TALLINN - link, the Baltics' largest passenger ship company, said the three fast ships it intends to acquire will operate under the Superfast Ferries brand for the foreseeable future. Even though the three vessels will be placed under the Estonian flag, they won't be painted Tallink's blue color from their present red and white, Keijo Mehtonen, manager of Tallink's operations in Finland, told Finland's Swedish-language newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.
"We will continue to sail under the Superfast brand and colors for maybe two or three more years," Mehtonen said.
"This is because it doesn't make any sense to undermine the brand that has become familiar on the Hanko-Rostock line already. Superfast is known to some degree in Germany, whereas Tallink is fully unknown," he said.
Kenneth Bengts, union representative for Superfast crews, said the ships were being sold without crews, adding that apparently only a small number of crew members would get jobs with the new owners.
"But legally they can start laying us off after only six months," he said.
Another significant change is that Tallink may have the ferries make a stop in Paldiski, an old Soviet naval port in Estonia, during the crossing between Finland and Germany.
"At the start we'll maybe have each ship go to Paldiski," Mehtonen said. He added that, while the route is operating successfully already now, it was possible to develop it further.
Tallink is buying the ferries from the Greek Attica Group and is likely to replace the crews. It is paying 310 million euros for the three Superfast ferries.
