Ferry services sailing in choppy waters

TALLINN - In the summer of 2010, passenger numbers on the ferry routes from Helsinki and Turku declined, with the exception of the route between Helsinki and the Estonian capital Tallinn; due to the Tallinn service, the total passenger numbers increased by 250,000 passengers from last year, reports daily Helsingin Sanomat. The steepest decline in passenger service was experienced on Tallink’s route from Finland to Germany. The passenger numbers of the Estonian shipping company fell by 20 percent on the Helsinki-Rostock route over the period from June through August, when compared with the corresponding period last year.

Helsinki-Rostock ferries carried almost 10,000 fewer cruise passengers than in the summer of 2009.
In the spring, the shipping company hesitated for a long time on whether or not it would start to sail to Germany in the summer. This added to the decline in the number of ferry passengers: the late decision to start traffic between Finland and Germany meant that many potential passengers had already made other holiday arrangements.
“Many had already chosen some other routes,” regrets Deputy President Pasi Nakki of Tallink Silja. However, Tallink plans to offer ferry services between Finland and Germany next summer as well.

Finnish shipping company Finnlines did not give Helsingin Sanomat figures on its passenger numbers on its German route in the summer of 2010.
The ferries connecting Finland and Sweden lost more than 7,000 passengers in the past summer. In fact, the ferry operator Viking Line lost customers, but Silja Line, which belongs to the same group as Tallink, managed to attract slightly more passengers than in the summer of 2009.

Tallink Silja’s new M/S Galaxy enticed passengers to choose the white ships on the Turku-Stockholm route. Other ferries sailing between Finland and Sweden - both Silja Line’s white ships and Viking Line’s red ones - are already around 20 years old. However, new vessels are not forthcoming.
“This should be all we need, I guess. We will get along with these for a long time,” Nakki says. Viking has requested quotations for new vessels from shipbuilding yards but has not made any decisions on placing orders. The shipowner’s oldest vessel is 30 years old.

According to Viking Line President Mikael Backman, the age of a ferry does not matter. “The entire concept is getting rather old while the market is mature. We should create something new for these routes,” Backman argues.
When it comes to services between Finland and Sweden, the ferry lines are now competing with airlines. “Low-cost airlines offer trips for 49 euros - quite a competitive rate,” Nakki notes.

However, the popularity of the vessels on the Tallinn route remains strong. In the past summer, a total of 2.3 million ferry passengers traveled on the route, which is more than 169,000 more than in the previous year.
The current market leader, Tallink, carried 12 percent more passengers on the route. Viking gained 7 percent, and even Eckero Line managed to increase its customer numbers by 3.5 percent. On the other hand, Linda Line and its two small high-speed catamaran vessels suffered a decline in passengers in this summer season.

Viking would require more capacity on its Tallinn route. At present, the company has only one vessel sailing between Helsinki and Tallinn, the M/S Viking XPRS. “It could be the next growth target for Viking,” Backman admits.
The new ferry connection between St. Petersburg and Helsinki that was launched last spring attracted some 100,000 passengers in the course of the summer months, reports the new ferry operator St. Peter Line.