Stella Lines starts new ferry service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg

On 4 August Stella Lines, a subsidiary to Stella Company Group, commenced the new ferry service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The ferry Julia (ex Christian IV, built in 1982) has a capacity of 1,000 passengers and 430 cars and 50 trailers. The agent company Inflot Worldwide in St. Petersburg has for a long time strived for scrapping the visa requirement for ferry passengers coming to St. Petersburg. The Vice Director Andrey Mushkarev says to SSG that the Russian Parliament will discuss a bill concerning the visa requirement on 5 September. At the same time Port of St. Petersburg has changed the port dues by giving large reductions to liner vessels. Therefore Inflot Worldwide is hoping to get back Tallink’s ferry service between Tallinn and St. Petersburg, the service was closed down in 2004.