Silja Line ships in Helsinki in 2004

Silja Line (Silja Oyj Apb) is a Finnish shipping company owned as of 2006 by the Estonian ferry operator Tallink. Silja Line was previously owned by the shipping company Sea Containers LLC. Silja operates multiple ferry lines on the Baltic Sea. It is among the biggest operators on its core market, transporting about five million passengers and over 300,000 cars every year. Image File history File links Silja Line ships in Helsinki, photo taken by Finnish Wikipedian Heksa on 19 July, 2004. ... Image File history File links Silja Line ships in Helsinki, photo taken by Finnish Wikipedian Heksa on 19 July, 2004. ... Founded 1550 Country Finland Province Southern Finland Region Uusimaa Sub-region Helsinki Area[1] - Of which land - Rank 185. ... Osakeyhtiö, directly translated as share corporation, is the Finnish equivalent of Limited company (Ltd or LLC) or Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH). ... The Pride of Rotterdam, One of the P&O Ferriess Flagships operating the Hull-Rotterdam Route A ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services. ... Tallink is an Estonian shipping company operating car and passenger ferries from Estonia to Finland, Sweden and Russia. ... This is a list of the worlds ship operating companies listed alphabetically by continent and country. ... Map of the Baltic Sea. ...

History

The history of Silja Line can be traced back to 1904 when two finnish shipping companies, Finland Steamship Company (Finska Ångfartygs Aktiebolaget, FÅA for short) and Steamship Company Bore, started collaborating on Finland - Sweden traffic. After World War I in 1918 a new agreement was made that also included the swedish Rederi AB Svea. Originally the collaboration agreement applied only on service between Turku and Stockholm, but the companies started working together on Helsinki - Stockholm services as well, and a precursor to the policies later adopted by Silja Line each of the three companies ordered near-identical ships for Helsinki - Stockholm service to coincide with the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki. Eventually only Finland SS Co.'s Aallotar was ready in time for the olympics. At this time the city of Helsinki constructed the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki's South Port, that Silja Line's ships still use. 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Allied Powers: France Italy Russia Serbia United Kingdom United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul von Hindenburg Reinhard... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were held in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. ...

1957-1970

Realising that car-passenger ferries would be the dominating traffic form in the future, the three collaborating companies decided to form a daughter company, Oy Siljavarustamo / Siljarederiet Ab. The new company started out with used ships which weren't particularly well-fitted for the role they were meant for, but that was about to change when in 1961 Silja took delivery of the new M/S Skandia, the first purpose-built car-passenger ferry in the northern Baltic Sea. Skandia's sister M/S Nordia followed the next year and the era's giant M/S Fennia in 1966. The Pride of Rotterdam, One of the P&O Ferriess Flagships operating the Hull-Rotterdam Route A ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Map of the Baltic Sea. ...

Depite the establishment of Silja, FÅA, Bore and Svea also continued to operate on the same routes with their own ships. This led to a somewhat complex situation where four different companies were marketed as one entiry. In Finland they went by the name Ruotsinlaivat ("Sweden's Ships" or "Ships to Sweden") whereas in Sweden the preferred term was Det Samseglande (roughly "the ones that sail together"). In both countries the names of all four companies were usually displayed alongside the group identity.

1970-1980

In 1967 three of Silja's rival companies had formed a joint marketing and coordination company, Viking Line, which was to become Silja Line's main rival for the next two decades. FÅA, Bore and Svea soon realised that a similar arrangement would be preferrable to their current fragmented image, and in 1970 a big change was carried out within the organisations: Silja Line was established as a joint marketing and coordination company between FÅA, Bore and Svea, and the ships of Siljavarustamo were divided between these three. All Silja Line's ships were painted in the same colour scheme, with a white hull and superstrcuture, with the dark blue "Silja Line" text on the side, alongside the now-famous seal's head logo. Each company retained their own funnel colours, so it was easy to distinguish which ship belonged to which company even from a distance: Svea's funnels where white with a large black S on them, FÅA's were black with two white brands around the funnel, and Bore's were yellow with a blue/white cross. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Viking Line is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of large combined ferry/cruise ships (RORO type) between Finland, the Ã…land Islands, Sweden and Estonia. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...

