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Big cruise ferry launched and named
Today, on 6 March 2008, the christening and launching ceremony of the big cruise ferry ordered by Tallink took place at Aker Yards shipyard in Helsinki. The contract worth 165 million Euro was signed in December 2005. The vessel will start cruises from Helsinki to Tallinn in summer 2008.
The vessel was christened as “Baltic Princess” by Ms. Eva Hanschmidt, daughter of Tallink`s Supervisory Board member Ain Hanschmidt.
According to plans, the now launched vessel will start operating on the Tallinn (Estonia) - Helsinki (Finland) route in summer 2008 replacing the cruise ferry Galaxy. M/S Galaxy will be rerouted to Turku (Finland) - Stockholm (Sweden) route and M/S Festival to Stockholm (Sweden) - Riga (Latvia) route.
“When delivered, the Baltic Princess will thus mean a new ship not only for the Tallinn - Helsinki route, but at the same time for three routes, when rerouting the two vessels”, says Mr. Keijo Mehtonen, board member of AS Tallink Grupp. “We are looking forward to offering new cruising experiences for all of our passengers,” he adds.
This princess is the fourth sophisticated cruise ferry Aker Yards is building for Tallink, and the production of a fifth already started in the Rauma yard. In addition, a fast ferry called Star was delivered last spring from the Helsinki yard.
“We are proud of Tallink’s confidence in our building competence which has resulted in the long and strong relationship between our companies”, says Mr. Juha Heikinheimo, responsible for Cruise & Ferries in Aker Yards
“Aker Yard is the leader in world ferry market. With the help of good customers we have been able to create products keeping us in the vanguard notwithstanding the growing requirements: Today those include, in addition to reliable quality, innovation, ecological alternatives, energy economy and sustainable lifecycle service”, Heikinheimo continues.
The 212 metres long and 29 m wide Baltic Princess will be one of the biggest cruise ferries in the Baltic Sea, having capacity for 2,800 passengers. The guiding principle in building the vessel is paying attention to the comfort and luxury of present-day passengers. There will be maximal use of high-tech solutions onboard. 927 cabins, several restaurants and places to entertain of various styles and class as well as a remarkable conference centre with over 450 seats make the new ship a multi functional sea-based hotel with excellent ambience.
An artist´s impression of the vessel (NB 1361) can be found at: www.akeryards.com - Media centre - Image library - Vessels
Aker Yards ASA is an international shipbuilding group focusing on sophisticated vessels. The group has a strong position both in terms of innovation, product range, technology, experience and capacity. The product range includes cruise vessels & ferries, merchant vessels, offshore & specialized vessels. Aker Yards comprises 18 yards in Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Romania, Ukraine and Vietnam. Aker Yards has approximately 21,000 employees.
Aker Yards, Cruise & Ferries business area consists of three shipyards in Finland, situated in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma as well as the two French yards in Saint Nazaire and Lorient. In addition to the yards, the business area comprises two cabin factories in Finland, a cabin factory and a design company in France and life cycle service activities in Finland, France and the USA.
AS Tallink Grupp is the leading European ferry operators offering high-quality mini-cruise and passenger transport services in the Northern Baltic Sea region, as well as the leading provider of ro-ro cargo services on selected routes.
The company employs 6,500 people and operates on seven different shipping routes between Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Germany. The 18 vessels of the company are operating under the brands Tallink and Silja Line. Tallink also operates the hotel network Tallink Hotels, with two hotels in Tallinn. The company offers conference services both on board the cruise ferries and in special conference centres in the hotels. In financial year 2006/2007 Tallink serviced 7 million passengers with the revenue of 761 million Euro. |