AS Tallink Grupp has released its passenger and cargo transport statistics for the month of December and the fourth quarter of 2017.
The Group reports transporting more passengers and cargo units in December 2017 than in the same month in previous years, with 815 255 passengers (an increase of 6.2% on December 2016) and 28 315 cargo units (an increase of 10.0% on December 2016) transported on all the Group’s routes in the month.
The Group also reports transporting a total of 2 316 144 passengers in the fourth quarter of 2017 (October to December), which is a 4.0% increase compared to the same period in 2016. The number of cargo units transported by the group has also increased compared to 2016 by 14.1% to 97 345 units for the full quarter.
As a result, the total number of passengers transported by the Group in 2017 has increased to 9 755 720 (9 457 522 in 2016) and the total number of cargo units transported in 2017 has increased to 364 296 units (328 190 in 2016).
Commenting on the statistics, Veiko Haavapuu, AS Tallink Grupp’s Finance Director said:
“The steady increase in passenger and cargo unit numbers both in the fourth quarter and throughout 2017 has resulted in another record year for Tallink Grupp. In the twelve months the Group transported over 9.7 million passengers, a 3.2% increase on the previous year, and nearly 365,000 units of cargo, an 11% increase as compared to 2016.
“Nearly all our routes showed an increase in passenger numbers in 2017, with the Estonia-Sweden route achieving new passenger records with more than one million passengers for the first time (1 013 007 passengers). Compared to 2016. The biggest increase in the number of passengers was achieved on our Latvia-Sweden route with 45.8% more passengers more travelling on this route in 2017. This is mainly due to two ships operating on the route in 2017 as compared to just one ship in 2016.
“In cargo transportation, all our routes showed a year-on-year increase compared to 2016 statistics. Similarly to passenger transport, we witnessed the biggest increase in the number of cargo units transported also on the Latvia-Sweden route, but the number of units transported on the Estonia-Finland route also saw a good increase with 11.6% compared to 2016.
“Overall, a strong last quarter of the year and steady results throughout the year, have all contributed to setting this new passenger and cargo unit transportation record, which is a good result for the Group for 2017.”
AS Tallink Grupp is the leading passenger and cargo transportation service provider in the Northern region of the Baltic Sea. The company owns 14 vessels and operates under the brands of Tallink and Silja Line on 6 different routes. AS Tallink Grupp employs 7,000 people in the region and over 9.5 million passengers travelled on its ferries in 2016.