Finbo Cargo in Helsinki, 25 June 2019

This blog has been very inactive recently, as I have been putting the finishing touches on the manuscript and photos of The North Sea Bridge – Ferry connections between Scandinavia and Britain 1820-2014. Today, however, the blog comes back to look at our new Helsinki-Tallinn ferry, the Finbo Cargo.

Finbo Cargo

IMO 9181106
Name history: Midnight Merchant, El Greco, European Endeavour, Finbo Cargo
Built 2000, Astilleros Españoles Sevilla, Spain
Tonnage 22 152 GT
Length 179,95 m
Width 25,00 m
Draught 6,50 m
Ice class 2
366 passengers
214 passenger berths
2 000 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-NSD diesels, combined 23 760 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Service speed 22,5 knots
Maximum speed 24 knots

The Finbo Cargo was built in 2000 by Astilleros Españoles in Sevilla, Spain as the Midnight Merchant, one in a series of five sister ships. Although owned by Merchant Ferries, the ship was chartered following delivery to Norfolkline for service between Dover and Dunkerque, but retaining its Merchant Ferries name. In this the Midnight Merchant was joined by the sister ship Northern Merchant.

When Norfolkline took delivery of its new D-class ships purpose-built for the Dover-Dunkerque route in 2006, the charter of the Midnight Merchant ended to them ended. The ship was instead chartered to Acciona Trasmediterránea and renamed El Greco (after the famous Greek painter who worked in Spain for most of his career); Trasmediterránea also took the Northern Merchant under chater as the Zurbaran, and had owned the fifth and final sister Murillo from the start.

Unlike the Zurbaran and Murillo, the El Greco left the Trasmediterránea fleet already in 2007, being sold to P&O Ferries (but immediately resold to a British bank and chartered to P&O) and renamed European Endeavour. During the early part of the ship's P&O career, it alternated between routes, sailing on Liverpool-Dublin, Dover-Calais and Tilbury - Zeebrugge, as well as being briefly chartered again to Norfolkline, until settling on the Liverpool-Dublin route in 2011.

In the beginning of May 2019, the information first surfaced that the ship would have been sold to Rederi Ab Eckerö. While the to-be buyer initially denied any deal would have been done and only said they were only "interested" in the ship, on 6 May the deal was made public, with Rederi Ab Eckerö confirming the ship would be employed by their subsidiary Eckerö Line on the Helsinki-Tallinn route as a cargo-oriented ship. Many (the author included) theorised the ship would get a -landia suffixed name in the tradition of Eckerö Line (like many, my money was on Estlandia, with Eurolandia a potential second candidate), later in May the company revealed the ship would instead be named Finbo Cargo, after an island in the Eckerö municipality.

On 15 May the European Endeavour was taken over by its new owners and officially renamed. A few days later the Finbo Cargo set sail for the Turku Ship Repair Yard (actually located in Naantali, not Turku), where it was repainted in a new livery – I can't really say it is an Eckerö Line livery, as the company doesn't really have a uniform livery, and the big text on the side actually reads Finbo Cargo by Eckerö Line.

Originally, the Finbo Cargo was slated to enter service between Helsinki's cargo harbour in Vuosaari and Terminal A in Tallinn's Vanasadam (Old City Harbour). However, following a public outrage about a cargo-oriented ferry sailing to the city centre in Tallinn, the Port of Tallinn agreed to alterations in Muuga, Tallinn's cargo harbour, so the Finbo Cargo would sail there. Thus, on 25 June 2019 the Finbo Cargo entered service between Vuosaari and Muuga.

As the ship lacks an ice-reinforced hull still nescessary for around the year service on the Gulf of Finland (despite climate change making the winters warmer, ice reinforcements of some kind are still a nescessity), according to Rederi Ab Eckerö CEO Björn Blomqvist the ship will be dry-docked again at a later date – presumably some time next autumn or early winter – to receive proper ice reinforcements to the hull, propellers and rudders. It remains to be seen if the public rooms will receive some TLC at the same time, as they essentially remain in P&O-eta style based on photographs.

The photos below show the Finbo Cargo arriving in Vuosaari on the first commercial crossing from Muuga in the afternoon of 25 June 2019, photographed from Särkkäniemi. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Vuosaari doesn't give the best views, especially during the long approach when the ship is quite far from land and pretty much always seen from the same direction.

Nearer to the harbour and turning towards the quay. And of course the side facing me was in the shade.

And then turning in the other direction...

...to reverse into the quay.

Rush hour in Vuosaari, with the Finnmaid departing as the Finbo Cargo arrives (the Finnmaid was delayed, it should have left an hour earlier).

Next time: likely more of the Finnmaid, as it's been years since I last photographed her.

