Viking Line

Viking Line
legal form	Abp
founding	1966
Seat	Mariehamn , Åland
management	Jan Hanses ( CEO )
Number of employees	2874
sales	497.8 million  euros
Branch	Shipping company
Website	www.vikingline.de
Status: 2018

The Gabriella in Helsinki, 2007

Viking Line Abp is a shipping company headquartered in Mariehamn in the autonomous Finnish region of Åland , which operates seven ferries on the Baltic Sea between Estonia , Finland and Sweden .

history

Rosella , the longest-serving ship on the Viking Line, arrived in Helsinki in the summer of 2003

Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen (later Rederi Ab Solstad and merged to Rederi Ab Sally in 1970 ) was founded in 1959 and began operating ferries between Gräddö in Sweden and Korpo in Finland . After a disagreement between the founders, a group led by Gunnar Eklund left the shipping company and founded a new company in 1959, Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan . The new company bought the steamer Brittany , renamed it Ålandsfärjan and started operations between Kapellskär and Mariehamn ( Åland ) in direct competition with Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen .

In 1966, Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan , Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen and Rederi AB Slite merged and founded the trading company Viking Line to compete with Silja Line . During the following years the three companies ordered many newbuildings and Viking Line became a leading shipping company in the Baltic Sea ferry traffic.

1970 Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan changed its name to SF Line , where "S" stood for "Sweden" ( Swedish Sverige ) and "F" for "Finland" (Swedish Finland ). Your first new acquisition was the Kapella , which was delivered in 1967 . As a tribute to Gunnar Eklund's wife Ellen, the names of all subsequent ships ended in -ella .

When Rederi Ab Sally was acquired in 1987 by EffJohn, which also owned Silja Line, Rederi Ab Sally had to leave Viking Line in 1988 under pressure from SF Line and Rederi Ab Slite . After the bankruptcy of Rederi Ab Slite in 1993, SF Line was the only remaining shareholder in Viking Line. Following this, the SF Line changed its name to Viking Line in 1995.

In 2018, Viking Line carried 6,411,537 passengers, the number of employees was 2,874, of which 762 were on land.

stretch

The Mariella in Helsinki, 2004

The Viking Line ferries serve the following routes for freight and passenger traffic:

• Helsinki - Mariehamn - Stockholm ( discontinued in mid-March 2020 due to the spread of the corona virus *)
• Helsinki - Tallinn
• Turku - Mariehamn / Långnäs - Stockholm
• Stockholm - Mariehamn
• Mariehamn - Kapellskär

fleet

Used ships

The Amorella in Stockholm, 2006

• Amorella (1988) - currently Stockholm - Mariehamn - Turku
• Viking Cinderella (1989) - currently Stockholm - Mariehamn
• Gabriella (1997) - currently Stockholm - Mariehamn - Helsinki
• Mariella (1985) - currently Stockholm - Mariehamn - Helsinki
• Rosella (1980) - currently Kapellskär - Mariehamn
• Viking XPRS (2008) - currently Helsinki - Tallinn
• Viking Grace (2013) - Stockholm - Mariehamn - Turku

The newest of the fleet is the Viking Grace built at STX Finland in Turku , which was delivered in 2013 and is currently in service between Turku ( Finland ) and Stockholm ( Sweden ). The ship is measured at 57,000 GT and uses LNG as fuel .

The Rosella was rebuilt by mid-February 2011 to increase comfort and capacity. The conversion will ensure that the ship can continue to operate on the Kapellskär - Mariehamn short haul.

In November 2016, a letter of intent for a new building was signed with the Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co. , as well as an option for another ship. The delivery should take place in spring 2020. However, the option of the second new building was dropped. Construction began on September 3, 2018. After an ideas competition for the ship's name, from which 10 suggestions were selected for final voting, the majority of 30,000 people who took part chose the name Viking Glory . The new building with panoramic windows is to replace the Amorella .

In the 2017 summer season, the Viking FSTR catamaran was used on the Helsinki - Tallinn route.

