This is the updated English version of my article that was published in the 1/2017 edition of Ulkomatala, there translated to Finnish by Olli Tuominen and Kalle Id.
Over the past years there has been a lot of fuss and scandals around the Estonian island ferries, most notably those connecting the mainland to the two largest islands, Saaremaa (Virtsu - Kuivastu) and Hiiumaa (Rohuküla - Heltermaa). In fact, it could almost be said that few people remember any times at all when there wasn't any fuss around the said ferry services.
As I mentioned in the end of my previous post, it was well known to me that to ensure the best progress with my studies, I would have to do 60 days of on-board training (OBT) during the first summer break. I admittedly had many doubts and worries about whether I'll manage to do that; while my school has very excellent opportunities for on-board training and there is a very nice and handy OBT placement system for students of Finnish maritime schools, I was worried that my still not very fluent Finnish skills would deter my opportunities there. However, it was during my very last course of the year when I was notified that I have been placed on a large ro-ro cargo ship called Finnsun for 60 days - just as I had requested, as my wish was to get it over with in one go. That was then some 4 days before I was due to board. Needless to say, I got very busy and on the 31st of May I took my suitcase and sat on the bus, bound for Kotka.
It has been well over a year since I've done ship introductions but in the light of recent news I think it's needed.
This is also the 50th post to this blog.
Name: MS Silja Europa
IMO number: 8919805
Built: 1993
Lenght: 201,8m
Beam: 32,5m
Draught: 6,8m
Tonnage: 59,914 GT
Type: Cruiseferry
Speed: 21,5 knots
Capacity: 3644 passengers, 932 lanemeters
Status: Chartered, currently in Paljassaare Harbour
Silja Europa was built in the Papenburg yard of Meyer Werft, which is known as the birthplace of many great passenger ships, among others many Costa, Norwegian, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean ships, the whole AIDA Sphinx class, but also the late Viking Sally, finally known as Estonia. Ever since her delivery she has not gone any farther than her birthplace, nor outside the Baltic Sea at all. She was initially built for Rederi AB Slite, which was a part of Viking Line, and was to be named Europa. She was the world's largest cruiseferry by gross tonnage until 2001 and still remains by far the largest by passenger capacity. In fact, she carries about as many passengers as the Royal Princess. She was also the location of the first ever floating McDonald's restaurant until 1996.
Europa at the shipyard in Viking Line colours, almost complete. http://www.simplonpc.co.uk
She was almost ready to be delivered, but then the Swedish krona was devaluated, leaving Slite unable to pay for her. She was then chartered to rival Silja Line, who finally bought her from the shipyard. She was initially placed on the Helsinki - Stockholm route. In September 1994 she was the first one to receive the mayday call of MS Estonia and her captain Esa Mäkelä initially led the rescue operation. In 1995 she was put on Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route where she served until early 2013, with minor exceptions. During her service she saw some incidents, just like all ships do. For example, in 1998 she collided with a small sailing boat in thick fog. The boat sunk and Silja Europa rescued the passengers with a lifeboat. In 1998 she crashed into the pier in Mariehamn due to strong winds. In 2000 she had problems with one of her propellers and was taken out of service for five days, in 2001 her autopilot broke down and she had to cancel a cruise. In 2009 she damaged her steering system and was taken to Gdansk for repairs.
In 2006 Silja Line was bought by Tallink, along with the Silja Europa. She continued sailing under the Silja Line brand until early 2013 and in her first 20 years of service she had the Silja Line livery with only minor changes over the years.
Silja Europa in her early years with white funnel and back doors.
www.simplonpc.co.uk
In January 2013 she swapped routes with Baltic Princess and started serving the Tallinn-Helsinki route, mainly cruises directed for the Finnish market. In addition to changing route she was transferred from Silja Line to Tallink. During that era I had the honour to go on board twice, first with the purpose of transport and a year ago I celebrated my birthday on a cruise. She still remains one of the mightiest and most impressive ships I've seen.
Approaching Helsinki in her latest livery
A bit less than a month ago I heard rumours that she would be taken out of service soon and later those rumours turned out to be true, as stated in the following press release, published on the 21st of July:
AS Tallink Grupp and Bridgemans Services Ltd. have entered into a charter agreement to charter the cruise ferry Silja Europa to Australia from August 2014 as an accommodation vessel.
The period of the charter is at least 14 months with an option to extend up to 48 months. In relation to the above initially the following re-routings are planned in our operations: Baltic Queen which is operating on Tallinn-Stockholm today will change to Tallinn-Helsinki route presumably on 7 August 2014 and Romantika which is operating on Riga-Stockholm route today will change to Tallinn-Stockholm route. Isabelle will continue the service on Riga-Stockholm route.
On the 6th of August she did her last crossings and since then she has been laid up in Paljassaare. From what I've heard, she will leave Tallinn in early September, possibly for good. The changes in the rest of Tallink's fleet may not be final either; I'll keep you updated. After she leaves the Baltic Sea, she will go farther than she has ever been before.