Finlandia on the Bay of Tallinn, 26 March 2019

Before we move to the main attraction of today's entry, I would like to take a chance to showcase two articles I did this month for a new customer, Ferry Shipping News: I had the chance to interview both Björn Blomqvist, the managing director of Rederi Ab Eckerö (who of course own Eckerö Linjen, Eckerö Line and Birka Cruises), and Jan Hanses, the president and CEO of Viking Line, with both offering fascinating insight on how they view the ferry industry in their business area.

You can read the interview with Eckerö's Blomqvist here, and Viking's Hanses here. Both also showcase some of my photography (that is already familiar to the readers of this blog, of course).

Today's entry, by chance, is related to both companies mentioned: I was out on a day cruise with the Viking XPRS to Tallinn earlier this week, and took these quite neat photos of the Finlandia on the Bay of Tallinn as she was outbound and we were inbound.

Finlandia

IMO 9214379
Name history: Moby Freedom, Freedom, Finlandia
Built 2001 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Okpo, South Korea
Tonnage 36 093 GT
Length 175 m
Width 27,60 m
Draft 7 m
Ice class 1B
2 080 passengers
1 190 passenger berths*
610 cars
1 900 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 50 400 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 27 knots

* = The berths figure is for the ship as originally built. In 2015, a number of cabins were converted into public rooms, so this figure is no longer correct, but none of the sources at my disposal were able to provide an up-to-date figure.

For a history of the Finlandia, see this earlier entry on her.

As said above, the photos below show the Finlandia on the Bay of Tallinn on the early afternoon of 26 March 2019, outbound from Tallinn towards Helsinki. Photographed from onboard the Viking XPRS sailing in the opposite direction. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

The ship does look immensely better with the frames of the large forward-facing window painted blue. She might look even better if they added a blue stripe along the bridge windows, too.

If you look closely, you'll notice the small Finland 100 logo (which used to be above the piano keys) has been replaced by an Eckerö Line 25 Years one – the company will have its anniversary in late August.

I really like this shot myself.

The seagulls and the ship's name they added in the previously blank blue part in the rear last year also make the ship look better.

Kships will return.

Finlandia in Helsinki, 14 September 2018

So, I finally managed to go out to take photos of the Finlandia in the current livery this past Friday. So, today we are looking at the Finlandia again, after her being featured here two weeks ago.

Finlandia

IMO 9214379
Name history: Moby Freedom, Freedom, Finlandia
Built 2001 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Okpo, South Korea
Tonnage 36 093 GT
Length 175 m
Width 27,60 m
Draft 7 m
Ice class 1B
2 080 passengers
1 190 passenger berths*
610 cars
1 808 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 50 400 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 27 knots

* = The berths figure is for the ship as originally built. In 2015, a number of cabins were converted into public rooms, so this figure is no longer correct, but none of the sources at my disposal were able to provide an up-to-date figure.

For a history of the Finlandia, see the previous entry on her.

The photos below show the Finlandia at, and departing from, Helsinki Länsisatama (West Harbour) in the afternoon of 14 September 2018. Photographed from Vattuniemi. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

The two faces of Helsinki: industry and nature. And ferries and (just visible behind the ship) modernist architecture. So... four faces?

Notice the window frames of the big forward window are now painted blue, instead of the original white.

The lighting on the ship was not ideal, but the foreground certainly was. Sapphire Princess peeking from behind the bushes there, but she was due to depart three hours after the Finlandia – even if I had had the time to stay, I wouldn't have wanted to do so in the nippy weather.

I haven't done too many direct side views in this blog. But here's one.

Note the seagulls and the ship's name aft, added some time during this summer.

Slightly different point of view from the usual, with Sisä-Hattu there in front, rather than under, the camera.

As always, Kships will return. Probably not next weekend (I don't know if anyone's actually noticed my attempts at weekend updates) as we will be moving to a new apartment then. But the week after that probably.

Finlandia in Helsinki, 4 April 2014

As is obvious from the title, today's entry is a bit of a blast from the past. When going through the blog recently, I noticed a surprising lack of photos featuring Eckerö Line's Finlandia; despite the fact I've photographed her many times, there are just two entries on her with exterior photos. So, in order to rectify this, we're going back to 2014 for an additional set.

Finlandia

IMO 9214379
Name history: Moby Freedom, Freedom, Finlandia
Built 2001 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Okpo, South Korea
Tonnage 36 093 GT
Length 175 m
Width 27,60 m
Draft 7 m
Ice class 1B
2 080 passengers
1 190 passenger berths*
610 cars
1 808 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 50 400 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 27 knots

* = The berths figure is for the ship as originally built. In 2015, a number of cabins were converted into public rooms, so this figure is no longer correct, but none of the sources at my disposal were able to provide an up-to-date figure.

