The Sally Saga: The Rise and Fall of a Shipping Venture

While this blog has been inactive, I have not. So it's time to introduce a new book.

Kalle Id, John Bryant and Joonas Kortelainen
The Sally Saga: The Rise and Fall of a Shipping Venture
Ferry Publications: Ramsey 2021
152 pages

For a time, the Finnish shipping company Rederi Ab Sally were the dominant partner in Viking Line, and for a while they owned numerous other shipping companies in Finland and abroad, including Vaasanlaivat–Vasabåtarna, Sally Line UK and Commodore Cruise Line. And then the whole company seemingly imploded in the mid-80s, being sold to the owners of the main Baltic Sea competition Silja Line. Why?

While Ferry Publications had published two short histories of Sally Line UK back in 1994 and 2001, and a book on the history of Rederi Ab Sally was published in Swedish in 2016, there has never been a book that would gather together the stories of Rederi Ab Sally and the subsequent fates of their subsidiaries under new ownership... until now, that is.

Together with John Bryant and Joonas Kortelainen, we have crafted a volume that explores the full story of Sally, from humble beginnings in investment in second-hand cargo tonnage by the company's progenitor Algot Johansson in the 1930s, to becoming one of Finland's largest shipping companies by a successful expansion into the tanker and ferry trades in the 1950s-70s period, the ill-adviced international expansion and subsequent bust of the 1980s, and ending with the subsequent fates of the Sally-established Sally Line UK and Sally Line Finland under new ownership, plus a shorter look at the later fates of other once-Sally subsidiaries, and fleet lists of Sally Line UK and Sally Line Finland. The text is completemented by numerous photos and other illustrations, including many quality shots that have never before been published.

One reader, who I know is very well-versed in the history of Northern European passenger shipping, was kind enough to reach out to me and comment "I though I knew a lot about Sally. After reading the books, I realised I did not know anything at all."

As per the usual, the book is available from well-stocked bookstores, the publisher's website, or you can contact me directly via email at kalle.id[ät]gmail.com and I will be happy to fix you a copy.

Book news: The North Sea Bridge: Ferry Connections Between Scandinavia and Britain 1820-2014

New year, new book. Alright, technically it's not a book of the new year, as The North Sea Bridge was published in December 2019, but my own copies reached me yesterday, so we're starting off the new decade with a book review.

Kalle Id
The North Sea Bridge: Ferry Connections Between Scandinavia and Britain 1820-2014
Ferry Publications: Ramsey 2019.
160 pages.

Back in 2014, I was asked to write an article series for Ulkomatala on the history of passenger shipping between the Nordic Countries and Britain, as these services ended that year with the closure of the Esbjerg–Harwich link. What I expected to be a four-part series turned out to run for a ridiculous seven installments and resulted, amongst other things, an interview for a radio travel programme by the Finnish national broadcaster Yle. The idea of expanding and translating the article series into a book was born soon afterwards, and here we are.

I hate taking these photos during the winter; in Finland this time of the year, natural light is too nonexistent for these to turn out good, no matter how hard you try.

Reviewers so far have been kind enough to say that the book fills an important gap in (english-language) maritime history and without false modesty I have to agree: this is the first time the story of the Nordics-UK passenger services have been told in their entirety, in detail, and drawing from source materials in all the Scandinavian languages, Finnish and English. Most of the material in the book has been available before in print in one of these languages, but never before has all the relevant information been put in print in a language most readers from all the relevant countries can be expected to understand. On top of it all, experts from all the relevant countries helped me along the way in some form or another.

Illustrations are drawn from numerous private and museum collections and are in excellent quality (even if I say so myself).

The book is available to buy numerous booksellers, and naturally also directly from the publishers here.

For those of you who live in or near Finland, I have a limited number of copies to sell directly, for the relatively modest price of 30 euros plus postage. If you are interested in buying a copy, drop me an email at kalle.id@gmail.com

Kships will return soon with an entry that isn't about books I've been involved in, I promise!

