Kristina Regina, 22 June 2010

Kristina Regina

IMO 5048485
Built 1960, Oskarshamns varv, Sweden
Tonnage 4 295 GT
Length 99,83 m
Width 15,28 m
Draft 5,25 m
245 passengers
2 Wärtsilä-Vaasa diesels, combined 3 240 kW
2 propellers (?)
1 bow thruster
Speed 17 knots

Kristina Regina is another ship with a fascinating history. She was built in 1960 as the steam-powered car/passenger ferry Bore for Steamship Company Bore. She had a small side-loadable car deck, making her in fact the first purpose-built car ferry in the North Baltic (an accolade usually given to Siljavarustamo's Skandia of the following year). She was used on an overnight service from Turku to Stockholm's Skeppsbron. In 1970 Steamship Company Bore and the associated Finland Steamship Company, Rederi AB Svea and their joint subsidiary Siljavarustamo reorganized their operations, forming the joint marketing company Silja Line. Resultingly the Bore joint the Silja Line fleet. Unlike most other Silja ships, she kept SS Co. Bore's yellow hull livery, on which Silja's seal-logo was painted.

In 1976 Silja finally decided to close the steamer service to Skeppsbron, and the Bore was laid up. In 1977 she was sold to the SS Co. Bore-associated Jakob Lines and renamed Borea for service on the Gulf of Bothnia. After a patchy career of Jakob Line services and various charters, in 1984 she was again used for overnight Turku-Stockholm service, now for Aura Line who wished to revive the service as a tourist attraction. Aura Line was not a success, and in late 1984 the Borea was again laid up.

Following a failed attempt to rebuilt the Borea into the luxury cruise ship Vanderbilt, the ship was sold in 1987 to Rannikkolinjat, based in Kotka, Finland. She was renamed Kristina Regina, re-engined with diesels and rebuilt as a cruise ship, entering cruise services on the Baltic in 1988 under the banner of Kristina Cruises. Initially she was only used for Baltic cruises in the summers and laid up for the winter months, but from 1999 onwards the Kristina Regina spent the winters cruising in warmer waters. She is, to date, the most successful Finnish cruise ship.

Due to SOLAS 2010 regulations coming into effect in October 2010, the Kristina Regina must be withdrawn from service in 2010. In preparation for this Kristina Cruises puchased a new ship, Kristina Katarina, already in late 2009. In July 2010 the Kristina Regina was sold to a group of businessmen from Turku, to be delivered after her final cruise on 21 August 2010. The plan is to restore the ship to Steamship Company Bore's livery and use her as a permanently moored hotel/museum/restaurant in her original home port Turku.

Photographs below are of the Kristina Regina in Kustaanmiekka strait on 22 June 2010, photographed from Kustaanmiekka. Click on the image(s) for full size.

Kristina Regina making her way for the strait...

...and displaying her classic lines.

Through the strait (quite enough space for such a small ship) and onwards to open sea.