Viking Line to launch partnership with Gotlandsbolaget – cruise service to be run under joint management
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Viking Line and Gotlandsbolaget (Gotland Company) are to form a joint venture entrusted with the task of developing and providing cruises with M/S Birka Stockholm between Stockholm–Mariehamn and Stockholm–Mariehamn–Visby. Gotlandsbolaget acquired M/S Birka Stockholm in March 2023 for EUR 38 M and has now agreed to sell 50 per cent of the vessel to Viking Line for EUR 19 million, Viking Line said.
The two venerable Scandinavian shipping companies with roots in two important island communities – Gotland and Åland – will contribute their specialist knowledge to the launch in the spring of 2024 of cruise service from Stockholm to Mariehamn and Visby and possibly also destination cruises in the Baltic Sea region. M/S Viking Cinderella, which currently provides cruise service from Stockholm to Mariehamn, will be moved to the Helsinki–Mariehamn–Stockholm route during the spring of 2024. The purchase price for Viking Line’s share in the vessel is 19 million euros, which is being funded by Viking Line’s cash holdings.
The new company will entail a major investment in cruise travel on the Baltic Sea, and planning is now under way to launch operations and offer an attractive new product with service starting in the spring of 2024. The initial contract for the partnership runs for five years with the possibility of extension.
The completion of this business transaction and the start-up of the new joint venture are contingent on the approval of the Swedish Competition Authority. The new company will be headquartered in Stockholm and run under the management of CEO Susanne Kaarnimo-Knight.