Northern Baltic Sea:
Continuing growth in cargo traffic

	Cargo is the fastest growing segment within the ferry traffic in the Northern Baltic. FinnLink’s “Finneagle” is trading between Naantali and Kapellskär.

In general, passenger volumes on the cruise ferries in the Northern Baltic Sea have not been increasing during the last year. However, the trend of growth in cargo volumes on the ferry routes continues.

There have certainly been ups and downs in the ferry traffic on the Northern Baltic. Since the abolishment of tax-free sales in 1999, it is mostly downs that have been experienced on Kvarken, which is the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia.
   In 2001, the cargo-oriented ferry operator Botnia Link went bankrupt and now RG Line is the only ferry operator in the Kvarken area. To reduce its manning costs, RG Line transferred its ferry “Casino Express” to the Swedish register in 2002.
   Now it seems that the situation has stabilised and that this small market should be sufficient to provide one operator with enough passengers and cargo.

Short cruises on ferries
Short cruises still form the basis of the passenger shipments in the ferry traffic between Southern Finland and Sweden. Due to Åland’s tax exemption, tax-free trade is allowed on ferries calling at the Åland Islands.
   However, the profits from tax-free sales on board are shrinking and a drastic decrease in Finland’s taxation on alcohol on shore will certainly not improve the situation. To cut their costs, ferry companies have already changed flag or have announced changes of flag on several Finnish and Åland ferries.
   No growth has been recorded in the passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden, but the volumes have not decreased either during the first eight months of the year.
   A new approach to the short cruise traffic between Stockholm and Mariehamn is being taken by Birka Line. In November 2002, the company ordered the 155 million-EUR cruise vessel “Birka Paradise” from Aker Finnyards in Rauma. This newbuilding is a genuine cruise vessel and after being delivered in the autumn of 2004, will do short cruises between Stockholm and Mariehamn.
   Thereafter, Birka’s current vessel “Birka Princess” will be re-deployed to other cruise destinations in the Baltic Sea, of which Tallinn will be one.
   Viking Line has also strengthened its position on the Stockholm short-cruise market by replacing “Rosella” – in this service called the “Dancing Queen” – with the much larger and newer “Viking Cinderella” (formerly “Cinderella”). The transfer will mean that “Viking Cinderella” is now registered in Sweden.
   The freight market has again grown in the ferry traffic across the Åland Sea. Although both Viking Line and Silja Line are major freight carriers too, the largest operator in this particular field is Finnlines-owned FinnLink. Silja Line’s subsidiary SeaWind Line is also concentrating mainly on freight traffic. SeaWind Line is the only carrier of railway wagons on the Finland-Sweden route.
   There have been several changes in the ferry fleets on the Åland Sea. At the end of 2002, FinnLink transferred “Finnarrow” to the Finnlines-owned “Nordö-Link’s” service between Malmö and Travemünde. She was replaced by “Finnclipper” on the Naantali–Kapellskär route. By the end of the year, “Finnsailor” will have moved to Nordö too, and “Finnfellow” will be taking her place. After that, “FinnLink” will be operating three near-sisters on the route Naantali-Kapellskär.
In the summer of 2002, “FinnLink” started passenger traffic on a small scale on some of its morning sailings. At the beginning of 2004, passengers will be carried with all departures.
   SeaWind Line has also made rearrangements regarding its tonnage. In the autumn of 2002 “Star Wind” was replaced by “Sky Wind” on the Turku– Långnäs–Stockholm route. “Sky Wind” is chartered from Silja’s owner Sea Containers and was extensively rebuilt at the Polish shipyard Remontowa in 2002.

	On the Gulf of Finland there is a market for both high-speed ferries and conventional ones.

Ro-pax to Germany
The ro-pax concept has also proved to be suitable for the ferry traffic between Finland and Germany. In addition to several pure ro-ro services between the countries, there are two operators employing ro-pax ferries on the route.
   Superfast Ferries entered the Baltic Sea in 2001 and has already turned out to be a tough competitor to Finnlines’ well-established services. Superfast Ferries operates two fast ro-pax ferries between Hanko and Rostock while Finnlines operates ro-pax vessels on the route Helsinki–Travemünde.
   After more than a quarter of a decade, Silja Line’s gas turbine-powered “Finnjet” is still the fastest conventional ferry in the world. Last summer she was employed for the last time in the Finland–Germany trade. After an extensive refit, she will be introduced on a new route Rostock–Tallinn–St Petersburg in June 2004.
   “Finnjet” will also change flag, but at the time of writing which flag will be chosen is still unclear.
   The total number of passengers travelling by ferry between Finland and Germany has decreased by five per cent during the first eight months of 2003.
Growth levelled out
   Since 1999, the growth in passengers has levelled out in the ferry traffic between Finland and Estonia. So far in 2003, volumes of passengers have been decreasing slightly.
   The market for ferry-borne cargo transport between Finland and Estonia has continued to grow. The rate of growth is stronger than in the traffic between Finland and Sweden.
   The Estonian ferry operator Tallink is the market leader on the Gulf of Finland, regarding both passengers and freight. In 2002, there were many rearrangements in Tallink’s operations, which were directly or indirectly a result of delivery of the new cruise ferry “Romantika” for the Tallinn–Helsinki route. The “Fantaasia” was transferred to the Tallinn–Stockholm service. Also, “Vana Tallinn” left the Helsinki route and replaced the chartered “Baltic Kristina” on the Paldiski–Kapellskär service in the autumn of 2002. “Baltic Kristina” was redelivered to its owner and later sold to Riga Sea Line. The ferry now sails between Stockholm and Riga.
   The ferry “Meloodia”, which used to make 20-h cruises between Helsinki and Tallinn before the delivery of “Romantika”, has been put into regular liner service on that route with two departures a day from each port.
   Linda Line has been a pioneer in the fast ferry traffic on the Gulf of Finland. The company has operated traditional hydrofoils, but in the summer of 2002 the new 50 knots high-speed ferry “Linda Express” was introduced. Linda Line also continued its traffic with two conventional hydrofoils.
   Nordic Jet Line has continued its operations with two car-carrying catamarans without any major changes during 2003.
   In autumn 2002, Silja Line’s subsidiary SeaWind Line started up a new ro-pax service between Helsinki and Tallinn with the Swedish-flagged “Star Wind”. The vessel also takes passengers. Now SeaWind Line is looking for a new solution to reducing their costs. One possibility is to trade under a cheaper flag.
   In the summer of 2003, Silja Line doubled its high-speed capacity by introducing “SuperSeacat Three” as a partner to “SuperSeacat Four”.
   In summer 2002, Silja Line introduced its cruise vessel “Silja Opera”. During the summer the vessel is employed in cruise traffic to Visby via Tallinn, while Tallinn, Riga and St Petersburg are its destinations for the rest of the year.

EU brings new opportunities
Viking Line discontinued its concept of overnight cruises from Helsinki to Tallinn on “Cinderella” at the end of summer 2003. Now she is cruising as “Viking Cinderella” between Stockholm and Mariehamn. She changes place with “Rosella”, which now is in regular traffic beween Helsinki and Tallinn.
   With this move, Viking Line has repositioned its fleet to better suit the new conditions for operation following Estonia’s entry into the EU. With Estonia as a member of the EU, the tax-free sales will discontinue on the Tallinn– Helsinki trade and most likely a major part of the market for overnight cruises from Finland will vanish. After that, “Rosella” is considered to be more suitable for this trade.
   It is likely that the interest in short shopping cruises to Tallinn will increase amongst Finns, as this will be travel within the EU, without the present limits regarding import. As a change of flag has been announced for “Rosella”, Eckerö Line’s “Nordlandia” will most likely be the only Finnish flagged car and passenger ferry left on the Tallinn–Helsinki route. It remains to be seen for how long.

Growing market
Tallink’s passenger traffic between Estonia and Sweden is growing rapidly. After delivery from Aker Finnyards at the end of March 2004, Tallink will be introducing its new cruise ferry “Victoria” on the Tallinn-Stockholm route. The vessel is tailor-made for the Swedish market with a greater number of luxury-class cabins and suites than on her sister vessel “Romantika”. There will also be a large conference area.
   “Victoria” will replace “Fantaasia”, which – if not sold – will be put into service on a new route between Helsinki and St Petersburg.
   There will also be other changes in Tallink’s traffic to Sweden. For the route Paldiski–Kapellskär, the company is searching for a ro-pax ferry to replace the ro-ro vessel “Kapella”. Thereafter, it is most likely that “Kapella” will be operated as a cargo ferry between Helsinki and Tallinn.
   Väino Konga, managing director of Tallink Sverige AB, has great expectations for Tallink’s growing traffic between Sweden and Estonia.
   – Estonia’s membership in EU will make travelling between the countries easier, he says.
   Tallink is also building a large 300-room hotel in Tallinn, which will be ready in the summer of 2004.

Record volumes to Gotland
An all-time high in passengers was scored in the domestic service between Gotland and the Swedish mainland during the summer season of 2003. This growth has continued during the autumn.
   The traffic operator Destination Gotland has been renewing its fleet during the past few years. The latest acquisition is the fast ro-pax ferry “Gotland”, which will be put into service in December. She is a sister vessel to “Visby” and replaces the conventional ferry “Thjelvar”. The name of Destination Gotland’s high-speed ferry “Gotland” has been changed to “Gotlandia”.

//Pär-Henrik Sjöström

Back to SSG 22, 28 November