Already before the reorganisation Silja had ordered two new ships from Dubegion-Normandie S.A., Nantes, France to begin year-round traffic from Helsinki to Stockholm (up until that point the route was summers only). In 1972 these were delivered to FÅA and Svea as M/S Aallotar and M/S Svea Regina, respectively. Passenger numbers on the Helsinki route grew fast and already in 1973 it was decided that the three companies would each order a ship of identical design from the same shipyard to replace the current Helsinki - Stockholm ships. The first two of these was delivered in 1975, with the last sister following in 1976. However, there weren't enough passengers during the winter for all three ships, and as a result the third ship, M/S Bore Star was chartered to Finnlines during the winters of 1975-1976 and 1976-1977. In 1976 Finland SS Co changed it's name to Effoa (the finnish phonetic spelling of FÅA). During the latter part of the 1970's Effoa's old ferries M/S Ilmatar and M/S Regina made cruises around Baltic Sea, Norwegian fjords and the Atlantic (from Málaga) under the marketing name Silja Cruises. Traditional city flag City coat of arms Motto: (Latin: Shall Neptune favour the traveller) Coordinates : , Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) Administration Département Loire-Atlantique (44) Région Pays-de-la-Loire Mayor Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS) (since 1989) Intercommunality Urban Community of Nantes City (commune) Characteristics Land Area 65. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one_fifth of its surface. ... Location within Spain Malaga redirects here. ...

Silja Suomi kotimäen koulu 5c on saanut uskonnon kokeesta 8. Hänen lempinimi on silja line

1980-1986

In the 1979 Svea and Effoa decided again to order new ships for the Helsinki - Stockholm route, which would be the largest ferries of their time. Bore however decided not to participate in building new ships, and in 1980 opted to bow out of passenger traffic altogether (Bore Line still exists as a freight-carrying company today). Their two ships were sold to Effoa and their shares of Silja Line split between the two other companies. In Finland, and later in Sweden, a large maritime strike in spring 1980 stopped ferry traffic completely. This also prompted Effoa to terminate the Silja Cruises service. This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Despite the difficulties Silja's first real cruiseferries M/S Finlandia and M/S Silvia Regina entered traffic in 1981, which led to a 45% raise in passenger numbers. Late in the same year Johnson Line purchased Rederi AB Svea, and the former Svea ships received Johnson Line's blue/yellow colours. The good experiences gained from the new Helsinki ships prompted Effoa and Johnson Line to order two ships built on a similar principle for traffic on the Turku - Stockholm route, which were delivered in 1985 and 1986 as M/S Svea and M/S Wellamo. Although similar in proportions and interior layout, the new ships sported an attractive streamlined superstructure instead of the box-like superstructure of Finlandia and Silvia Regina. M/S Queen of Scandinavia, originally M/S Finlandia is a cruiseferry, built in 1981 in Wärtsilä, Turku, for Effoa for Silja Lines Helsinki - Stockholm service. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... M/S Color Festival is a cruiseferry, built in 1985 by Wärtsilä at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. ... Silja Festival arriving to Mariehamn in 2005. ...

1987-1992

1987 was a very eventful year for Silja. Effoa had purchased the famous GTS M/S Finnjet the previous year and from the beginning of 1987 the prestigious but unprofitable "Queen of the Baltic Sea" joined Silja Line's fleet. Later in the same year Effoa and Johnson Line jointly purchased Rederi Ab Sally, one of the owners of their rival Viking Line. The other Viking Line partners forced the new owners to seel their share in Viking, but Effoa and Johnson Line still got Vaasalaivat / Vasabåtarna, Sally Cruises, Sally Ferries UK and Commodore Cruise Line. Although the purchase of Sally had no effect in Silja Line's traffic for the time being, it proved to be important later. Finally 1987 saw the order of new ships for Helsinki - Stockholm route (again), which would be the largest ferries ever built (again). Not revealed at the time, the new ships had a 140-meter promenade-street running along the center of the ship, a feature never seen before in a ship (these days promenades are commonly found on Royal Caribbean Cruises and Color Line's newer ships). 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... GTS Finnjet docked in Louisiana GTS Finnjet is a cruiseferry built in 1977. ... Wasa Line (earlier Oy Vaasa-UmeÃ¥ Ab and Vaasanlaivat/VasabÃ¥tarna) was a Finnish shipping company, established in 1948 and ceased trading when merged into Silja Line in 1993. ... U.S. headquarters in Miami, Florida. ... Color line is a poor company whom sail people on harry trips from Oslo to Hitchals in Den ...

