 |
 | |
| 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 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 the Åland Islands.
MS Estonia was a cruiseferry built in 1980 at the West German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. In 1993, 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, Åland, Finland and Estonia, was one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century, claiming 852 lives.
MS Silja Europa, owned and operated by Tallink, is one of the largest cruiseferries in the world. She was built at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany for the Swedish ferry operator Rederi AB Slite, a part of Viking Line. The main architect was Per Dockson.
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, previously Louis Cristal, is a cruise ship operated by the Cyprus-based Celestyal Cruises and previously Louis Cruise Lines, both in the Louis Group. The ship was originally built as the cruiseferry MS Viking Saga in 1980 at Wärtsilä Perno Shipyard and Turku Shipyard, Turku, Finland for Rederi Ab Sally. In 1986 she was renamed MS 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 MS Leeward for Norwegian Cruise Line. Subsequently she sailed as MS SuperStar Taurus for Star Cruises, MS Silja Opera for Silja Line and spent a year laid up as MS Opera prior to entering service with her current owner in 2007.
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MS Bluefort is 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.
MS Star Pisces is a cruise ship, owned by Star Cruises and does short cruises from Hong Kong. She was originally built as the cruiseferry MS Kalypso in 1990 at Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland for Rederi AB Slite for use in Viking Line traffic. The ship was designed by Per Dockson.
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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 was previously named Alandia and Jamaa II.
MS Arberia 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.
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Rederi Ab Sally was a Finnish shipping company founded in the 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.
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.
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