FINLANDIA, maiden voyage.

[timo]

Hi,

Was onboard on the maiden voyage of the FINLANDIA. Or should I say Old Maiden´s voyage as the vessel has seen 11 years of service in the Med for Moby Lines before coming to Helsinki-Tallinn. Pictures and comments on the following link.
Timo
sites.google.com/site/finlandiamaidenvoyage/home

Moderator edit to add URL tags to link

[Low Light Mike]

Jan 1, 2013 8:46:24 GMT -8 timo said:

Was onboard on the maiden voyage of the FINLANDIA.

Thanks for that link, Timo. I enjoyed looking at your photo essays of each deck of the ship.

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Regarding the SUPERSTAR ferry with the backwards funnel, was there a reason for doing the backwards funnel? Or just a bad mistake ?
- wondering what the industry and company are saying about that.

[timo]

Jan 1, 2013 9:05:04 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Thanks for that link, Timo. I enjoyed looking at your photo essays of each deck of the ship.

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Regarding the SUPERSTAR ferry with the backwards funnel, was there a reason for doing the backwards funnel? Or just a bad mistake ?
- wondering what the industry and company are saying about that.

You are most welcome. Helsinki-Tallinn is a rather interesting route. We have three main competitors:
Tallink
STAR 30kn day ferry. 5-6 daily trips. 2 hour crossing time.
SUPERSTAR 30kn day ferry. 5-6 daily trips. 2 hour crossing time.
BALTIC PRINCESS soon to be switching places with the behemoth SILJA EUROPA on the Turku-Stockholm run. Operates as cruise ferry with most passengers sleeping onboard before going ashore in the morning. One roundtrip a day. 3h 30 min crossing time.

Viking Line
VIKING XPRS 28 kn day/night/cruise ferry. Actually a sister of Tallinks STAR, though they are identical only up to car deck levels. Two roundtrips a day. 2 hour 30 min crossing time.

and

Eckerö Line
Just replaced 1981 built NORDLANDIA with the 2001 built FINLANDIA. Two roundtrips a day, although one of them nighttime with limited passenger service. 2 hour 30 min crossing time.
TRANSLANDIA a ropax with limited passenger capacity aimed at the cargo market. Two roundtrips a day. 4 hour crossing time.

Summer time also Linda Line operates on the route, with two small passenger-only catamarans.

As for the funnel of the SUPERSTAR. That is because Tallink wanted the vessel to look different from the Moby Line trio. Only practical difference is that the exhaustpipes on her are straight, whereas on the trio they are angled and thus slightly longer.