In late 1989 Wärtsilä Marine, the shipyard building Silja's new cruiseferries, went bankrupt, which led to the ships being delivered later than had been planned. To ensure the delivery of their ferries Effoa and Johnson Line both purchased a part of the new Masa-Yards establihed to continue shipbuilding in Wärtsilä's former shipyards. 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The year 1990 saw the realisation of an old vision: Effoa and Johnson Line merged to form EffJohn. As a result the seal's head logo gravitated into the funnel, replacing the old colours of each individual owner company. In November of the same year the new M/S Silja Serenade made it's maiden voayge from Helsinki to Stockholm, approximately seven months after the original planned delivery date. M/S Silja Symphony was delivered the following year. Despiste being highly popular and sporting a successful design, the new ships had also been very expensive. Coupled with the depression in the early 90's EffJohn was forced to cut costs, which resulted in Wasa Line and Sally Cruises being merged into Silja Line in 1992. The year also saw Svea and Wellamo being modernised in Silja Karneval and Silja Festival, respectively. This article is about the year. ... M/S Silja Serenade is a car and passenger ferry built in 1990. ... M/S Silja Symphony is a car and passenger ferry built in 1991. ... Wasa Line (earlier Oy Vaasa-Umeå Ab and Vaasanlaivat/Vasabåtarna) was a Finnish shipping company, established in 1948 and ceased trading when merged into Silja Line in 1993. ...

1993-2004

The year 1993 began with a bang. In January it was reported that Silja Line had chartered M/S Europa, a ship under construction for Rederi AB Slite, one of the owners of Viking Line. Due to financial troubles Slite could not pay for their new ship, and the shipyard decided to charter it to Silja instead. Later in the same year Silja joined forced with Euroway on their Malmö - Travemünde - Lübeck route. The route proved to be unprofitable and was terminated in spring 1994. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Silja Europa arriving to Mariehamn in 2005. ... Rederi AB Slite was a Swedish shipping company, founded in 1947 by Carl Bertil Myrsten and his sister Inga Gattberg. ... Euroway was a Swedish shipping company, active between 1992 and 1994. ... View over Malmö IPA: /málmø:/ is the third largest city in Sweden, situated in the southernmost province of SkÃ¥ne. ... Barque Passat in Travemünde Travemünde is a borough of Lübeck located at the mouth of river Trave into Lübeck Bay. ... Lübeck ( pronunc. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ...

M/S Silja Europa, the largest ferry in the world 1993-2004.

M/S Sally Albatross was grounded outside Helsinki in spring 1994 and suffered major damage, which prompted Silja to give up traffic on her. September 1994 saw the largest peace-time maritime disaster on the Baltic Sea, the sinking of M/S Estonia. Silja Europa, Silja Symphony and Finnjet all assisted in searching for survivors from the disaster. Sinking of the Estonia led to passenger numbers dropping, which did not help Silja's precarious situation. The company was now the largest on the Baltic Sea, having finally overtaken Viking Line in 1993, but financially it wasn't doing too well. In 1995 Effjohn changed their name into Silja Oy Ab. Three years later the name was changed again, this time to Neptun Maritime. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1109x635, 134 KB) M/S Silja Europa arriving at Mariehamn on May 4, 2005. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1109x635, 134 KB) M/S Silja Europa arriving at Mariehamn on May 4, 2005. ... Silja Europa arriving to Mariehamn in 2005. ... Silja Opera at the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki. ... M/S Estonia Model of the M/S Estonia in Tallinns Maritime Museum The M/S Estonia was a RORO car and passenger ferry built in 1979 at the German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

