History
Sveabolaget was founded in the 1870s, receiving its first ship in 1872. Most of early Svea ships were steamers used as freighters around the world, carrying whatever cargo they could find from any port to any other port. In addition to these Sveabolaget soon starter operating cargo and passengers around the coast of Sweden and in the Baltic Sea. In 1918 the company (which by this time had changed its name to Stockholms Rederi AB Svea) started collaboration with Finland Steamship Company and Steamship Company Bore on routes between Sweden and Finland. In the 1930s the company radically expanded its freight operations, the size of its fleet growing to approximately 100 vessels.
After World War II Rederi AB Svea began developing ferry traffic from southern Sweden to Denmark and Germany under the banners of Trave Line, Skandinavisk Linjetrafik and Linjebuss. At the same time the company also began operating large ocean freighters. Between 1946 and 1964, Svea was the majority owner of Waxholmsbolaget, the operator of passenger ferries in the Stockholm archipelago. The first modern car-ferries were delivered for Svea in the 1960s. In 1966 Rederi Ab Svea began a joint car/passenger ferry line from Sweden to the United Kingdom with Swedish Lloyd and Ellerman's Wilson Line, but withdrew from the joint service already in 1969, selling its sole ship in that service, MS Svea, to Swedish Lloyd.
Svea faced hard times in the 1970s and in 1975 50% of Svea shares were sold to Rederi AB Nordstjernan (the parent company of Johnson Line). From 1975 onwards Svea operations were heavily rationalised. In 1976 Trave Line was merged with the trains-ferry operations of Swedish State Railways to form Saga Line. In 1980 large mergers were made in the Linjebuss small-ferry operations, bringing Linjebuss together with lines operated by the Swedish State Railways and a Danish company under the name Scandinavian Ferry Lines. In the same year TT-Line started joint operations with Saga Line and TT-Saga Line was formed. In 1981, following financial difficulties, Rederi AB Svea sold its shares in TT-Saga Line and Scandinavian Ferry Lines, and in the end of the year the company itself was merged into Johnson Line. Further on Johnson Line merged with Effoa in 1990 to form EffJohn.
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.
Birka Cruises was an Ålandian shipping company that operated a cruise ship on the Baltic Sea with Stockholm as the starting point under the name Birka Cruises. Birka Line has a cargo-shipping subsidiary, Birka Cargo. During the 1970s the company was often marketed as Ålandslinjen. Since May 2007 Birka Line has been a daughter company of Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö.
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.
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.
Wasaline, previously Oy Vaasa-Umeå Ab (1948–1965), Vaasa-Umeå AB (1965–1979), Oy Vaasanlaivat – Vasabåtarna Ab (1979–1991) and Wasa Line (1991–1993) are different names for the Finnish shipping company that ceased trading in 1993 when it merged into Silja Line. Since 2013 the name is being used by a new company that operates between Vaasa (homebase) and Umeå.
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.
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 Baltic Star is a cruise ship owned by Rederi Hotell Fartyget BJ AB that was operated on services between Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Turku and most recently Mariehamn on Åland (Finland). She was built in 1953 as a passenger liner at Finnboda shipyard in Nacka, Sweden as SS Birger Jarl for Rederi AB Svea. In 1973 she was sold to Jakob Lines, was renamed SS Bore Nord and converted into a ferry. In 1978 she was bought back by the Ånedin Line and was renamed SS Baltic Star. In 1982 the ship's original steam engines were replaced by diesel engines; the ship's prefix hence altered to MS. In 1989 the engines were again replaced by new diesels. In 2002 the ship reverted to the name Birger Jarl, and in 2020 back to the Baltic Star name.
MS Saga is a cruiseferry owned by the Swedish shipping company Stena Line which it operated mainly on their route connecting Oslo, Norway to Frederikshavn, Denmark until March 2020, when that 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.
MS Ancona was a car-passenger ferry owned by Blue Line International and operated on it service linking Ancona in Italy to Split, Croatia. She was built in 1966 by Lindholmens varv in Gothenburg, Sweden, for Rederi AB Svea as MS Svea. As Svea, she was used on the joint Sweden–United Kingdom service operated by Ellerman's Wilson Line, Swedish Lloyd and Rederi AB Svea. In 1969 Svea was sold to Swedish Lloyd and renamed MS Hispania. In 1972, she was renamed MS Saga. In 1978, she was sold to Minoan Lines following the closure of Swedish Lloyd's passenger services and renamed MS Knossos. In 1998, she passed to Diler Lines, becoming their MS Captain Zaman II. In 2003, she was sold to Blue Line and was renamed Ancona. She was sold for scrap in October 2010 and breaking up was commenced on 15 December 2010.
LB (car ferries) or locally simply LB was a car and lorry ferry line that between 1955 and 1981 operated on the HH Ferry route between Helsingør (Elsinore), Zealand, Denmark and Helsingborg, Scania, Sweden. They were the first operator on this route to challenge the informal monopoly which DSB had enjoyed ever since 1888. Since 1630, competition at the route had only occurred between 1836 and 1840. The route had further been operated by the Danish National railways with train ferries since 1892, and since 1931 with a 50-50 support deal also with the National Swedish railway. Until LB challenged the informal monopoly.
SL ferries was a shipping line that operated with car ferries in the central part of Øresund, between Copenhagen, Port of Tuborg, Zealand, Denmark and Landskrona, Scania, Sweden. The shipping line was to sail this route between 1951 and 1980. During the first ten years of operation, the SL ferries was a Danish owned shipping line, but in 1961 SL was bought by Stockholms Rederi AB Svea. The new owners also owned the LB which since 1955 operated at the HH Ferry route between Helsingør and Helsingborg, the first challenger of the de facto monopoly at that route which DSB had enjoyed since 1882.
Trave Line was a shipping line owned by "Stockholms Rederi AB Svea", and a part of the Linjebuss International AB LB/ SL/ TL car and lorry ferry concept. Trave Line operated on the long-distance route between either Helsingborg, Scania, Sweden or Port of Tuborg, Copenhagen, Denmark and Travemünde, Schleswig-Holstein, Western Germany. There were no possibilities to drive off in the Port of Tuborg on southbound ferries, nor to drive on board in Port of Tuborg on northbound ships.
MS A Wind is a Ro-Ro and passenger ship, which operated on the Vuosaari–Muuga route. The ship was built in 1972 Helsingørs Skipsværft dock in Helsingør. The vessel is registered under the Cameroon flag.
