Tallink Silja

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 of the Tallink Grupp, handling marketing and sales for ''Tallink'' and ''Silja Line'' brands in Finland as well as managing Tallink Silja's ship employees. Another subsidiary, Tallink Silja AB, handles marketing and sales in Sweden. Strategical corporate management is performed by Tallink Grupp which also own the ships.

As of 2009 four ships service two routes under the Silja Line brand, transporting about three million passengers and 200,000 cars every year. The Silja Line ships have a market share of around 50 percent on the two routes served.

The Silja Line logo features the text ''Silja Line'' and a figure of a seal. Since 2014 the figure of the seal has been smiling. The famous theme tune heard in Silja Line's television commercials comes from the tune "Un homme et une femme" ("A man and a woman") by the French film composer Francis Lai.

History

1904–1957

The history of Silja Line can be traced back to 1904 when two Finnish shipping companies, Finland Steamship Company (, FÅA for short) and Steamship Company Bore, started collaborating on Finland–Sweden traffic. The initial collaboration agreement was terminated in 1909, but re-established in 1910. After World War I in 1918 a new agreement was made that also included the Swedish Rederi AB Svea. Originally the collaboration agreement applied only on service between Turku and Stockholm, but it was also applied to the Helsinki–Stockholm route in 1928. As a precursor to the policies later adopted by Silja Line, each of the three companies ordered a near-identical ship for Helsinki–Stockholm service to coincide with the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki. Eventually only Finland SS Co.'s was ready in time for the Olympics. At this time the city of Helsinki constructed the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki's South Harbour, which Silja Line's ships still use.

1957–1970

Realising that car-passenger ferries would be the dominant traffic form in the future, the three collaborating companies decided to form a daughter company, ''/''.Valkeat laivat: Siljavarustamo perustetaan
, retrieved 9 October 2007 The new company started out with used ships, which were not particularly well-fitted for the role they were meant for, but in 1961 Silja took delivery of the new , the first purpose-built car-passenger ferry in the northern Baltic Sea. ''Skandia''s sister followed the next year and the era's giant in 1966.Valkeat laivat: Uusia laivoja, uusia linjoja
, retrieved 9 October 2007 Two more ships based on the ''Skandia'' design, and , were delivered in 1967 and 1970 respectively.

Despite the establishment of Silja, FÃ…A, Bore and Svea also continued to operate on the same routes with their own ships. This led to a somewhat complex situation where four different companies were marketed as one entity. In Finland they went by the name ('Sweden's Ships' or 'Ships to Sweden') whereas in Sweden the preferred terms were (roughly 'the ones that sail together'), ('Finland's Ships') or ('Sweden Ships'). In both countries the names of all four companies were usually displayed alongside the group identity.

1970–1980

In 1967 three of Silja's rival companies had formed a joint marketing and coordination company, Viking Line, which was to become Silja Line's main rival for the next two decades. FÅA, Bore and Svea soon realised that a similar arrangement would be preferable to their current fragmented image, and in 1970 a big change was carried out within the organisations: Silja Line was established as a joint marketing and coordination company between FÅA, Bore and Svea, and the ships of Siljavarustamo were divided between these three. All Silja Line ships were painted in the same colour scheme, with a white hull and superstructure, with ''Silja Line'' and the seal's head logo on the side in dark blue.Valkeat laivat: Ympäri vuoden Helsingistä
, retrieved 9 October 2007 Each company retained their own funnel colours, so it was easy to distinguish which ship belonged to which company even from a distance: Svea's funnels were white with a large black ''S'', FÃ…A's were black with two white bands, and Bore's were yellow with a blue/white cross.

Already before the reorganisation Silja had ordered two new ships from Dubigeon-Normandie S.A. of Nantes to begin year-round service between Helsinki and Stockholm (until then the route was summers only). In 1972 these were delivered to FÅA and Svea as and , respectively. Passenger numbers on the Helsinki route grew fast and already in 1973 it was decided that the three companies would each order a ship of identical design from the same shipyard to replace the current Helsinki–Stockholm ships. These were delivered in 1975, first and , followed by in December. However, winter passenger numbers were insufficient for three ships, and as a result ''Bore Star'' was chartered to Finnlines during the winters of 1975–76 and 1976–77. In 1976 Finland SS Co changed its name to Effoa (the Finnish phonetic spelling of FÅA).Valkeat laivat: Svea, FÅA ja Bore
, retrieved 9 October 2007 During the latter part of the 1970s Effoa's old ferries and cruised the Baltic, Norwegian fjords and the Atlantic (from Málaga) under the marketing name ''Silja Cruises''.