1999 saw two big changes coming for Silja. Tax Free sales ended on routes between EU countries, which forced the Helsinki - Stockholm ships to start calling at Mariehamn in the Åland Islands, as although the Åland Islands are a part of Finland, as an autonomous area they opted to stay outside the EU when Finland joined it in 1994. Bigger change than this was Sea Containers purchasing the majority of Neptun Maritime's shares. In 2000 the new owners brought one of their Super SeaCats on Helsinki - Tallinn traffic and Neptun Maritime again changed it's name, this time to Silja Oyj Abp. In the same year the route between Vaasa and Umeå was terminated as unprofitable. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Old Farts by the Sometimes-United Nations. ... Sea Containers Ltd. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The SuperSeaCats are a series of high-speed craft (HSC) built by Fincantieri in Genoa for Sea Containers Ltd. ... County Harju County Mayor Jüri Ratas Area 159. ... Founded 1606 Province Western Finland Region Ostrobothnia Sub-region Vaasa Area - Of which land - Rank 397 km² 183 km² ranked 345th Population - Population density - Rank 57,266 311,2 inh. ... UmeÃ¥ (IPA:  ) is a city and municipality in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden. ...

2004-

By 2004 Sea Containers owned Silja Line entirely. The company was doing well financially and all seemed to be going well. Unfortunately Sea Containers' other operations were not as profitable and in late 2005 they announced their intent to give up their ferry division completely, this naturally including selling Silja Line. In preparation for the sale the unprofitable GTS M/S Finnjet and M/S Silja Opera were taken out of service and transferred under Sea Co's ownership. Silja Serenade and Symphony were also rebuilt in early 2006 to make them more attractive to the potential buyer. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... GTS Finnjet docked in Louisiana GTS Finnjet is a cruiseferry built in 1977. ... Silja Opera at the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

May 2006 saw the sale of Silja Line to the Estonian Tallink. The Super SeaCats trafficking between Helsinki and Tallinn were not included in the sale as their purchase would have given Tallink a monopoly on the route. Instead Sea Containers (that had barely a year ago announced their intention to give up the ferry business completely) continued operating them under the SuperSeaCat brand. Tallink is an Estonian shipping company operating car and passenger ferries from Estonia to Finland, Sweden and Russia. ... HSC SuperSeaCat Three approaching Helsinki, August 2006 SuperSeaCat is company operating fast ferries between Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia, and owned by Sea Containers. ...

Fleet

• M/S Silja Serenade, Helsinki—Mariehamn—Stockholm
• M/S Silja Symphony, Helsinki—Mariehamn—Stockholm
• M/S Silja Europa, Turku—Mariehamn/Långnäs—Stockholm (summer season)/Kapellskär (winter season)
• M/S Silja Festival, Turku—Mariehamn/Långnäs—Stockholm

M/S Silja Serenade is a car and passenger ferry built in 1990. ... Founded 1550 Country Finland Province Southern Finland Region Uusimaa Sub-region Helsinki Area[1] - Of which land - Rank 185. ... Founded 1861 Province Ã…land Region Ã…land Sub-region Mariehamn Area - Of which land - Rank 11. ...   (IPA: ; UN/LOCODE: SE STO) is the capital of Sweden, and consequently the site of its Government and Parliament as well as the residence of the Swedish head of state, King Carl XVI Gustaf. ... M/S Silja Symphony is a car and passenger ferry built in 1991. ... Silja Europa arriving to Mariehamn in 2005. ... Turku (IPA: , Swedish:  ), founded in the 13th century, is the oldest and fifth largest city in Finland, with a population of 174,868 (as of 2005). ... LÃ¥ngnäs is a port in Lumparland on the eastern mainland of Ã…land. ... Kapellskär is a port near Stockholm, in Sweden. ... Silja Festival arriving to Mariehamn in 2005. ...

