Tallink Grupp names new Tallinn-Helsinki route shuttle vessel MySTAR

TALLINN – The listed Estonian shipper Tallink Grupp announced on Monday that the name of the new Tallinn-Helsinki route shuttle vessel, which will be built at the Rauma shipyard in Finland and is due to be completed by the end of 2021, will be MySTAR.

The name for the vessel was proposed as an entry in the vessel naming competition by a Finnish national. The shipping company ran a naming competition for the new vessel this summer and the final decision regarding the name was made by the company's management board in September, the shipper said in a press release.

More than 2,800 entries were received for the naming competition from 30 countries from across the world. The biggest number of entries was received from Tallink Grupp's home markets of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Sweden, with Finnish shipping enthusiasts submitting the most entries.

Tallink Grupp's CEO Paavo Nogene said he was delighted with the level of interest in the naming of the company's new vessel. "We never doubted the interest people in this region have in shipping and knew that many people around the Baltic Sea would take up the opportunity to write their name in the region's shipping history by proposing the winning name to our vessel. But we never knew there were so many shipping fans also wider afield, who all submitted some great names as well," he added.

"Choosing the winning name was not easy for us as there were many great proposals, but ultimately we wanted to carry on with the tradition that our shuttle vessels are 'stars' of the Baltic Sea, so that narrowed the selection somewhat. And why we opted for MySTAR – well, because the new vessel is shaped by everyone who travels with it, so everyone can feel that this vessel is part of them," Nogene said.

In addition to the more common names for a vessel, the competition also received more unconventional entries for the new vessel's name, such as M/S Ott Tanak, M/S Marie Under, Speedy Gonzales, Great Finland, Queen Suomi, Suomenlinna, Mega Tallsinki Express, Kalevipoeg, King Kong, Eri Klas, Tunnel, Vana Toomas, Sibelius, Megafast and many others, including the infamous Boaty McBoatface along with Shuttle McShuttleface.