Just now I discovered that she has new owners, a new Portuguese cruise company Portuscale Cruises. She has been renamed Azores and even repainted. I would really like to see the 65 year-old lady to set sail again, and now things are looking promising. I hope her new owners will treat her well, and that she will serve them well for years to come.
www.schiffe-und-kreuzfahrten.de
P.S. In addition to being one of my favourite ships of those that I have written of, I've also found out that she was the first ship of an ancient ancestor of AIDA cruises. She sailed for them between 1960 and 1985 as Völkerfreundschaft. Obviously, she never had the famous face-like livery; that characteristic is about as old as I am.
Lefort was a warship of the Imperial Russian Navy, named after admiral Franz Lefort. She was a part of the Baltic fleet, and participated in the Crimean war.
After serving successfully for over twenty years, on the 22nd of September, 1857, she was sailing from Revel, now known as Tallinn, to Kronstadt, carrying the crew and their families. The sea was rough, and a gust of wind caused her to heel over and sink in only minutes, killing all 826 people on board. It was the deadliest shipwreck in the Baltic Sea until the sinking of Estonia almost 140 years later.
There is several theories about why she sank so fast. The ship's structures may have been weakened from carrying heavy loads and lack of proper maintenance. The cargo she was carrying may have been distributed poorly. Another theory says that the gun ports were open, letting in water when the ship listed.
On the 4th of May 2013, while searching for WW2 submarines, a group of divers found her wreck. It was quite well preserved. Remains of the people on board were found inside and on the wreck, which means that people probably tried to survive by climbing on the side of the heeled ship.
The ship I'm about to introduce you is special because she has been rebuilt entirely many times, the only thing that has stayed the same is the IMO number, which is used to identify a ship. Name: MSViking Saga
www.shipspotting.com
IMO number: 7827213 Built: 1980 Lenght: 145,2m Beam: 25,4m Draught: 5,5m Tonnage: 14,330 GT Type: Cruiseferry Speed: 21,3 knots Capacity: 2000 passengers, 426 cars Sister: Viking Song, now known as Regina Baltica
The Viking Saga, along with her sister Viking Song was one of the first genuine cruiseferries to follow Finnjet. Her design was heavily influenced by Finnjet as well. In 1979 - 1981 the traffic on Turku-Stockholm and Helsinki-Stockholm routes was increased a lot when both Viking Line and Silja Line put several new cruiseferries on the routes. Viking Saga was one of them, entering the Helsinki - Stockholm route and serving there for 6 years, until she was replaced by Olympia.
In 1986 she was rebuilt into a cruise ship, although she still kept her cardeck. She was renamed Sally Albatross and she was used for cruises on the Baltic Sea under the brand Sally Cruises.
In 1988 she was rebuilt again, more rooms were added from the cardeck and her outer appearance was changed remarkably, to a more streamlined and round appearance.
After the 1986 and 1988 refits her stats had changed:
She served as a cruise ship like that for two years.
In 1992, when she was docked in Sweden for a small interior reconstruction, a fire broke out. The sprinkler system was turned off for the docking, all water sources were dry and the watchman had just left for lunch. Since gas was used for the construction, extinction from inside the ship was very dangerous, and so the crew was evacuated and firefighting continued from outside the ship, which burned for three days. Luckily, no lives were lost. Here's a video about the fire.
And some photos of Sally Albatross after the fire. She was damaged beyond repair.
The remains were cut into pieces, and transported to Rauma, Finland, where the ship was rebuilt from the remains, leaving only the engines and the part of the hull below the waterline in tact. The new ship was longer and now a genuine cruise ship with no cardeck. Many sources count the result of this a new ship, but the IMO number and name remained the same. Most of the stats changed though:
After the new ship was ready, in 1992, she started doing Baltic Sea cruises similar to what she did before. In July she was used as a hotel and conference ship for Barcelona Summer Olympics. After the charter, she joined Silja Line's fleet, although her name and livery were kept the same.
In 1994 Sally Albatross ran aground near Porkkala. Her passengers were evacuated and she was left on the spot. Preparations to refloat her started immediately, but it proved to be difficult, taking over a month. It was once again a lucky accident, because no lives were lost.
After she was refloated and repaired, she was chartered to Norwegian Cruise Line until 2000 and renamed Leeward. She started doing Caribbean cruises in 1995.
In 2000 she was chartered to Star Cruises, renamed Superstar Taurus and used for cruises in Asia, until in 2001 the charter contract was broken, leaving her in Silja Line's fleet again. She sailed back to Europe and her interior was rebuilt for Baltic Sea cruises. She was then renamed Silja Opera and repainted to Silja Line's livery, and in 2002 she started cruising on Baltic Sea once again.
She was already infamous for all the accidents, and it was made worse when she collided with three ships in St. Petersburg, and a couple of months later with a Russian icebreaker. Therefore the cruises on her turned out to be unpopular and she was put up for sale.
In 2007, she was sold to Louis Cruise Lines and renamed Cristal. Ever since she has been doing Mediterranean cruises.
Finally, here's a before-and-after view of the same ship as she was built and as she is now.