Upcoming book: The North Sea Bridge

I am happy to finally officially announce that this year will see the publication of another book by me. The North Sea Bridge – Ferry connections between Scandinavia and Britain 1820-2014 will, es the name suggests chronicle the history of the passenger ferry services between Scandinavia and Britain (plus Finland and Iceland to Britain) from the beginning of regular scheduled services right until the closure of the last passenger link in 2014.

Those of you who speak Finnish might be familiar with my very long article series on the same subject in Ulkomatala, published in 2015-2016; the book will be a translated, expanded and generally improved version of the article series.

Projected publication will be in December this year, while the projected page count will be 160. For the most eager amongst you, the book can already be pre-ordered from the Ferry Publications website here.

Book news: Ferries 2019

Nick Widdows (ed): Ferries 2019. Ferry Publications: Ramsey 2018. 224 pages.

There is once again a new book out with a contribution from me: the 2019 edition of Ferry Publications' now-annual Ferries. And like with the entry on last year's Ferries, I have to start by apologising for the somewhat belated entry on this. We recently moved to a new apartment, and trying to find the time to do everything that needs doing normally plus slowly but surely putting everything in its right place in the new apartment is taking surprisingly long.

For those who are not familar with the series, Ferries 2019 is a database of all Northern European car/passenger ferries in international service, plus all ferries sailing in intra-British or Irish services, and roro cargo ferries sailing to/from Great Britain and Ireland. In addition to the extremely useful database, there are four articles in this year's edition: "A Short History of Polferries" and "Unity Line – A Baltic Success Story", both by Matthew Punter, "DFDS in 2018 – Masters of the European Seas" by Kai Ortel, and my own offering "Viking Line Today and Tomorrow."

As the name suggests, my "Viking Line Today and Tomorrow" is an overview of Viking Line's operations as they are today, plus a look into the newbuilding currently under construction in China and some thoughts on how the new ship is likely to effect the company's future. With the international readers in mind, I have tried my best to explain the different business models of the different services, and the varying products offered.

Matthew Punter's twin articles on Polferries and Unity Line are both wonderful explanations of the histories of these two big Polish, state-owned ferry companies. Not that much has been written in English on either company, so I think Matthew's articles here are highly welcome.

Finally, Kai Ortel's "DFDS in 2018 – Masters of the European Seas" recaps the eventful years 2017 and 2018 for DFDS. Also handily precursoring Kai's upcoming DFDS – Linking Europe, due for publication later this year.

Ferries 2019 is available in well-stocked booksellers. If you happen to live somewhere (like Finland) where no such sellers exist, my prime recommendation is order the book directly from the publishers.

New book: Innovation and Specialisation – The Story of Shipbuilding in Finland

In addition to the detailed text, Innovation and Specialisation is profusely illustrated, with many images never before seen in print.

It is finally here. Innovation and Specialisation – The Story of Shipbuilding in Finland is mine and Bruce Peter's new magnum opus, detailing the history of shipbuilding in my homeland for 328 pages, with circa 500 illustrations. It took years to make and it was occasionally an arduous process, but the end result more than makes up for it.

The main focus of the book is on ship design and the various innovative design solutions – such as the Azipod, Wärtsilä Air Bubbling System, the all outside ship and the double-acting ship, to name just a few – that were instrumental in making Finnish shipbuilders into some of the most highly regarded ones in the world. While most ship types built by Finnish yards are at least mentioned in the text, the emphasis is on ship types that are produced by Finnish yards today: ferries, cruise ships and icebreakers. Every cruise ship, icebreaker and ferry designed for international service built by Finnish shipyards since 1945 is described, up to and including those that are currently under order or construction.

The broad approach of the book is chronological, but it is divided into chapters dedicated to different ship types.

While the book discusses Finnish shipbuilding since the 18th century, focus is on the decades after the end of World War II, when Finnish shipbuilding grew exponentially. The importance of the Soviet Union as the driving force of this expansion – and the Soviet's subsequent position as the biggest customer for Finnish shipyards – is explored, as are the economic difficulties faced by Finnish yards following the fall of the Soviet Union. Similarly, the consolidation process and eventual demergers that resulted in the ownership structure that Finnish yards have today are discussed in detail.

