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.
Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from Åland.
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 Mega Regina is a cruiseferry owned by Corsica Ferries. She was formerly owned and operated by Viking Line as MS Mariella. She was built by the Wärtsilä Perno shipyard in Turku, Finland and delivered to SF Line in 1985. Her sister ship is the Olympia. Mariella was the world's largest cruiseferry from 1985 until 1989, when the accolade passed on to her Viking Line fleetmate MS Athena. Mariella was sold to Corsica Ferries in 2021 and renamed Mega Regina. The ship started traffic on the Mediterranean Sea in summer 2021.
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. Reports in August 2023 that it had been sold for service as Erena with the Japanese operator Shimizu Cruises in 2024, on September 12, 2023 Celestyal Cruises reported that the Celestyal Crystal was not going to be given for Shimizu Cruises this 2024, because Shimizu Cruises is a fake cruise company, it is then that the Celestyal Crystal is officially for sale and will not be transferred to a Japanese cruise company.
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.
The MS Bluefort was an accommodation vessel owned by the Canadian-based company Bridgemans Services Group LP. She was built in 1979 as a car/passenger ferry by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany as Diana II av Slite for Rederi AB Slite for use in Viking Line's traffic. She has also sailed under the names Diana II, Vironia, Mare Balticum, Meloodia and ARV 1.
The MS Rigel III is a cruiseferry owned by the Greek-based company Ventouris Ferries. She was built in 1979 as MS Turella by Wärtsilä Turku shipyard, Finland for SF Line for use in Viking Line traffic. In 1988 she was sold to Stena Line, becoming MS Stena Nordica. In 1996, she was transferred to Lion Ferry and was renamed MS Lion King. In 1998, she was sold to Tallink and renamed MS Fantaasia. As Fantaasia she also sailed under charter to Algérie Ferries, Comanav and Kystlink during the years 2005–2008. Following the end of her charter to Kystlink in 2008 the latter company bought her, renaming her MS Kongshavn. After Kystlink was declared bankrupt in late 2008 the ship was laid up until sold to the Croatia-based ferry operator Blue Line International, and operated on their service between Split and Ancona as MS Regina della Pace. In 2017 the ship was sold to the Greek-based company Ventouris Ferries and is currently operating on the route Bari-Durres.
MS Regina Baltica is a cruiseferry owned by the Spanish shipping company Balearia. She was built in 1980 as Viking Song by Wärtsilä Perno shipyard, Finland for Rederi Ab Sally, one of the owners of the Viking Line consortium. She has also sailed under the names Braemar and Anna Karenina.
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.
Sally Cruise was a wholly owned subsidiary of Rederi Ab Sally, Finland that operated cruise ships on the Baltic Sea between the years 1986 and 1992. It was merged into Silja Line 1992.
Rederi Ab Sally was a Finnish shipping company founded in 1937 by Algot Johansson. Originally a tanker operator, Sally became a dominant member of the Viking Line shipping consortium in the 1970s. The company met bad times in the 1980s and was bought by its rivals Effoa and Johnson Line in 1987. In 1990 the operations of Sally, Effoa and Johnson Line were merged into EffJohn and Rederi Ab Sally ceased to exist as an independent company.
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.
SF Line was the name of the Finnish shipping company now known as Viking Line. The company, originally named Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan, was one of three shipping companies that formed shipping marketing company Viking Line in 1966, the other two being Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen and Rederi AB Slite. After the other companies left Viking Line in 1988 and 1993 respectively, SF Line stood as the sole owner of Viking Line. As a result, SF Line changed its name to Viking Line in 1995.
Sally Line UK was a British ferry operator on the English Channel and North Sea.
The MS Viking 1 was a car and passenger ferry delivered to Rederi Ab Sally for use in Viking Line traffic between Naantali, Finland and Kapellskär, Sweden. She operated this route in Viking Line colours between 1970 and 1982.
The MS C.T.M.A. Vacancier is a car/passenger ferry operated by Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (CTMA) on their Montreal–Cap-aux-Meules service. She was built in 1973 by the J.J. Sietas Schiffswerft in Hamburg, West Germany as Aurella for SF Line for use on Viking Line traffic. Between 1982 and 1998 she sailed as Saint Patrick II, between 1998 and 2000 as Egnatia II, in 2000 as Ville de Séte and between 2001 and 2002 as City of Cork, before being sold to her current owners.
The MV Lucky Star was a ferry previously operated by TransEuropa Ferries between 1999 and April 2013 as MV Larkspur. After TEF went bankrupt in April 2013 the ship has remained laid up in Ostend in Belgium. She was sold in December 2013 to an unknown buyer and then sold again to Oilchart, a local bunkering company, for more than E400K. Her name was then shortened to Larks. She briefly served with the Greek ferry operator Egnatia Seaways but after financial issue from within Egnatia she was laid up and was renamed Lucky Star on the 01/09/2014 and was registered to Velenio Shipping Co Ltd, Athens, Greece at the same time of her renaming.
The 1987 Viking Sally murder is a homicide which took place on 28 July 1987 aboard the cruiseferry MS Viking Sally, en route from Stockholm, Sweden, to Turku, Finland. An assailant attacked two West German tourists, Klaus Schelkle and Bettina Taxis, killing the former and seriously injuring the latter. In September 2020, Finnish police announced charges against a suspect and passed the case on to prosecutors. In June 2021, the suspect was acquitted. The crime remains unsolved.
