German Bundestag Transport Committee delegation visit to Tallink MyStar

Tallink Grupp’s representatives met today with the German Bundestag Committee on Transport delegation onboard the company’s shuttle vessel MyStar, the most modern and technologically advanced vessel operating on the Baltic Sea, connecting the two capitals of Tallinn and Helsinki; to discuss the current topics of the shipping industry in the Baltic Sea region, as well as challenges facing the maritime transport sector related to the ambitious decarbonisation targets.   During the meeting, Tallink Grupp showcased the company’s achievements in securing  more sustainable and environmentally friendly shipping operations on the Baltic Sea.

Commenting on the meeting with the German Bundestag Transport Committee delegation, Elise Nassar, Member of the Management Board at Tallink Grupp and President of the Estonian Shipowners’ Association, said:

- “We are very proud to welcome the representatives of the German Bundestag delegation today onboard our flagship MyStar - the most technologically advanced vessel operating on the Baltic Sea today, to showcase our efforts at constantly cutting GHG emissions and the technological edge of our fleet represented in our vessel MyStar. In fact, our flagship has a very special tie with Germany - the heart of MyStar, the ship’s five dual-fuel main engines, are manufactured in Germany.

- “Also, we are very honoured and happy to provide an industry insight and discuss the current key topics for the maritime transport sector, particularly in the light of ambitious EU and global green targets for the entire sector to fight climate change. At Tallink Silja Line, we have set our bar high - we have already made big strides cutting our emissions year-on-year, and, overall, have achieved total CO2 emissions’ reduction over 60% since 2008*. However, we can only combat climate change together, and - as the collective ambition is set even higher for the EU and global maritime transport sector – in order to reach these ambitious targets and goals, whilst remaining a strong and viable industry, it is important to enhance cross-sector cooperation to develop and enable the implementation of new and innovative alternative solutions faster and more cost-effectively. As an industry leader in the region, operating on five home markets around the Baltic Sea, we highly value and recognise the need for constructive and ongoing dialogue with our good partners inside and outside the industry, as well as key stakeholders - the policymakers and decisionmakers.”

Commenting on the meeting with Tallink Grupp’s representatives, Mathias Stein, MP, Member of the Bundestag Committee on Transport and head of the German delegation, said:

- "Germany and Estonia are important partners within the EU and also in the Baltic Sea region.  We are pleased to have had this great opportunity to discuss pressing issues of the shipping sector onboard MyStar with the representatives of Tallink Group, to gain an overview and better understand the challenges affecting the maritime transport sector in our domestic Baltic Sea region. Germany and Estonia share long-standing and good cooperation in the shipping sector, especially in the field of shipbuilding, and we were very pleased to see strong German shipbuilding traditions also represented on the newest ship of the Tallink fleet, MyStar."

The meeting between the representatives of Tallink Grupp, one of the largest maritime transport companies in the Northern Europe and in the Baltic Sea area, and the delegation of the German parliament’s Transport Committee, was organised within the framework of the German Bundestag Transport Committee’s working visit to Estonia and Finland.

In the framework of the working visit to Estonia, the delegation of the German parliament will meet representatives of the Estonian government, representatives of the Estonian Parliament and representatives of the City of Tallinn.  The German delegation will also visit key sector stakeholders, such as Port of Tallinn and HHLA TK Estonia, meet with representatives of Rail Baltic and the Association of Estonian International Road Carriers (ERAA).

This was second visit to Tallink Grupp by a Bundestag parliamentary delegation, Tallink Grupp hosted the Bundestag’s Digital Affairs Committee delegation visit aboard MyStar on 2022.