Name: MS Allure of the Seas IMO number: 9383948 Built: 2010 Lenght: 362m Beam: 65m Draught: 9,3m Tonnage: 225,282 GT Type: Cruise ship Speed: 22,6 knots Decks: 16 passenger decks Capacity: max. 6,296 passengers Sister: Oasis of the Seas Status: In service Allure of the Seas, along with her sister Oasis of the seas, is mostly known for being the largest cruise ship in the world. Allure is actually some 5cm longer though, probably caused by temperature changes at the shipyard. There have not been any major events during her career, except several dangerous crossings during her voyage from Turku, where she was built, to her home at Port Everglades in Florida. The most notable of them was passing under the Storebaelt bridge. She had to pull in her funnels, and according to some sources, there was only 30cm of water under her at some point, which is not true though. There was actually several meters of it. Her operator, Royal Caribbean, recently announced a new class of cruise ships, first one to be finished next year, but they will not beat the size record. There have been several projects and discussions of possible new cruise ships larger than the Oasis and the Allure, but so far nothing very serious has been announced. A cruise ship as large as her obviously fits a lot, but I will not describe it all in text, because it will get too long and boring. Instead, here's some pictures for you to enjoy.
Name: GTS Finnjet IMO number: 7359632 Built: 1976 Lenght: 214,96m Beam: 25,4m Draught: 6,89m Tonnage: 32,975 GT Type: Cruiseferry Speed: 33,5 knots Decks: 10 public decks Capacity: 1781 passengers, 815 lanemeters Also known as: Da Vinci (2008); Kingdom (2008) Status: broken up in 2008-2009
Finnjet was built in 1976 especially for traffic between Helsinki and Travemünde. Many consider her the first genuine cruiseferry, and during her career she held many records.
Finnjet was originally her project name, and many other names were considered, for example Urho Kekkonen, who was the president of Finland at that time. Finally, it was decided that Finnjet would keep her name and she was christened on 28. April 1977, exactly 36 years ago.
Finnjet in her first, Finnlines livery
Since Finnjet was well over a decade ahead of her time, she was very prestigious, famous and loved. A well-known Finnish artist Kimmo Kaivanto did several paintings to decorate the ship, including a painting named Pictures of Finland, which was three decks high. Finnjet has had a piece of music written for her, medallions of her were released and she's the first ship to have a Lego model of her that anyone could buy on board. When Finnjet was launched, the Katajanokka terminal in Helsinki, now used by Viking Line, was built, and the Kustaanmiekka strait had to be widened to fit such a large ship.
Several newer ships, for example Regina Baltica and Princess Maria were clearly influenced by her.
Regina Baltica www.shipspotting.com
Princess Maria
Several companies have tried to use the name Finnjet for their later ships, but since Finnjet is a registered trademark owned by Finnlines, none have actually done so. During her first ten years in Finnlines' fleet, and later on with Silja Line she served on many routes, mostly between Helsinki, Tallinn, Rostock, Travemünde and St. Petersburg.
Finnjet and Cinderella in Helsinki
During her time in Silja Line's fleet, her interior was rebuilt several times, last time in 2004, when she was being prepared to enter the Tallinn - St. Petersburg - Rostock route. Although Finnjet's glory often made the operator keep her going even if it was unprofitable during her golden days, this was not the case, so when Tallinn - St. Petersburg - Rostock turned out unprofitable, the route was terminated and in 2005 she was put up for sale.
In winter 2005-2006, Finnjet was used to provide housing to university students who had lost their homes to hurricane Katrina. After that, she travelled from one owner to another, who usually had big plans to rebuild her into a cruise ship, or a casino ship etc., but when it came out that the cost of the plan was higher than anticipated, she was put up for sale and sold to the next owner with big plans.
Finnjet on Mississippi river
In May 2008 she was sold for scrap, but several efforts were made to save the mighty vessel. Due to foiled plans and misunderstandings, none of those efforts worked, so she arrived to a scrapyard in India in June. The good condition of her impressed the breakers and once again, efforts were made by several parties to get the ship back in traffic. Those efforts almost led to success, but during the time she was in India, the warm and damp climate had taken its toll on her, causing a serious mold infestation. That made her unsalvageable and she was taken apart. Her thick steel hull and very strong bulkheads made the process very difficult and more expensive than the scrap value.
Last days of GTS Finnjet
Finnjet's Records
Largest cruiseferry in the world in GRT (1977-1981)
Largest cruiseferry in the world in number of passengers (1977-1981)
Largest cruiseferry in the world in passenger berths (1977-1981)
First civilian vessel in the world equipped with ECDIS (1994)
First and only gas turbine powered cruiseferry in the world (1977-1996)
First and only combined gas turbine and diesel-electric ship in the world (1981-2000)
First cruiseferry in the world with a Lego model of it for sale
Longest cruiseferry in the world (1977-2001)
Largest gas turbine powered vessel in the world (1997-2002)
Fastest conventional cruiseferry in the world, with the max speed of 33,5 knots - still unbroken
Most powerful cruiseferry in the world with 66 400 kW - still unbroken
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