Tallink Grupp has announced that its Tallinn-Helsinki route cruise vessel Silja Europa will remain suspended from the route until 1 April 2022. During the suspension the vessel will undergo technical repairs before returning to the route and the company’s management has also decided to bring forward the vessel’s technical dry-docking, originally planned for 2023, to carry out all the necessary and planned works at once and avoid the vessel being off the route in 2023.
The vessel was originally due to return to the Tallinn-Helsinki route during the February school holidays for one week and thereafter to the regular route and schedule in March. The shows and star artists planned for the vessel during the February school holidays and in March will now be postponed to later this spring.
„The low season and lower passenger numbers due to the continuing Omicron spread are currently enabling us to progress with and bring forward as many technical works as possible on many of our ships, which means that when travelling does recover and passenger numbers start going up again, we won’t have to make these suspension decisions and our ships will be in their best condition to sail without interruptions,“ Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp said.
„We sincerely apologise to all passengers whose travel plans this decision affects and we will be in touch with them to help make alternative plans and find the best solutions. We really hope that we are nearing the end of the rollercoaster ride of this pandemic and the constant changes and can soon sail on calmer waters according to normal schedules and routes once again,“ Nõgene added.
Customers who are affected by this decision, will be contacted by Tallink Grupp customer services and offered alternative travel opportunities during this period on the group’s other vessels either from Helsinki to Stockholm, Turku-Stockholm, or hotel packages from Helsinki to Tallinn on the company’s shuttle vessels.
AS Tallink Grupp is one of the leading providers of passenger transport and cargo transport services in the northern part of the Baltic Sea region. The company owns 15 vessels and operates a number of ferry routes on the Baltic Sea under the brand names of Tallink and Silja Line. AS Tallink Grupp employs around 4000 people in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Russia and Germany. The shares of Tallink Grupp are listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange.