RIGA - Estonia's Tallink brought life back to Riga's moribund passenger terminal last week when it held the inaugural run of its Riga-Stockholm route on the Fantaasia. Some 300 passengers boarded the ferry for the first voyage, and Tallink CEO Enn Pant said that about 10,000 's 11,000 passengers have booked tickets for April and that another Tallink ferry may ply the route in May when Riga hosts the World Ice Hockey Championship.
Former Transport Minister Ainars Slesers, who was instrumental in attracting Tallink to the Latvian capital, told the press he hoped that Tallink would not remain the only shipping company to operate on the Riga-Stockholm route. He noted that Tallink would face serious competition on the part of airBaltic and Ryanair, both of whom offer flights between the two cities.
Passenger turnover at Riga Port fell dramatically after Riga Sea Lines, which operated the route, was declared bankrupt and went into receivership. The company's assets, including the Baltic Kristina ferry, have been sold.
Slesers said new ferry terminals could be built in Riga Port in the future, since the port was interested in ferry traffic not only to Stockholm, but also to other cities.
Pant said the Regina Baltica, another Tallink ferry, may sail between the Latvian and Swedish capitals in May. He also said the company, which owns a series of hotels in Tallinn, where it is headquartered, may build a hotel in Riga.
Tallink plans to carry about 170,000 passengers on the route this year and to increase the annual number of passengers to 300,000 in the future.
Meanwhile, it was reported last year that Tallink Group subsidiaries in Cyprus would borrow some 280 million euros to finance the purchase of three Superfast ferries. The company said subsidiaries Baltic SF VII Ltd., Baltic SF VIII Ltd. and Baltic SF IX Ltd. on April 10 signed a loan agreement with a syndicate of banks arranged by HSH Nordbank and KfW. The loan will be paid out proportionally at the time of each ship's delivery from the sellers to the buyers.
The loan consists of two main tranches; the long-term tranche of 240 million euros has a maturity of 10 years and the short-term one of 40 million euros two years. During the current financial year, loan repayments will amount to 6 million euros, Tallink said.
This type of financing structure for the purchase of the Superfast ferries will ensure the availability of more liquid funds for the group, which supports the realization of Tallink's future strategy and development, the company said.
The three ferries cost a total of 310 million euros.
Meanwhile, Finland's Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper reported this week that the Greek Attica group that used the three ferries between Finland and Germany failed to clarify social guarantees with Finnish crew members. According to the paper, four Superfast employees were left without sick leave and child care monies a year ago. At the time, Superfast officials argued that the money had been paid but hadn't "materialized."
The issue remains unsolved.
Finnish pension authorities and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health last year sent a letter to Greek authorities asking what the social tax paid on the wages of Superfast's Finnish employees stood for. "We got an answer detailing how the system works in theory, and that Finnish seafarers are covered by the same rules of social protection as their Greek counterparts. But the problem is, as far as we know, that nobody has succeeded in using this system thus far," said Petri Jantti, a lawyer for the Finnish pension authority.
Hufvudstadsbladet reported that the new owner, Tallink, was to dismiss Superfast's Finnish employees in May. Tallink has taken over the Superfast ferries sailing between the Finnish port of Hanko and Rostock in Germany and will man them with Estonian crews.
