 | |
| Industry | Shipping |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Defunct | 1992 |
| Fate | Merged into Silja Line |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Baltic Sea |
| Services | Passenger transportation |
| Parent | Rederi Ab Sally |
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 had been, until the early 1980s, the dominant partner in the Viking Line consortium. However, due to investing in unprofitable operations outside the Baltic Sea they started losing their foothold in Viking during the mid-80s when the other partners (SF Line and Rederi AB Slite) took delivery of new tonnage that supplanted Sally's newest ships. In 1986 when Sally's MS Viking Saga was replaced by the new MS Olympia, the decision was made not to sell the Viking Saga but use her to start a new company, Sally Cruise, to operate short cruises out of Helsinki, Finland. At this time one-day cruises to nowhere were still a novel idea, the first ones had been made only the previous year by GTS Finnjet.
After a refit the Viking Saga re-emerged as MS Sally Albatross, painted in an attractive white livery with dark and light blue bands running along her hull. Despite the Sally Albatross' success her parent company's downward spiral continued, and in 1987 the company was sold to their main rivals Effoa and Johnson Line (owners of Silja Line). The change of ownership meant additional investments made in Sally Cruise, and the Sally Albatross was rebuilt in 1988. However, disaster struck in 1990 when the Sally Albatross was burnt out while in drydock at Finnboda, Nacka, Sweden.
Sally Cruises quickly chartered MS Delfin Clipper from the short-lived Delfin Cruises and renamed her MS Sally Clipper to replace the burnt-out Sally Albatross. By the end of the year 1990 the salvageable parts of the burnt-out Sally Albatross were being used to build a new ship, codenamed Sally Eurocruiser. Before she was completed in 1992 Sally also chartered Sally Clipper's sister ship MS Delfin Caravelle under the name Sally Caravelle in 1991.
In March 1992 the new MS Sally Albatross debuted for Sally Cruise. However, in order to cut costs her owners EffJohn (a merger between Rederi Ab Sally, Effoa and Johnson Line created in 1990) decided to terminate Sally Cruise as an independent company in September 1992, and the company was merged in Silja Line.
Silja Line is a Finnish shipping company and cruiseferry brand owned and operated by the Estonian shipping 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.
MS Estonia was a cruiseferry built in 1980 for the Finnish shipping company Rederi Ab Sally by Meyer Werft, in Papenburg, West Germany. It was employed on ferry routes between Finland and Sweden by various companies until the end of January 1993, when it 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. An official inquiry found that failure of the locks on the bow visor caused water to flood the car deck and quickly capsize the ship. The report also noted a lack of crew action. A 2023 investigation noted additional construction flaws in the bow visor.
MS Silja Europa is a cruiseferry constructed at Meyer Werft Germany for the Swedish ferry operator Rederi AB Slite, a part of Viking Line. At 59,914 gross tonnage (GT), she is the largest ship commissioned for and to ever operate for Tallink Silja, and is the tenth-largest cruiseferry in the world.
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 Star Pisces was a cruise ship owned by Star Cruises and made short cruises from Hong Kong between 1994 and 2022. She was originally completed as the cruiseferry Kalypso in 1990 at Masa-Yards' Turku New Shipyard, Finland for Rederi AB Slite to run on Viking Line's Finland–Sweden route. After Slite's bankruptcy in 1993, the ship was sold to Star Cruises. She was sold for demolition in 2022.
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.
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–Durrës–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.
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.
Stockholms Rederi AB Svea was a Swedish shipping company founded in the 1870s. It operated a wide variety of ships carrying freight and passengers around the world, mostly concentrating on traffic in the Baltic and North Sea and was one of the largest Swedish shipping companies in its time. Rederi AB Svea was one of the founding members of Silja Line, and operated its ships under the names Skandinavisk Linjetrafik, Scandinavian Ferry Lines, Linjebuss and Trave Line. It also had a Finnish daughter company and another daughter company based in the Netherlands. In 1981 Svea was merged into Johnson Line and ceased to operate as an independent company.
Sally Line UK was a British ferry operator on the English Channel and North Sea.
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.
The MSIlmatar was a cruise ship operated by Palm Beach Cruises as Palm Beach Princess on casino cruises out of the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Florida. She was built in 1964 by Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard, Helsinki, Finland for Finland Steamship Company as Ilmatar. From 1970 until 1974 and again from 1978 to 1980 she was marketed as a part of Silja Line fleet. In 1973 she was lengthened at HDW Hamburg, Germany by 20.04 m. Between 1975–1976 she was chartered to Finnlines. In 1979 she was converted to a cruise ship.
Commodore Cruise Line was a United States–based cruise line that was in operation from 1968 until 2001. It was founded in 1966 by Sanford Chobol and Edwin Stephan. Following multiple changes in ownership, the company declared bankruptcy in 2001 due to rising fuel costs and increased competition from other cruise lines. It had its headquarters in Hollywood, Florida.