. Already a decade before
Finnlines
Finnlines Plc ( fi, Finnlines Oyj, sv, Finnlines Abp) is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Bal ...
had trafficked to Travemünde and
Visby
Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...
in
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
first on the
MS ''Hansa Express'' from
Hanko Hanko may refer to
People
*August Hanko (military personnel), August Hanko, German First World War flying ace
Places
*Hanko, Finland, town and municipality
*Hanko Peninsula, Finland
*Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway
*The asteroid ...
and then on the
MS ''Finnhansa'' and the
MS ''Finnpartner'' from Helsinki.
In the early 1990s,
Hango Line tried to improve the Hanko-Visby route, and the Swedish company Jetson tried to improve the
Pori
)
, website www.pori.fi
Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...
-
Sundsvall
Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population.
History
Th ...
route previously trafficked by Wasa Line in the early 1970s, but neither of these attempts made it past the planning stage.
The Wärtsilä shipyard's experience in cruiseferry construction starting from ''Ilmatar'', ''Fennia'' and ''Nordia'' in the early 1960s expanded to international cruiseferries in 1968, when a Norwegian shipping company ordered the
MS ''Song of Norway'' from Finland.
After the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
had disbanded and the Baltic countries had regained inpendence, new ferry routes started rapidly appearing from Helsinki and Stockholm to
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
and other coastal cities on the Baltic Sea. After Estonia, Sweden and Finland had joined the European Union the Baltic Sea cruiseferry traffic became an important factor among free travel of tourists, goods and workforce between Finland, Sweden and Estonia. This created a need for other kinds of ships than cruiseferries along the different-length routes on the Baltic Sea, especially after tax-free sales had ended at the turn of the millennium. In addition to cruiseferries and ropax ships, other types of ships also appeared to serve the short route from Helsinki to Tallinn, such as
Linda Line
Linda Line was the brand name of ''Lindaliini AS'', an Estonian ferry company operating between Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland. Its high-speed passenger ferry ''Karolin'' was the fastest vessel sailing between the two cities, linking Ta ...
's
hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...
ships and
catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
s and
SuperSeaCat's
pump-jet
A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet is a marine system that produces a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller (axial-flow pump), a centrifugal pump, or a mixed flow pump which is a combination of both ...
express ships. Among the first cruiseferries especially designed for the Helsinki-Tallinn route as the fast 2008 ship
MS ''Viking XPRS'', which became the ferry to transport the most passengers along the route in the 2010s.
Criticism
The Baltic Sea cruiseferries and travel on them are a multi-faceted phenomenon of life, which has received diverse criticism, mostly because of environmental reasons. The pollution caused by the cruiseferries was at its worst after the
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
when the ferries used heavy
fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
containing even three percent
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
. The ferries later switched to lighter fuel oil and other technical solutions were also sought. For example from 1988 to 1990 the ferries'
sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
emissions were reduced from 300 tonnes to 50 tonnes per year. Navigating larger and larger ships through narrow straits and at tightly-packed piers at city centres has been a subject of discussion both at the
Stockholm Archipelago and on the Finnish coast. The large cruiseferries are said to bring the wave situations from the outern archipelago to the inner archipelago, which changes the collection of species and furthers
eutrophication
Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...
.
Maritime safety issues become a point for some time every time something happens to the Baltic Sea cruiseferries. The largest controversy, which led to various actions, resulted from the
sinking of the MS ''Estonia'' in September 1994.
About 60 percent of the state income originally meant for cargo ships and other utilitarian ships, explained with
preparedness
Preparedness is a research-based set of actions that are taken as precautionary measures in the face of potential disasters. Preparedness is an important quality in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes.
There are differ ...
, went to "entertainment maritime transit" meaning passenger ships in the middle 2010s.
As the cruiseferries have become more entertainment-centric and cabin travel has increased there has been more and more discussion about moral issues on cruiseferry travel from alcohol consumption to free sexual relations.
Tens of people have disappeared from the cruiseferries throughout the decades, almost all of them young men. Journalist
Riku Rantala has investigated the matter and has published a four-hour podcast called ''M/S Mystery'' about the matter in 2022.
[Rantala, Riku: ]
M/S Mystery
', YLE
Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...
Areena 28 February 2022. Accessed on 27 May 2022.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
{{Wikivoyage, Baltic Sea ferries
Duty Free on Arrival- Consumer information for duty-free shopping on ferry boats.
Cruiseferries
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while ot ...
Cruiseferries
Transport in Helsinki
Transport in Turku
Transport in Stockholm
Water transport in Finland
Transport in Tallinn
Water transport in Sweden
Water transport in Estonia