RIGA - In a step that could further boost the influx of tourists to Latvia, two major shipping lines have reportedly expressed willingness to put Riga on a route to and from Stockholm.
Transport Minister Ainars Slesers told reporters April 22 that Estonia's Tallink and Finland's Silja Line were prepared to put at least one ferry each on the route. He said further meetings were scheduled with the two companies and negotiations could continue in May.
The minister surmised that about 20 percent of passengers on the Tallink and Silja Line ferries could be Latvians, but the rest would be Scandinavians, which would go far to develop tourism in the Baltic state. He said neither company had objections to the other shipper starting operations out of the Riga port at the same time.
Slesers, who is largely responsible for attracting discount airlines Ryanair and EasyJet to Riga International Airport, first floated the idea of attracting foreign shipping lines to Riga Passenger Port a couple months ago. He said that existing ferry service between Riga and Stockhold is unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement, a charge that raised heckles of port management and city officials, which at the time was dominated by Social Democrats.
"The existing ferry line does not ensure the required quality of service and creates a negative impression about Riga Port and its facilities abroad. Great efforts will have to made at the port to improve the infrastructure so that it meets the highest quality standards in serving large passenger ferries," the minister said.
Former Mayor Gundars Bojars, who sits on the port's board, had reacted negatively to the idea of foreign competition for Riga Sea Lines, which currently handles passengers between the Swedish and Latvian capitals.
Since then, however, right-wing parties, including Slesers' Latvia's First Party, have taken over power in the capital, paving the way for the energetic transport minister to see his plans through.
Still, Slesers said that Riga Port's board should develop cruise ship services at the port. "I do not want to undertake everything myself," he said.
Last year Riga Sea Lines carried 78,292 passengers between Riga and Stockholm, up 8 percent year-on-year. The shipper is owned by Riga port management and City Council.
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Tallink and Aker Finnyards on April 21 signed an option agreement on the Finnish shipbuilder building a fourth large cruise ship for Tallink.
The CEO of Aker Finnyards, Yrjo Julin, said the accord did not yet mean an order. "We've booked capacity and given Tallink the preemptive right for purchase, which is effective until the second half of October," he was quoted by the Finnish paper Kauppalehti as saying.
The ship that could be built as a result of the accord would be a sister vessel of another ship for Tallink that is currently being built by Aker Finnyards.
Finland's Turun Sanomat daily argued that low personnel costs were giving Tallink a big competitive advantage over other Baltic Sea shippers. "It's Silja Line that is in the most difficult position right now, and Tallink indeed is targeting the weakest one in the fight for market," the newspaper wrote. "Viking Line, which doesn't have any debt and is thus more competitive, is significantly harder to swallow."
Competition between shippers in the Baltic Sea is set to become even more intense when Sweden lowers taxes on alcohol, a measure that will cut into the shipping companies' revenues from tax-free trade.