Former ships

Kapella (1967)

• 1963 Ålandsfärjan (from 1966 Viking Line, previously Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan , sold for scrapping in 1972)
• 1967 Kapella (sold 1979, scrapped 2006)
• 1970 Marella (Sold 1980, scrapped 2004)
• 1973 Aurella (sold in 1982, currently serving as CTMA Vacancier for the Coopérative de transport maritime et aérien )
• 1979 Turella (Sold in 1988, currently serving as Kongshavn for Kystlink )
• 1987 Ålandsfärjan (sold to GAP Adventures in 2008, renamed Expedition )
• 1989 Isabella (sold to Tallink in 2013 )
• 1989 Cinderella (renamed Viking Cinderella in 2003 )

In total, Viking Line has already had over 50 different ferries in service. Among them was the Viking Sally 1980-1990 owned by the Viking Line . Its sinking went down in 1994 under its later name Estonia as the largest maritime disaster in European post-war history.

Another notable ship is the Silja Europa , the largest ferry in the world at the time, which was commissioned by Rederi AB Slite, one of the Viking Line operator shipping companies at the time. However, a takeover of some even painted already in Viking Line colors ferry did not come because of the 1992 falling exchange rate of the Swedish krona suddenly more expensive the ship around 500 million Swedish crowns and the money could not be raised.

Viking Line Buss

Viking Line Buss is a Mariehamn- based bus company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Viking Line. The company was founded in 1942 by Alfons Sundqvist under the name Sundqvist Bus. Viking Line Buss is now owned by Viking Line and was renamed Viking Line Bus in 2009. The company offers day trips to Sweden as well as travel programs to the Nordic countries and Europe.

Subsidiaries

Subsidiaries of Viking Line Abp:

• Viking Line Scandinavia AB, Stockholm , Sweden 
• Viking Rederi AB, Stockholm , Sweden 
• OÜ Viking Line Eesti, Tallinn , Estonia 
• Viking Line Finland Transport GmbH, Lübeck , Germany 
• Viking Line Buss Ab, Mariehamn , Åland 

See also

• Tallink - Viking Line's main competitor on the Baltic Sea
• Eckerö Line
• St. Peter Line

Web links

Commons : Viking Line  - Collection of Images

• Website of the Viking Line (English)
• German side of the Viking Line
• Viking Line Buss website (Swedish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Management. In: vikingline.com. Retrieved September 6, 2019 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Annual Report 2018. In: vikingline.com. Retrieved September 6, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Viking Line discontinues lines . In: Daily port report from March 19, 2020, p. 13
4. ↑ Viking Line announces the name of the LNG ferry . In: Schiff & Hafen , Heft 4/2012, p. 17, Seehafen-Verlag, Hamburg 2012, ISSN  0938-1643
5. ↑ Start of construction for Viking's new cruise ship. September 3, 2018, accessed September 3, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Viking Line: orders LNG passenger ferry in China with an option for a 2nd ship. November 20, 2016, archived from the original on February 19, 2017 ; accessed on February 18, 2017 . 
7. ↑ VIKIN LINE: decides not to exercise option for second cruise ferry with LNG propulsion. February 2, 2018, accessed February 2, 2018 . 
8. ^ The building of Viking Line's new passenger vessel starts today. September 3, 2018, accessed September 13, 2018 . 
9. ↑ New building for Viking Line is named Viking Glory: Flettner rotors are initially not installed . In: SeereisenMagazin, issue 3/2019 (May-June) . Sea travel magazine media. May 1, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
10. ↑ Viking Line charter catamarans for the summer season. February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017 . 
11. ↑ T / S Brittany. Retrieved January 5, 2016 . 
12. ↑ M / S Kattegat. Retrieved January 5, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Om Viking Line Buss. In: vikinglinebuss.ax. Retrieved September 7, 2019 (Swedish). 
14. ↑ Contact Information. In: vikingline.com. Retrieved September 6, 2019 .