Innovation and Specialisation – The Story of Shipbuilding in Finland can be purchased directly from the publishers, as well as from well-stocked bookshops and online retailers.

Book news: Ferries 2018

I received this book last week, and was going to do a blog update about it then, but a certain vomitting one-year-old put a small projectile vomit spanner in the works.

But gory details about life at the Id household aside, I've been in a book yet again. This time it's the 2018 edition of the yearly Ferries of British Isles and Northern Europe, published by Ferry Publications. As the name suggests, the "beef" of Ferries 2018 is a database of all Northern European car/passenger ferries in international service, plus all ferries sailing in intra-British or Irish services, and roro cargo ferries sailing to/from Great Britain and Ireland. In addition to the database (which is highly useful in itself), this year's version includes three articles: "Silja Line – 60 Years of Service" by yours truly, "Tallinn-Helsinki: Fit for the Future" by Matthew Punter, and "To Iceland in Wind and Storm" by Kai Ortel.

My "Silja Line – 60 Years of Service" is, as the name suggests, a short look into the history of the company since the formation of Siljarederiet in 1957. If you already own Silja Line from De Samseglande to Tallink, then there's probably nothing new in the article for you (apart from the few lines at the end about the re-separation of Silja Line and Tallink brands that is currently taking place). But if you don't own the book (and you should), this is a nice introduction to the history of the company.

"Tallinn-Helsinki: Fit for the Future" explains and explores the recent grances to Tallink's Helsinki-Tallinn fleet – not just the Megastar introduced earlier this year, but also the changes done to the Star, and the radical refit of the Silja Europa (which was of course also covered on this blog, both during and after the refit).

Finally, "To Iceland in Wind and Storm" is a rather perceptively written account of a Viking Cruise to Iceland and the Faroe Islands onboard Smyril Line's delightful Norröna – well worth a read!

The best way to buy the book is, of course, through Ferry Publications' website here. You can hopefully also find the book in well-stocked bookstores... but unfortunately we no longer have those in Finland, so if you live here and want a copy, off to Ferry Publications' site you go.

Book news: Uusikaupunki Maritime Historical Society yearbook 2015-2016

So, I've been in a book yet again. This time, it's the 2015-2016 yearbook of Uudenkaupungin merihistoriallinen yhdistys (Uusikaupunki Maritime Historical Society). This is a wonderful hardcover article collection in full colour, which has just one problem for many of my readers: it's available only in Finnish.

My own article - which apparently was good enough to be the one opening the book - is on the history of the Lindblad Explorer, the world's first purpose-built expedition cruise ship, which happened to be built at Uusikaupunki. As such, the article naturally concentrates primarily on the design and construction of the ship, but also charts its entire history. The whole thing is lavaishly illustrated, mostly with wonderful images (including interiors in the original guise) provided by the Uusikaupunki museum. For those wanting all this in English, fear not: much of the material will appear in that language in 2017, when my and Bruce Peter's first joint offering, Innovation and Specialisation: A History of Finnish Shipbuilding, is published.

Many thanks are in order to the Uusikaupunki museum for the wonderful photos that grace my article here.

Apart from my article, the Uusikaupunki yearbook includes a host of wonderful articles on subjects as varied as sea transports in ancient Rome, the voyage of Finnish missionaries to Namibia on one of the last commercial liners voyages under sail, and marine paintings. My personal favourites, however, were Pirita Frigren's text on the lives of seamen's wives in the age of sail, and Jukka Huotari's history of the Juliana-class cargo ships.

The book is mailed to the members of the Uusikaupunki Maritime Historical Society automatically; I presume you can ask to buy a copy by contacting the society via their website.

In other news, you may have noticed a distinct lack of updates to this blog of late. The reason for this is simple: the Id Fleet grew by one member in October. As the new addition consumes a sizeable amount of my time, I've decided to use what remains on writing and photo work I'm actually paid to do. Which means that, for the time being, this blog will be on a hiatus. For how long, I cannot say. So, as the wizard said: expect me when you see me.

