Viking Cinderella in Stockholm, 10 February 2012

Viking Cinderella

IMO 8719188
Former name: Cinderella
Built 1989, Wärtsilä Marine Turku, Finland
Tonnage 46 398 GT
Length 191,00 m
Width 29,00 m
Draught 6,74 m
2560 passengers
2500 berths
480 cars or 60 trucks (in cruise service parking space for 100 cars)
760 lanemeters
4 Sulzer diesels, combined 28 800 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22 knots

Staying in the theme of Viking Line, here is a ship that has been featured far too rarely in this blog: the Viking Cinderella, without a doubt the best ship currently in Viking Line's fleet. A status she is likely to lose next year to the unfortunately named Viking Grace. But until then, if you wish to experience the best that the red ships can offer, go on the red ship with a white hull.

These photographs show the Viking Cinderella arriving at Viking Line's terminal on Tegelvikshamnen in the afternoon of 10 February 2012. Photographed from Södermalm. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

It's a great-looking ship, even though I think she looked betetr (and less boxy) with the proper red Viking Line hull.

Notice that the starboard side (pictured here) is different from the port side, featuring the impressive three-deck high panoramic window. Earlier drawings show it as being five-deck high, but for whatever reason the ship's name was written in huge letters on deck 10 instead.

Considering the ship was designed in one-third of normal design time (thanks to SF Line being offered a building slot left open when Admiral Cruises cancelled an order they had at Wärtsilä) the end result is really quite good. On the inside it's a derivative of the Mariella and Amorella/Isabella, but considering how practical the layout on those ships is, that is not a bad thing.

...I couldn't get pictures showing the ship from a aft view from this point, she moved behind a security fence. I think I have a bunch of older pics showing her from an aft view, I'll have to dig them up at some point.

Viking Grace - the dawn of a new era of duller names

Now it is official - Viking Line's new ship will be named Viking Grace. The company that previously utilized the rather brilliant and unique naming scheme where ship names ended with -ella and even managed to make a company prefix name sound interesting with Viking XPRS has slid to the level of boring names favoured by most other shipping companies. And on top of that they chose a name with strong religious connotations. Not nescessarily the best choice for a ship that is primarily about fairly non-virtuous activities. I admit that as an atheist I also resent the name on a purely personal basis.

Of course, I will still go and sail on the ship. She's looking to become a wonderful - in all aspects except the name.

Not sure how graceful the ship is. Still, Viking Grace it is and while I can bitch and moan about it, that doesn't change the name. No matter how much I wish it would. Photo copyright Viking Line.

Finally, as pointed out by Timo Selkälä, Viking Grace is also the name of a line of a line of women's boots. Research, Viking, ever heard of that? Even a simple Google search?

Finalists for Viking Line's ship naming competition - WTF?

I felt this subject is too important to pass. Tomorrow, Viking Line will be announcing the name of their new LNG-powered ferry that will be delivered in January 2013 and will replace the Isabella on the Turku-Stockholm run.* Today, Viking Line announced the top eight finalists of the naming competition, from which the final name will be revealed tomorrow. The finalists are (and I swear I'm not making these up):

Viking Joy
SeaMore
XLNT (presumably Viking XLNT, but it was listed without a prefix)
Adamas
Calista
Viking Grace
Finella
Viking Nova

Does this ship really look like Adamas or Calista to you? Photo copyright Viking Line.

I'm sorry but what drugs are the people in Mariehamn on? According to the new ship's website, they got 9 900 unique proposals. And, thanks to the website and other sources we know these included such fine names as Daniella, Passionella, Fortunella** and Laurella (the lattest being my own proposal, alongside Viking RLXN, pronounced "Viking Relaxing", which I admit was quite rubbish) and yet they ended up with these eight. No disrespect to anyone who entered these proposals but in my opinion they are rubbish. Viking Joy is boring, SeaMore is a terrible pun (that doesn't even work when written in ALL CAPS, which is probably how the name will appear in most material), Adamas... I don't even know what that means (unless it's a Battlestar Galactica reference and if so it's completely unsuitable for a cruise ship), Calista is OK but boring, Viking Grace has an unnescessary religious tangent, Finella has a nice double meaning (fin = beautiful or fine in Swedish and of crouse a reference to Finland) but it sounds like a 1970s Viking Line name, can be confused for a Finnlines' ship name and is a bit boring. Viking Nova will be outdated as a name as soon as Viking build another new ship and for Finns it associated with Radio Nova, a rather craptastic radio station playing mainstream pop and rock.