1980–1986

In 1979 Svea and Effoa decided again to order new ships for the Helsinki–Stockholm route, which would be the largest ferries of their time. Bore, however, decided not to participate in building new ships, and in 1980 opted to bow out of passenger traffic altogether (Bore Line still exists as a freight-carrying company). Their two ships were sold to Effoa and their shares of Silja Line split between the two other companies. In Finland, and later in Sweden, a large maritime strike in spring 1980 stopped ferry traffic completely and prompted Effoa to terminate the Silja Cruises service.Valkeat laivat: Valkeat kaunottaret saapuvat
, retrieved 9 October 2007

Despite the difficulties Silja's first real cruiseferries, and , entered service in 1981, which led to a 45% raise in passenger numbers. Late in the same year Johnson Line purchased Rederi AB Svea, and the former Svea ships received Johnson Line's blue/yellow colours. The good experiences with the new Helsinki ships prompted Effoa and Johnson Line to order two ships built on a similar principle for traffic on the Turku–Stockholm route, which were delivered in 1985 and 1986 as and . Although similar in proportions and interior layout, the new ships sported an attractive streamlined superstructure instead of the box-like superstructure of ''Finlandia'' and ''Silvia Regina''.

1987–1992

1987 was a very eventful year for Silja. Effoa had purchased the famously fast the previous year and from the beginning of 1987 the prestigious but unprofitable "Queen of the Baltic Sea" joined Silja Line's fleet. Later in the same year Effoa and Johnson Line jointly purchased Rederi Ab Sally, one of the owners of their rival Viking Line. The other Viking Line partners forced the new owners to sell their share in Viking, but Effoa and Johnson Line retained Vaasanlaivat / Vasabåtarna, Sally Cruises, Sally Ferries UK and Commodore Cruise Line. Although the purchase of Sally had no effect on Silja Line's traffic for the time being, it proved to be important later. Finally 1987 saw another order of new ships for the Helsinki–Stockholm route, which would again be the largest ferries ever built, eventually named and . Not revealed at the time, the new ships had a 140-meter promenade-street running along the center of the ship, a feature never seen before in a ship, but by the first decade of the 21st century commonly found on Royal Caribbean International's and Color Line's newer ships.

In late 1989 Wärtsilä Marine, the shipyard building Silja's new cruiseferries, went bankrupt, which led to the ships being delivered later than had been planned. To ensure the delivery of their ferries Effoa and Johnson Line both purchased a part of the new Masa-Yards established to continue shipbuilding in Wärtsilä's former shipyards.

Nineteen-ninety saw the realisation of an old vision: Effoa and Johnson Line merged to form EffJohn. As a result, the seal's head logo replaced the colours of each individual owner company on the funnel. In November the new MS ''Silja Serenade'' made its maiden voyage from Helsinki to Stockholm, approximately seven months after the original planned delivery date. MS ''Silja Symphony'' was delivered the following year. Although popular and sporting a successful design, the new ships had been very expensive. This expense, coupled with the depression in the early 1990s, forced EffJohn to cut costs, which resulted in Wasa Line and Sally Cruises being merged into Silja Line in 1992. Also in 1992, ''Svea'' and ''Wellamo'' were modernised and renamed ''Silja Karneval'' and ''Silja Festival'', respectively.Valkeat laivat: Loistoristelijöiden ja tappiovuosien aikakausi
, retrieved 9 October 2007

1993–2006

The year 1993 began with a bang. In January it was reported that Silja Line had chartered , a ship under construction for Rederi AB Slite, one of the owners of Viking Line. Because of financial troubles Slite could not pay for their new ship, and the shipyard decided to charter it to Silja instead. Later in the same year Silja joined forces with Euroway on their Malmö–Travemünde–Lübeck route. The route proved unprofitable and was terminated in spring 1994.

was grounded outside Helsinki in spring 1994 and suffered major damage, which prompted Silja to give up traffic on her. September 1994 saw the largest peace-time maritime disaster on the Baltic Sea, the sinking of . ''Silja Europa'', ''Silja Symphony'' and ''Finnjet'' all assisted in searching for survivors from the disaster. ''Silja Festival'' was berthed opposite ''Estonia'' in Tallinn the day before the sinking, but she was in Helsinki when ''Estonia'' sank and did not come to her assistance. The ''Estonia'' sinking led to passenger numbers dropping, which did not help Silja's precarious financial situation. The company was now the largest on the Baltic Sea, having finally overtaken Viking Line in 1993, but financially it was not doing well. In 1995 Effjohn changed their name to Silja Oy Ab. Three years later the name was changed again, this time to Neptun Maritime.

In 1999 Silja faced two big changes. Tax-free sales ended on routes between EU countries, which forced the Helsinki–Stockholm ships to start calling at Mariehamn in Åland, whose autonomous status within Finland allowed them to stay outside the EU tax union after the country joined the EU in 1994 and so avoid the end of tax-fee sales. A bigger change was Sea Containers purchasing the majority of Neptun Maritime's shares. In 2000 the new owners brought one of their Super SeaCats into service on the Helsinki–Tallinn route and Neptun Maritime again changed its name, this time to Silja Oyj Abp. In the same year the route between Vaasa and Umeå was terminated as unprofitable.Valkeat laivat: Uudet tuulet puhaltavat
, retrieved 9 October 2007

By 2004 Sea Containers owned Silja Line entirely. The company was doing well financially and all seemed to be going well. However, Sea Containers' other operations were not as profitable and in late 2005 they announced their intent to give up their ferry division completely; this naturally including selling Silja Line. In preparation for the sale the unprofitable ''Finnjet'' and were taken out of service and transferred under Sea Containers' ownership. ''Silja Serenade'' and ''Symphony'' were also rebuilt in early 2006 to make them more attractive to potential buyers.

