Rederi AB Slite

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Rederi AB Slite was a Swedish shipping company, founded in 1947 by Carl Bertil Myrsten and his sister Inga Gattberg. The Myrsten family, from Slite on the island of Gotland, had been in the business since 1867, when Johan Niclas Myrsten founded the dynasty.

In mid 1950s two new built cargo ships, M/S Slite and M/S Boge were delivered to Slite. In 1959 respectively 1961 they were rebuilt to be able to load cars and take passengers. These ships were then put on a route between Simpnäs north of Stockholm and Mariehamn on Åland. In 1964 the new built ferry M/S Apollo was delivered.

In the early 1960s there was a heavy competition from several companies on the route Sweden - Åland. This lead to a cooperation between Slite and Vikinglinjen, which later became a part of Rederi Ab Sally. In 1966 the marketing company Viking Line was founded, and by now Ålandsfärjan Ab had joined the cooperation. Viking Line now had three ships, Ålandsfärjan Ab's S/S Ålandsfärjan, Vikinglinjen's S/S Viking and Slite's M/S Apollo. They were all painted in Apollo's original red colour that is now so characteristic for Viking Line. During the 1970s and -80s the sea traffic between Sweden and Finland expanded heavily. More and bigger ferries were ordered, the competition from Silja Line made Slite take risks in investing in bigger tonnage.

In 1987 Sally sold their share of Viking Line to Effoa, the main owner of Silja Line. The situation of having the main competitor owning 33% of Viking Line became untenable and Sally's shares were sold to Slite and Ålandsfärjan Ab, who by now had changed their name to SF Line.

Slite invested heavily in expensive new ships during the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Ships such as M/S Athena, M/S Kalypso, and M/S Europa, at the time the world's largest passenger ferry, were meant to be the jewels of the company's crown. Unfortunately for Slite the orders were put in during a Swedish economic crisis, leading to increased expenses on both Athena and Kalypso. The crisis continued when the Swedish krona was allowed to float in 1992. Slite was unable to pay for M/S Europa and their banks did not help them. Consequently Slite was declared bankrupt in April 1993 and their ships were sold by compulsory auction.