The only name out of these I think would be acceptable is Viking XLNT (presumably pronounced "Viking Excellent", just as Viking XPRS is pronounced "Viking Express") - except for the fact XLNT is the name of clothes brand for "big girls" by KappAhl. Viking Line, you still have time to look at the other proposals and select a name that will actually look and sound good. Like Passionella.

* = According to what I have heard the future of the Isabella after the delivery of the new ship will be decided later this year.

* = As an interesting detail, the 1970s/80s Rederi AB Slite -owned Viking Line cruise ship Apollo III was originally to be named Fortuna (and appeared under that name in early VL marketing material). Naming the new ship Fortunella would be like getting the ship they naver had.

Birger Jarl in Stockholm, 10 February 2012

Birger Jarl

IMO 5044893
Former names: Birger Jarl, Bore Nord, Minisea, Baltic Star
Built 1953, Finnboda Varv Nacka, Sweden
Tonnage 3 564 GT
Length 92,50 m
Width 14,28 m
Draught 5,50 m
Ice class 1C
369 passengers
369 berths
1 MAN-B&W diesel, 2 795 kW
1 propeller
1 bow thruster
Speed 15,50 knots

Birger Jarl, the ship that keeps sailing despite SOLAS 2010. For a brief history of the ship, see the previous entry on her. The photographs below were taken in from Södermalm Stockholm on 10 February 2012, showing the Birger Jarl on Stockholms Ström inbound to the terminal at Gamla Stan. Click on the images to see in larger size.

Notice the icicles on the anchors.

Kaknästornet in the background.

I had an revelation in the process of trating these images: the blue and blue funnel stripes are an adaptation of the Sally Cruise colours carried by the Sally Albatross. The S might be a reference to the original owner Rederi AB Svea.

Turning around and getting ready to reverse into quay.

While the most of Stockholm archipelago was frozen, the current is so strong on Stockholms Ström that it remains ice-free.

Translandia in Tallinn, 27 March 2011

A short PSA before we get into today's subject: by the looks of it I will be very busy for the rest of the month with studies and travel. Because of this Kships will probably be updated less frequently for the next month or so than has been the norm until now (you may have noticed, I've been trying to update every four days or so). But now, onwards to today's subject:

Translandia

IMO 7429229
Former names: Transgermania, Rosebay, Eurostar, Eurocruiser, Rosebay, Transparaden
Built 1976, J.J. Sietas Werft Hamburg, West Germany
Tonnage 13 700 GT
Length 135,49 m
Width 21,71 m
Draugth 6,46 m
100 passengers
63 berths
1624 lane metres
2 MAN diesels, combined 9312 kW
? propellers
Speed 19 knots

Another neglected image from last year, this one from a short cruise I made with various friends to Tallinn in spring 2011 on Viking Line's Rosella when she briefly returned to the route in place of the Viking XPRS which was being drydocked. I didn't get much in the way of acceptable-queality photographs from the Rosella, apart from this wintery image of the Translandia in Tallinn harbour. For a brief history of the Translandia, see this previous entry on her.

With regards to the future of the Translandia, Eckerö Line last week entered an agreement to purchase the Moby Freedom (a sister ship of Tallink's Superstar), with delivery set in March 2012. The ship will be rebuilt and will enter service on the Helsinki-Tallinn route later this year (if Eckerö's naming scheme holds true the ship will be renamed Freelandia, though personally I'm hoping for Finlandia). The new ship will replace the Nordlandia (the future of which after this is uncertain), but what will happen to the Translandia when the new ship is delivered is uncertain. According to previous reports from Eckerö Line there is currently cargo overcapacity on the route and and at least theoretically the faster new ship could replace both the Nordlandia and the Translandia.

Translandia in Tallinn's Reisisadam, 27 March 2011. Notice the new livery in comparison to the previous entry on the ship (quite notably resembling Stena Line's previous-from-current livery); interestingly all Eckerö Line ships at the moment have liveries unique to that ship, while all maintaining a similar theme to each other. It will be interesting to see what kind of a livery the upcoming ex-Moby ship will recieve.