2006–present

May 2006 saw the sale of Silja Line to the Estonian Tallink. The SuperSeaCats trafficking between Helsinki and Tallinn were not included in the sale as their purchase would have given Tallink a dominant market position on the route, which would have resulted in the competition regulators of Finland and Estonia not approving the sale. As a result, Sea Containers, after barely a year before announcing their intention to give up the ferry business completely, continued operating them under the SuperSeaCat brand. In late 2006 the land organisations of Tallink and Silja Line were reorganised in Finland so that Tallink Finland and Superfast Finland were merged into Oyj Silja Abp, which now took care of all Finnish operations of Tallink/Silja. Shortly afterwards Oyj Silja Abp was renamed into Tallink Silja Oy. Similarly the land organisations in Sweden became Tallink Silja AB.

Tallink stated that it intended to keep the Silja Line brand separated from Tallink. However, most Silja Line marketing in Finland and Sweden has since the takeover been made under the combined Tallink Silja name.

In July 2008, the Tallink ship replaced the ''Silja Festival'' on the Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route. The ''Galaxy'' was flagged to SwedenTurun Sanomat 16 October 2007: Enn Pant uskoo Galaxyn nostavan matkustajien määrää Turun-reitillä
retrieved 16 October 2007 and the text Silja Line was painted on her hull sides. The Tallink logo remained on her funnel and the Navitrolla route, her funnel repainted in Tallink colours and the text Tallink painted on her sides.

In October 2009, the Managing Director of Silja Line (Tallink Silja Oy), Keijo Mehtonen, retired and Margus Schults was appointed to the post.

In February 2013 switched routes with the , with ''Baltic Princess'' now placed on the Turku–Stockholm route and ''Silja Europa'' on Helsinki–Tallinn cruises.

In July 2022, Tallink announced that MS ''Galaxy'' would be withdrawn in September 2022 from the Turku–Stockholm service for at least seven months. One month later, it was announced that ''Galaxys sister ship on the same route, MS ''Baltic Princess'', at the same time would abandon calls at Mariehamn and Stockholm, instead calling at Långnäs and Kapellskär respectively. Tallink states that these changes are temporary and that full service would resume after the market downturn.

Fleet

Current fleet

Former ships

Ships that are still in use are marked in green.

Terminals

Silja Line has five terminals, of which four are in Finland (two in mainland Finland and two in Ã…land) and one in Sweden.

Finland
* Helsinki: Olympia Terminal. Served by Helsinki tram lines 2 and 3.
* Turku: Linnansatama. Served by the Port of Turku railway station and bus line 1.
* Mariehamn: Västhamnen. Served by the Mariehamn city bus.
* Lumparland: Långnäs.

Sweden
* Stockholm: Värtahamnen.

Mascot

Harri Hylje is Silja Line's seal mascot and the company's signature animal appearing in its logo. A living Harri Hylje figure appears on Silja Line ships especially on weekends and on school holiday periods.

History

The seal logo originated in 1967, allegedly half-accidentally from word play. During a brainstorming meeting among the marketing department, someone said in Swedish: "Who could bring some comfort for a thirsty soul?" The Swedish word for "soul" is ''själ'', and in the archipelago it is pronounced similarly to the word for "seal", which is ''säl''. The company name Silja Line had not yet been invented at the time, instead the cooperating shipping companies Bore, Effoa and Svea used the marketing name ''Ruotsinlaivat'' ("The ships to Sweden") in Finland and ''De Samseglande Finlandsbåtarna'' ("The ships to Finland sailing together") in Sweden.Koski, Sami
Olipa kerran hylje...
, ''Valkeat laivat'' 8 August 2016. Accessed on 23 February 2019.

At first the seal figure in the company's advertisements had multiple appearances: it swam along the ships, jumped in the water, sometimes even wore sunglasses and looked different depending on the artist in Finnish and Swedish marketing. At the start of the 1970s, when the marketing name Silja Line was taken into use, the Finnish advertising graphic artist Viktor Kaltala and the Swedish Janne Sjöström spent a day and a half together to come up with a common seal character for the Silja Line Logo. The Silja Line seal logo has since been altered at least in 1972, 2012 and 2014.

In spring 2009 Tallink Silja donated one euro for each Harri Hylje mascot sold on board Silja Line ships to the WWF Finland Baltic Sea campaign ''Operaatio Merenneito'' ("Operation Mermaid"). The total amount of donations rose up to 11 thousand euro.

In autumn 2014 Tallink Silja, the advertising company Hasan & Partners and the outdoor advertising company JCDecaux produced an interactive advertising campaign based on the Harri Hylje figure at the tram stop outside the Helsinki Central railway station. Citizens could play or take selfies with a remotely controlled Harri Hylje figure shown on a video screen. The device printed gift cards for ferry cruises as a reward.

In 2018 the play equipment manufacturer Lappset produced Harri Hylje themed play ships for the ''Silja Serenade'' and the ''Silja Symphony

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