MSAallotar was a car-passenger ferry built in 1972 by Dubegion-Normandie S.A., Nantes, France for the Finland Steamship Company, who used her in traffic of the Silja Line marketing company. She was the first car/passenger ferry to operate between Helsinki and Stockholm, and the first ship to offer year-round service. She was later known under the names MS Rogalin, MS Edda and MS Celtic Pride. She was scrapped in 2004 in Aliağa, Turkey.
In 1970 the Finnish shipping company Oy Siljavarustamo - Siljarederiet Ab ordered two new carferries for Helsinki–Stockholm service from the French Dubegion-Normandie S.A. shipyard. During construction of the ships Silja's operations were reorganised, and the building contract for the first ship was transferred to Finland Steamship Company (FÅA). On 23 July 1971 the ship was christened MS Aallotar. She was delivered to FÅA on 17 February 1972, and on 29 February she was set in Silja Line traffic between Helsinki and Stockholm, becoming the first car/passenger ferry to operate on the route, and the first to operate the service around the year. In June she was joined in the route by her brand-new sister MSSvea Regina. In December 1972 she collided with a Swedishice breaker in the Stockholm archipelago, but was spared serious damage.
The new ships proved the Helsinki–Stockholm route to be highly lucrative, and by 1973 Silja Line's owner companies decided to order three larger ferries to replace the Aallotar and Svea Regina, to be delivered in 1975, so the groundbreaking Aallotar's service on the route was to be short. On 7 August 1973 the Aallotar was chartered for a special cruise around the Porkkala archipelago for the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. On 7 July 1975, after delivery of the new MSWellamo, the Aallotar was transferred to Turku–Mariehamn–Norrtälje service. She proved unprofitable on this freight-oriented line, and in August 1976 the Aallotar was laid up, waiting for a potential buyer. No buyer was found and between June and August 1977 the Aallotar was back in active service, sailing between Turku and Stockholm. After this she was again laid up, but only for a short while as in October 1977 she was chartered to Polferries, who set her on traffic between Helsinki and Gdańsk, Poland, without a change of name.
On 14 May 1978 Polferries bought the Aallotar from FÅA and renamed her MS Rogalin after a renowned village in Greater Poland. During the next four years she was used on the routes Helsinki–Gdańsk, Ystad–Świnoujście and Copenhagen–Świnoujście. In September 1979 the Rogalin collided with the Dutch tanker Coral Rubrum outside Porkkala. In May 1982 the Rogalin was transferred to Copenhagen–Travemünde service.
In May 1983 the Rogalin was chartered to the Icelandic company Faraskip until September of the same year. She was renamed M/S Edda and set in traffic between Reykjavík, Newcastle and Bremerhaven. After the charter ended she reverted to her old name and was again set in Polferries traffic. On 31 December 1985 she made a special cruise from Szczecin to London.
Between May and December 1987, and again between May and December 1988, the Rogalin was chartered to Swansea Cork Ferries for service between Swansea and Cork under the name MS Celtic Pride. Between the charters she returned again to the name Rogalin and was used in Polferries traffic. In March 1991 she was chartered to Swansea Cork Ferries for the third time, again under the name Celtic Pride. On the 12th of August 1992, a brother & sister aged 13 & 15 where found dead in their cabin during a routine sailing from Swansea to Cork due to being asphyxiated by fumes from the ship's toilet system caused by a leak in the sewage system. ( sourceThe charter ended in November 1992, and once again the ship returned to Polferries traffic under the name Rogalin. After this she was at least occasionally used on the route Gdańsk–Nynäshamn.
In July 1999 the Rogalin was reflagged to the Bahamas. From November 2002 onward she was used only on the route Ystad–Świnoujście. In July 2003 the 31-year-old ferry was taken out of service, laid up and put for sale. In October she was sold to Indian shipbreakers and on 25 November she arrived in Alang, India where she was scrapped.
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 MS Estonia was a cruiseferry built in 1980 for the Finnish company Rederi Ab Sally by Meyer Werft, in Papenburg, West Germany. She was employed on ferry routes between Finland and Sweden by various companies until 1993, when she was sold to Nordström & Thulin for use on Estline's Tallinn–Stockholm route. The ship's sinking on 28 September 1994, in the Baltic Sea between Sweden, Finland and Estonia, was one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters of the 20th century, claiming 852 lives.
MS Silja Serenade is a cruiseferry owned by the Estonian shipping company Tallink Grupp, operating under their Silja Line brand on a route connecting Helsinki to Stockholm via Mariehamn. She was built in 1990 by Masa-Yards at Turku New Shipyard, Finland. From 26 June 2020, to 13 September 2020, the ship's route was Helsinki–Riga, which got replaced by the cruiseferry MS Baltic Queen.
Mega Andrea is a cruiseferry owned and operated by Corsica Ferries Sardinia Ferries. She was formerly owned and operated by the Estonia-based Tallink as the MS Silja Festival, and used on their route connecting Riga, Latvia to Stockholm, Sweden. She was built in 1986 by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland, for Effoa as MS Wellamo for use on Silja Line traffic. She was rebuilt in 1992 at Lloyds Werft, Bremerhaven, Germany as Silja Festival. In 2008 the ship was transferred from the Silja Line fleet to that of Tallink, but she retained her Silja-prefixed name. After being replaced by MS Isabelle on the Stockholm-Riga route in May 2013 she was chartered as an accommodation ship to Kitimat, British Columbia. She was then sold in early 2015 to Corsica Ferries.
