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The cruise ferry Festival which previously operated on the Stockholm-Turku route, will begin operating on the Riga-Stockholm route from the 2nd of August announced AS Tallink Grupp.
The Managing Director of Tallink Latvija Mr. Hillard Taur said, that launching a newer and larger vessel to the route between Latvia and Sweden is a big step forward as demand was growing and the older vessel M/S Vana Tallinn was beginning to be limited in its capacity. „We were definitely in need for a larger vessel and the diversity and attractiveness of the ship are additional strong incentives for new passengers. We hope to see the continuous increase of passenger numbers both from the Baltic States and from Sweden where Festival has been a popular ship already for years”, added Taur.
Cruise ferry Festival will operate under the Latvian flag and Tallink brand. The ship previously serviced passengers on the Stockholm-Turku route and was replaced by cruise ferry Galaxy on the 23rd of July.
Festival is 171 meters long and 27, 6 meters wide, accommodates up to 1750 passengers and 885 lane meters of vehicles. The vessel has the highest ice class 1A Super and a speed of 22 knots. Festival has 9 decks and 588 cabins.
M/S Festival offers a wide range of entertainment possibilities, having 4 restaurants and cafés, 3 shops, children playroom and sauna on board. Additionally there is a large conference centre with 12 rooms on the 8th deck
The vessel leaving the route, M/S Vana Tallinn is Tallink`s oldest passenger ship built in 1974. She accommodates up to 800 passengers and 730 lane meters of vehicles. The vessel has 1B ice class and speed of 17 knots. There are 8 decks and 227 cabins on the ship. At the moment, there is no decision made about the future plans of the vessel.
Tallink operates Riga-Stockholm route also with M/S Regina Baltica, which has 504 cabins for 1500 passengers.
During the last financial year (2006/2007) AS Tallink Grupp serviced 256 690 passengers, 38 832 passenger vehicles and 8 479 cargo units on Riga-Stockholm route which opened in April 2006.
Additional information:
Luulea Lääne
Communication Director
AS Tallink Grupp
E-mail: luulea.laane@tallink.ee
www.tallink.com
28.07.2008 |