New book with an article from me: Perspectives on the Development of Cruise Travel

Today, I received my author's copies of the 2015 yearbook of the Forum Marinum maritime museum. Last year, they ran an exhibition on the development on cruising in Finland. As I had researched the subject for my Master's Thesis, I helped gather material for the exhibition and to provided an article for the yearbook. (The exhibit is actually still open for two days, until 10 January, if anyone reading hasn't yet visited and can make it to Turku, Finland by Sunday).

Perspectives on the Development of Cruise Travel has numerous articles about both proper cruising and ferry cruising in the Finnish context.

My contribution to the book is essentially an abbreviated version of my master's thesis, outlining the attempts by the Finnish shipping companies Finnlines and Effoa to run proper cruises on both the Finnish and international market between the years 1965 and 1980. In addition to covering the realised cruise service (cruise service with the Nili, Finnpartner, Bore Star and Finnstar by Finnlines, as well as the Ilmatar and Regina by Effoa), the article also looks at the abortive cruise attempts of the era, such as Finnlines' unrealised Finncruiser newbuilding project, which served as a template for the first-generation newbuildings of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Royal Viking Line.

There are seven other articles in the book, on a wide variety of subjects related to cruising in the Finnish context. These range from a look at the development on passenger ship interiors to a travelogue from a cruise with the most successful Finnish cruise ship of all time, the Kristina Regina. Personally, I find Pauli Kivistö's article on the cruise operations of Rederi Ab Sally particularly interesting (and also a perfect companion piece to my own article).

Perspectives on the Development of Cruise Travel is 180 pages, with trilingual text in Finnish, Swedish and English. The book is limited edition and should be available to buy from both Forum Marinum's physical museum shop, as well as the webshop of Trafiikki museums (though it does not appear to be available on the latter website yet).

New book: Tallink – The First 25 Years

Tallink – The First 25 Years covers Tallink's first quarter of a century not only in text but also multiple high-quality images.

Tallink – The First 25 Years, my second book, was published last month by Ferry Publications (which makes the title a bit of a misnomer, as the book came out during Tallink's 26th year of existance, but let's not get too caught up in the details). It takes a detailed look at the history of Tallink, from humble beginnings as a Finnish-Soviet joint venture to the present, when Tallink Grupp is not only one of the largest companies in Estonia but also one of the leading ferry operators in the World.

The book is illustrated by photographs from some of the top ship photographers in the world - including myself, naturally. :P

In addition to exploring the history of Tallink in detail, the book takes a closer look at the history of passenger services to and from Estonia before the establishment of Tallink, and their cultural impact. Also included is a chapter dedicated to the history of Estline, best known as the owners of the ill-fated Tallinn-Stockholm ferry Estonia, as their passenger operations were absorbed by Tallink in 2000.

The 128-page book is available at well-stocked bookstores, and can also be purchased directly from the publishers via this link.

My first book: Silja Line from De Samseglande to Tallink

Silja Line from De Samseglande to Tallink is lavishly illustrated with images from the entire 110-year period covered in the book.

My first (but hopefully not the last) book, Silja Line from De Samseglande to Tallink was published at the end of last month. For the first time, the book details the entire history of Silja Line and its predecessors, from the first joint service agreement in 1904 to the present day, when Silja Line is a brand owned by the Estonia-based Tallink Grupp. It also includes, for the first time in detail, a history of Tallink, who have rised from obscurity to being one of the world's leading ferry operators during the last quarter of a century.

In addition to the history of Silja Line, the book also includes a detailed history of Tallink.

At 156 pages, the book is lavishly illustrated with images from such skilled photographers as Krzysztof Brzoza, Jukka Huotari, Sami Koski, Rami Wirrankoski and others - in addition to myself, naturally.

With a recommended price of 28 euros, the book is available from well-stocked bookstores, as well as directly from the publisher's website at ferrypubs.co.uk.

Kships will return to normal programming later this week.