MS Viking Cinderella

MS ''Viking Cinderella'' is a cruiseferry built in 1989 at Wärtsilä Marine Perno Shipyard in Turku, Finland, as MS ''Cinderella'' for SF Line, one of the owners of the Viking Line consortium. She is currently used on the Helsinki-Mariehamn-Stockholm route.

History

The ''Cinderella'' was planned in the later half of the 1980s as the new flagship for SF Line. Her interior layout was based on that of MS ''Mariella'' but with more space and additional facilities. SF Line originally planned the ''Cinderella'' to take over the ''Mariella''s place in Helsinki–Stockholm traffic (the ''Mariella'' would have been placed on a new route from Helsinki to Norrköping). The plan was never realised however, and when completed the ''Cinderella'' was placed as a third ship on the Helsinki–Stockholm route, with departures from Helsinki on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (at 19:30 instead of the normal 18:00), with a 25-hour (later 24-hour) cruise from Helsinki on Sundays. The one-day cruises proved very popular and after a few years they were made also on Fridays and Saturdays.
In 1993, after the other Viking Line partner Rederi AB Slite went bankrupt, the ''Cinderella'' took over MS ''Olympia'''s place on the Helsinki–Stockholm route, sailing in tandem with the ''Mariella''. At this time her passenger capacity was upgraded to 2,700, but it was soon lowered back to 2500. In autumn 1994 she swapped routes with MS ''Isabella'', returning to making 24 (later 20) hour cruises from Helsinki to Tallinn. In summers 1995 and 1996 Cinderella sailed on the Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route, freeing MS ''Rosella'' for the seasonal Naantali–Mariehamn–Kapellskär route. In summers 2002 and 2003 ''Cinderella'' made cruises from Helsinki to Riga in addition to the normal 20 hour Tallinn cruises.

Viking Line decided to withdraw ''Cinderella'' from the Helsinki–Tallinn route after the end of the 2003 summer seasons, due to increased competition from Tallink's newer MS ''Romantika'' and the fact that tax-free sales on the route would end in 2004 when Estonia joined the EU. ''Cinderella'' was extensively rebuilt in Naantali, and emerged as the all-white Swedish-flagged ''Viking Cinderella'' for the Stockholm–Mariehamn 22-hour cruise market. The name change was dictated by necessity as a ship called Cinderella already existed in the Swedish ship registry. In 2003 the ''Viking Cinderella'' was declared the most environmentally friendly ship of her size in the world by the Swedish maritime authorities. From 2004 onwards ''Viking Cinderella'' made cruises to Riga (via Mariehamn in order to sell tax-free goods) during the summer season in addition to the 22-hour cruises. ''Viking Cinderella'' was the ship used in Sweden's Kanal 5 reality show ''Färjan''. Negotiations were underway to restore the Stockholm-Mariehamn-Riga route in 2024.

MS ''Viking Cinderella'' is the only ship left in the Viking Line fleet to sail under Swedish flag after MS ''Rosella'' and MS ''Viking XPRS'' were reflagged to Finland and Estonia in January 2014.

After the joint purchase of '' MS Birka Stockholm'' with Rederi AB Gotland, Viking Line announced that ''Viking Cinderella'' will be replaced on the Stockholm–Mariehamn cruise service in early 2024. From March 2024, she has instead been employed on the Helsinki to Stockholm route. As a part of this move, the ''Viking Cinderella'' was reflagged to the Finnish flag.

See also

*Largest ferries of Europe

References

External links

Viking Line official website for M/S ''Viking Cinderella''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viking Cinderella
Ferries of Finland
Ferries of Sweden
Cruiseferries
Ships built in Turku
1989 ships