Celestyal Crystal is a cruise ship, operated between 2007 and 2023 by the Cyprus-based Louis Group's Louis Cruise Lines and Celestyal Cruises. The ship was originally built as the cruiseferry Viking Saga in the 1980 at Wärtsilä Perno Shipyard and Turku Shipyard, Turku, Finland for Rederi Ab Sally. In 1986 she was renamed Sally Albatross, and rebuilt into a cruise ship the following year. The ship was destroyed by a fire in 1990, and completely rebuilt at Finnyards, Rauma, Finland. She was re-delivered in 1992, still named Sally Albatross. After partially sinking 1994 she was rebuilt at Industrie Navali Meccaniche Affini, La Spezia, Italy, re-entering service as Leeward for Norwegian Cruise Line. Subsequently she sailed as SuperStar Taurus for Star Cruises, Silja Opera for Silja Line. After being temporarily renamed Opera she was in service with Louis Group as Louis Cristal and later Celestyal Crystal.
Rederi AB Slite was a Swedish shipping company, founded in 1947. The company was one of the three founding companies of Viking Line. Rederi AB Slite went bankrupt in 1993.
Tallink is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It owns Silja Line and a part of SeaRail. Tallink Hotels runs four hotels in Tallinn. It is also the co-owner of a taxi company Tallink Takso.
Polferries is the largest Polish ferry operator. The Polish Baltic Shipping Company was established on 31 January 1976 as a state-owned shipping company. Under the operating name Polferries, the company runs ferry routes across the Baltic Sea between Poland and Scandinavia.
MS Mega Smeralda is a cruiseferry owned by Medinvest and operated by Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries. She was built in 1985 by Wärtsilä at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, for Johnson Line as MS Svea for use in Silja Line traffic. Between 1992 and 1994, she sailed for Silja Line as MS Silja Karneval and, between 1994 and 2008, for Color Line as MS Color Festival.
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 others use the ships as means of transportation.
MS Bore is a combination museum and hotel ship docked permanently in Turku, Finland. She was originally built in 1960 by Oskarshamn shipyard, Oskarshamn, Sweden as the car/passenger ferry SS Bore for Steamship Company Bore, Finland, then the last commercial steam ship built in Scandinavia and the first ferry on the route between Finland and Sweden where cars could drive aboard. She was later known as SS Borea, before being rebuilt as a cruise ship in 1988. 1988 to 2010 she was owned by the Finnish shipping company Kristina Cruises and known as MS Kristina Regina until she was retired because she did not comply with new safety regulations.
MS Rahal was a car-passenger ferry owned by Bayway Shipping Co and sailing on the Red Sea. She was built in 1972 by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany as Diana for Rederi AB Slite and later she was named Botnia Express, Alandia, Jamaa II and Rahal.
The MS Bore Star was a cruiseferry owned by Chryses Finance Co. and operated by Ilion Lines on their Trieste–Durres–Bari service. She was built in 1975 by Dubegion-Normandie, Nantes, France as Bore Star for Steamship Company Bore, which used her in Silja Line services on the Baltic Sea. During the northern hemisphere winter months she was chartered to Finnlines for cruise services on the African west coast. In 1980 she was sold to Finland Steamship Company and renamed Silja Star but retained in Silja Line service. Between 1986 and 1992 she was used in different cruise and ferry services around the world for various operators under the names Orient Express, Club Sea, Eurosun and Orient Sun. In 1992 her ownership passed to Wasa Line and she was renamed Wasa Queen for Baltic Sea ferry service. In 1993 Wasa Line was merged into Silja Line and Wasa Queen returned to the Silja Line fleet. In 2001 she was sold to Star Cruises for use in Far Eastern ferry services and later casino cruising with its daughter company Cruise Ferries without a change in name. In 2008 Wasa Queen was withdrawn from service and in 2009 sold to her current owners.
MS Svea Corona was a car-passenger ferry built in 1975 by Dubegion-Normandie S.A., Nantes, France for Rederi AB Svea, Sweden for Silja Line traffic. She was later rebuilt as a cruiseship and known under names MS Sundancer and MS Pegasus. She was scrapped in 1995 in Aliağa, Turkey.
Finland Steamship Company was a Finnish shipping company founded in 1883 by Captain Lars Krogius. In Finnish and Swedish, the company was usually referred to simply as FÅA. In 1976, the company changed its name to Effoa, a phonetic spelling of the abbreviation FÅA.
The Baltic Sea is crossed by several cruiseferry lines. Some important shipping companies are Viking Line, Silja Line, Tallink, St. Peter Line and Eckerö Line.
MS Saga is a cruiseferry owned by the Swedish shipping company Stena Line and was operating mainly on their route connecting Oslo, Norway to Frederikshavn, Denmark until March 2020, after that the route was closed down. She was built as MS Silvia Regina in 1981 by Wärtsilä in Turku, Finland, for Rederi AB Svea for use in Silja Line traffic. The ship joined the Stena Line fleet in 1991, originally with the name MS Stena Britannica.
MS Svea Regina was a car and passenger ferry, built in 1972 by the Dubigeon Normandie shipyard in Nantes, France for Rederi AB Svea for use in Silja Line traffic. She subsequently sailed under the names Regina, Mediterranean Sun, Odysseas Eleytis, Scandinavia Sky, Tallink, El Tor, Monte Carlo and El Safa, until scrapped in Alang, India in 2005. As Svea Regina she was, together with her sister MS Aallotar, the first ship to start year-round daily traffic between Helsinki and Stockholm, the capitals of Finland and Sweden, respectively.
The MS Jupiter was a cruiseferry owned and operated by Vietnamese Jupiter Cruises. The vessel operated cruises between Sihanoukville and the island of Phú Quốc. It sank November 2017 with 17 deaths, having been moored since 2010. This ship not to be confused with Viking Jupiter(2019)
M/S Dalmatia was a cruiseferry owned by the Croatia-based ferry operator Blue Line International operating the Ancona - Hvar route. She was built in 1978 as M/S Pomerania for Polferries.
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