MS Silja Festival arriving in Mariehamn, May 2005. |
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | 1986–1992: Wellamo 1992 onwards: Silja Festival[1] |
| Owner: | 1986–1991: Effoa 1991–1992: EffJohn 1992–2006: Silja Line[1] 2006 onwards: Tallink Group[2] |
| Operator: | 1986–2008: Silja Line 2008 onwards: Tallink[1] |
| Port of registry: | 1986–1992: Helsinki, Finland 1992–1997: Mariehamn, Finland 1997–2008: Stockholm, Sweden 2008 onwards: Riga, Latvia[1] |
| Route: | Riga–Stockholm (since August 2008)[1] |
| Ordered: | 1983-04-13[3] |
| Builder: | Wärtsilä Marine Helsinki New Shipyard, Helsinki, Finland[3] |
| Yard number: | 471[1] |
| Laid down: | 1984-05-22[3] |
| Launched: | 1985-03-15[1] |
| Christened: | 1986-01-09 by Pirkko Työläjärvi[3] |
| Acquired: | 1986-01-09[3] |
| Maiden voyage: | 1986-01-09[3] |
| In service: | 1986-01-09[3] |
| Identification: | IMO number: 8306498[1] |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics (as built)[3] | |
| Class and type: | Svea class cruiseferry |
| Tonnage: | 33,818 GT (gross tonnage) 3,000 metric tons deadweight (DWT) |
| Length: | 168.00 m (551 ft 2 in) |
| Beam: | 27.60 m (90 ft 7 in) |
| Draught: | 6.50 m (21 ft 4 in) |
| Depth: | 14.45 m (47 ft 5 in)[4] |
| Ice class: | 1A Super |
| Installed power: | 4 × Wärtsilä-SEMT-Pielstick 12PC 2-6V diesels combined 26,200 kW (35,100 hp)[1] |
| Propulsion: | 2 propellers 2 bow thrusters 1 stern thruster |
| Speed: | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Capacity: | 2,000 passengers 1,625 berths 1,200 lanemeters 360 cars |
| General characteristics (after 1992 rebuilt)[3] | |
| Tonnage: | 34,417 GT 3,720 DWT |
| Capacity: | 1,886 passengers 1,937 berths 300 cars[1] |
| Notes: | Otherwise the same as built |
MS Silja Festival is a cruiseferry owned and operated by the Estonia-based Tallink, used on their route connecting Riga, Latvia to Stockholm, Sweden. She was built in 1986 by Wärtsilä Helsinki, Finland, for Effoa as MS Wellamo for use on Silja Line traffic. She was rebuilt in 1992 at Lloyds Werft, Bremerhaven, Germany as Silja Festival. In 2008 the ship was transferred from the Silja Line fleet to that of Tallink, but she retained her Silja-prefixed name.[1]
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Following the delivery of the highly successful MS Finlandia and MS Silvia Regina for Silja Line's Helsinki–Stockholm service, Johnson Line and Effoa decided to order a pair of ships based on a similar design for the Turku–Stockholm service.[5] The first of the new ships, named MS Svea, was delivered to Johnson Line in May 1985.[6] The ship built for Effoa was given the name MS Wellamo (after the goddess of the sea in Finnish mythology, a traditional name in Effoa fleet) and delivered in January 1986. Following delivery she was placed on the Stockholm–Mariehamn–Turku route.[1][7]
The Wellamo suffered her first major mishap in July of the same year when she suffered a blackout and was grounded near Mariahamn. Following the grounding she was repaired at Luonnonmaan Telakka, Naantali, Finland.[1][7] In 1989 plans were made for converting the ship to a combined car/passenger/train ferry, but these were abandoned.[1] In the summer of 1990 the Wellamo briefly served on the Helsinki–Stockholm route,[1][7] because the new Silja Serenade was not yet complete, but old MS Finlandia had to be delivered to her new owners DFDS.[8] During the same year Effoa and Johnson Line merged to form EffJohn, who now became the sole owners of Silja Line.[8]
In the early 1990s EffJohn planned a large-scale reconstruction of GTS Finnjet. However the company could not gather enough funds to realise this project. Instead the money was used to rebuild the Svea and Wellamo.[9] In 1992, Wellamo was docked and rebuild at Lloyds Werft, Bremerhaven, Germany. Most notable exterior changes were a new skybar in front of the funnel and a new, more blue-dominated livery. Following the reconstruction the Wellamo was renamed MS Silja Festival (her sister having become MS Silja Karneval).[1][7] Around the same time her homeport was changed from Helsinki to Mariehamn.[1]
Initially the Silja Festival continued on the same route as before, alongside her sister, but following the acquisition of MS Silja Europa and the subsequent fleet re-organisation there was no longer a need for the ship on the Turku route. As a result was placed on the Vaasa–Umeå route from 20 March to 23 May 1993. When Silja Line began collaboration with Euroway in June 1993, Silja Festival was moved to their Malmö–Travemünde–Lübeck route, sailing parallel to MS Frans Suell. From there on the service was maketed as Silja Line Euroway. A few months later the route was extended to Copenhagen.[1][7]
After the Euroway service was terminated in April 1994, Silja Festival was moved back to the Kvarken to operate from Vaasa to Umeå and Sundsvall.[1][7] Around this time Silja Line made an agreement to sell Silja Festival or her sistership Silja Karneval to Norwegian ferry operator Color Line. Although Silja Karneval was the ship finally sold to Color, the new owners had presumed they'd be getting Festival and had made promotional posters for their new ship accordingly. As a result the Silja Karneval was confusingly renamed MS Color Festival.
In 2 September 1994, Silja Festival was moved from Vaasa to serve the Helsinki–Tallinn route. For the summer of 1995, (26 June to 14 August) she served Vaasa–Sundsvall again, then returned to Helsinki–Tallinn. After the charter agreement of MS Silja Scandinavia ended in April 1997[10] On 5 April 1997, Silja Line switched the ship's flag from Finnish to Swedish and put her back on Stockholm–Mariehamn–Turku service, where she remained until 2008.[1][7]
The Silja Festival was replaced on the Turku–Stockholm service by MS Galaxy on 23 July 2008. Subsequently the Silja Festival was moved to the Latvian ship registry, repainted with Tallink logos, and entered service on Tallink's Stockholm–Riga route on 2 August 2008.[1][11] Despite being moved under the Tallink brand and marketed as "Festival", the ship's registered name remained as Silja Festival.[1][12]
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