The effects of the coronavirus epidemic prevention regulations on Finnlines passenger traffic
On 7 April 2020, the Finnish Government has clarified its announcement of 30 March 2020 that maritime passenger traffic to Finland will be restricted from 11 April 2020 to 13 May 2020. The stoppage of passenger traffic applies only to passengers arriving in Finland, it does not apply to passengers departing from Finland, the company said in its release.
For Finnlines, this means that passenger traffic from Travemünde will be suspended until 13 May 2020. The last possible departure for passengers from Travemünde to Helsinki is on Saturday 11 April 2020 at 3:00 am.
Passenger traffic between Kapellskär and Naantali has been suspended earlier on 23 March 2020, when border crossing points for passenger traffic in Finland were restricted.
Finland started to restrict travelling to Finland on 19 March 2020. These limitations remain in force until 13 May 2020, and passenger traffic to Finland is stopped until then.
Naantali is not an official border border crossing point at the moment. Due to this it is not possible to travel on Finnlines ferries between Finland and Sweden until 13.5.2020. Anyway passengers are allowed to travel between Naantali and the Åland Islands.
For the time being there are no restrictions in the maritime passenger traffic between Germany and Sweden.
Travel restrictions in Germany are valid until 4 May 2020. Until then, travellers are no longer allowed to enter Germany without a valid reason as defined by the German Federal Ministry of Interior. In addition, a two-weeks quarantine is mandatory for the time being for persons returning to Germany.
Finnlines cargo-passenger ships operate normally despite the coronavirus outbreak. The transportation of foodstuff and other essential goods from one country to another is important even and especially in situations like this. The Finnlines cargo-passenger ships that are still carrying passengers carry a very limited number of passengers, at most hundreds, and are very large in relation to the number of passengers. This greatly reduces the risk of exposure to any type of infectious disease.