SSG No 10 - Shipgaz

MADlI VITISMANN SHIPPING AND SHIP MANAGEMENT
When the Viking XPRS (left) called at Tallinn for the first time April 28, the Superstar (centre) had already been there
in traffic for a week. The Nordlandia (right) keeps up the competition on the Tallinn–Helsinki run.
Fleets are modernising
New ships will be built for several
Estonian shipowners this year in
spite of the fact that shipping aid
has become maritime aid and that
only EEK 1.8 million was actually paid
out of the 30 million allocated to
support shipping. Nevertheless, some
shipowners are ordering new ships
and selling older ones.
Estonia
All six companies involved in passenger
transport in the Gulf of Finland are still in
competition, but they are replacing their
ships with more modern ones.
Last spring Tallink introduced Star, a
large and fast ferry, which travels on the
Tallinn-Helsinki route all year round. This
year Superstar joined it. At the beginning
of the summer the Baltic Princess, painted
in various shades of red, will replace Gal-
axy, a cruise ferry adorned with blue sky
and clouds, which will be leaving for the
Turku–Stockholm route.
The keel for the next cruise ferry has also
been laid. The company has sold the ropax
ship Sky Wind, the ferries Meloodia
(ex Mare Balticum, ex Diana II) and Fantaasia.
The fast ferry Tallink Autoexpress 2
was provided for charter to Venezuela and
the Superfast IX to Canada.
The keel for the first of the three new
ferries of the Saaremaa Shipping Company
will be laid in May. Last year the majority
shareholder of the company decided to
gather all its companies under the name
Tuule Grupp.
Tallink’s competitors survive
Only a week after delivery of Superstar,
Viking Line started to operate its new ferry,
Viking XPRS. Linda Line has sold its
hydrofoil Jaanika and is awaiting another
ship like the Merilin, a larger and more seaworthy
fast ferry.
Eckerö Line and Nordic Jetline are continuing
as before. Half of Sea Containers
Finland Oy, which operates the Superseacats,
has been sold to Greece, but two fast
ferries will continue transporting passengers
from Tallinn to Helsinki. Copterline,
a competitor of the fast ferry companies,
has relaunched flights between the ports
of Tallinn and Helsinki after a three-year
hiatus, but with a helicopter of a different
type.
Since Estonia became a member of the
Schengen visa space, travelling by ship has
become more convenient as there are no
longer any passport queues in ports. This
benefit was first felt at the end of 2007;
before then the number of passengers on
the Tallinn–Helsinki route had dropped by
169,000.
However, the remaining 6.5 million pas-
36 SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • MAY 16, 2008