Former ships

Approximately 20 ships have served for Silja Line during the company's history, obviously this is not a complete list.

• M/S Bore (1960-1976)
• M/S Svea Corona (1) (1975-1984)
• M/S Wellamo (1) (1975-1981) / M/S Svea Corona (2) (1984-1985)
• M/S Bore Star (1976-1980) / M/S Silja Star (1) (1980-1986) / M/S Wasa Queen (1992-2000)
• M/S Finlandia (1981-1990)
• M/S Svea (1985-1992) / M/S Silja Karneval (1992-1994)
• GTS M/S Finnjet (1987-2006)
• M/S Silja Star (2) (1990)
• M/S Sally Albatross (1992-1994) / M/S Silja Opera (2002-2006)
• M/S Frans Suell (1993-1994) / M/S Silja Scandinavia (1994-1997)
• M/S Wasa Jubilee (1998)
• HSC SuperSeaCat Four (2000-2006, summers only)
• HSC SeaCat Denmark (2000)
• HSC SuperSeaCat Three (2003-2006, summers only)
• HSC SuperSeaCat One (summer 2005)

S/S Bore is a ferry built in 1960. ... M/S 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. ... M/S Wasa Queen is a cruiseferry, currently sailing between Hong Kong and Xiamen for Cruise Ferries, a daughter company of Star Cruises. ... M/S Wasa Queen is a cruiseferry, currently sailing between Hong Kong and Xiamen for Cruise Ferries, a daughter company of Star Cruises. ... M/S Wasa Queen is a cruiseferry, currently sailing between Hong Kong and Xiamen for Cruise Ferries, a daughter company of Star Cruises. ... M/S Queen of Scandinavia, originally M/S Finlandia is a cruiseferry, built in 1981 in Wärtsilä, Turku, for Effoa for Silja Lines Helsinki - Stockholm service. ... M/S Color Festival is a cruiseferry, built in 1985 by Wärtsilä at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. ... M/S Color Festival is a cruiseferry, built in 1985 by Wärtsilä at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. ... GTS Finnjet docked in Louisiana GTS Finnjet is a cruiseferry built in 1977. ... M/S Estonia Model of the M/S Estonia in Tallinns Maritime Museum The M/S Estonia was a RORO car and passenger ferry built in 1979 at the German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. ... Silja Opera at the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki. ... Silja Opera at the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki. ... M/S Frans Suell is a ferry, built in 1992 in Croatia, with a capacity of 2200 passengers and 400 cars. ... M/S Frans Suell is a ferry, built in 1992 in Croatia, with a capacity of 2200 passengers and 400 cars. ... MS Color Viking is a Norwegian ferry owned by Color Line operating between Sandefjord and Strömstad. ... HSC SuperSeaCat Four is a fast ferry capable of carrying passenger and cars operating for SuperSeaCat between Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia. ... HSC SuperSeaCat Three approaching Helsinki, August 2006 HSC SuperSeaCat Three is a fast ferry capable of carrying passenger and cars operating for SuperSeaCat between Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia. ...

Fan pages

Silja line has two fanzine pages. SILJAweb is available in English and Estonian and is maintained by Ilja Berunenko. Valkeat Laivat, maintained by Sami Koski, has a large collection of photographs but is only available in Finnish. Sami Koski also publishes a biannual print fanzine (available in PDF-format) called Promenade News. A fanzine (see also: zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular subject for the pleasure of others who share their interest. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ...

See also

• Euroway
• SeaWind Line
• Viking Line rival operator

Euroway was a Swedish shipping company, active between 1992 and 1994. ... Sky Wind in Turku harbour SeaWind Line is a subsidiary of the Finnish passenger shipping company Silja Line, owned by British Sea Containers. ... Viking Line is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of large combined ferry/cruise ships (RORO type) between Finland, the Ã…land Islands, Sweden and Estonia. ...

External links

• Official site - silja.com
• SILJAweb.com