The Finlandia begun her life as as Moby Lines' Moby Freedom. The ship was built in 2001 by Daewoo in South Korea as a sister ship to Moby Wonder, completed some months previously. The ship's conceptual design was by Knud E. Hansen and, as said, they were built by Daewoo, but it seems that ownership of the plans lays with Fincantieri, who later built two slightly refined examples of the same class, Moby Aki to Moby and Superstar to Tallink, and are known to have offered further examples of the type to other operators.

But returning to the ship in question, the Moby Freedom entered service with Moby in July 2001, sailing on their routes conencting Olbia to Genoa, Civitavcchia and Livorno. The ship was designed for flexible operations, sailing in cruiseferry mode during weekends and the summer high season, and in ropax mode with less passenger services during weekdays. Originally, the Moby Freedom was painted in a fairly traditional livery: all-white with the Moby name painted in large blue letters and a light blue funnel. However, soon Moby entered an agreement with Warner Bros. to use their Looney Tunes characters on the Moby ships and the Moby Freedom was repainted with Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Tasmanian Devil, Tweety, Sylvester and Daddy Duck on her sides.

After serving with Moby for a little over a decade, in February 2012 the Moby Freedom was sold, with delivery in March, to Rederi Ab Eckerö in Finland, for use by their Eckerö Line subsidiary between Helsinki and Tallinn. Once sold the ship's name was shortened to Freedom and it sailed to the Öresundsvarved in Landskrona, Sweden. The ship lay at the shipyard for two months while negotiations for her refit were carried out and eventually the refit started in May. In June Eckerö Line announced that as a result of a naming competition the ship would be renamed Finlandia.

After the lengthy refit at Öresundsvarvet, Tallinn and Helsinki, the Finlandia entered service on New Year's Eve in 2012. I visited the ship shortly before the refit was completed on 20 December, of which visit photos here, and the following January when it was in service, of which photos here. After that, the ship settled into routine service between Helsinki and Tallinn. However, the public rooms were found to be somewhat insufficient on the popular route, and in early 2015 the interiors were rebuilt, with a large block of cabins turned into a new conference center, the former Extra Class lounge converted into an extension of the main shop, and the former conference rooms turned into an additional bar. Recently (I presume in a docking during the past winter, though I'm not certain), the ship's livery has also been slightly amended; I plan to of course photograph it at some point, but finding a suitable time has proven surprisingly hard.

Anyway, the photos below show the Finlandia arriving at Helsinki Länsisatama (South Harbour) on the afternoon of 4 April 2014. Photographed from Vattuniemi. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Pine trees providing suitable foreground crap.

You could think the notes on the sides of the bow are from Sibelius' Finlandia (or just random), but they are actually the first notes of the Finnish and Estonian national anthems (which share the same melody, although naturally different words).

Lo and behold, entirely different lighting!

Linda Line's Karolin in the background. Linda have since sold both their ships and it seems unlikely the company will restart operations. Eckerö and the Finlandia are going strong, however.

Kships will return.

Eckerö in Eckerö, 18 August 2014

Eckerö

IMO 7633155
Name history: Jens Kofoed, Eckerö
Built 1979, Aalborg Værft Aalborg, Denmark
Tonnage 12 358 GT
Length 121,19 m
Width 24,50 m
Draught 5,25 m
Ice class 1B
1 630 passengers
481 berths
267 cars
515 lane metres
4 B&W Alpha diesels, combined 12 484 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 20,5 knots

For a history of the Eckerö, see the first entry on her. I'm mildly amused by the fact that before this summer, I had never even seen the ship in real life. Now I've photographed her twice and sailed on her once.

The photographs below show the Eckerö arriving in Eckerö Berghamn on the early afternoon of 18 August 2014. Whereas the previous batch of photos of the ship were taken from the harbour breakwater, these were taken from the shore north of the harbour, granting more dynamic views, even if the lighting was not 100% ideal. As usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

It was supposed to rain during our entire tour of Åland, but the rain always skirted us by - as you can see from the clouds in the background.

A ship that shows that boxy, full-bodied design need not be unattractive.

The local granite in Åland has an unusually rich red colour. Which countrasts quite nicely with the colours of the ship here.

The seagull motif is a particularly successful piece of modern ship decor - even if, on the whole, the ship would benifit from having more colour on her.

Eckerö in Eckerö, 9 June 2014

Eckerö

IMO 7633155
Name history: Jens Kofoed, Eckerö
Built 1979, Aalborg Værft Aalborg, Denmark
Tonnage 12 358 GT
Length 121,19 m
Width 24,50 m
Draught 5,25 m
Ice class 1B
1 630 passengers
481 berths
267 cars
515 lane metres
4 B&W Alpha diesels, combined 12 484 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 20,5 knots

We're continuing the successful streak of the past few weeks of posting images of ships not previously featured in this blog. Today's entry is a real beauty from the nearby waters: the Eckerö of Eckerö Linjen.

The Eckerö was originally built in 1979 as the Jens Kofoed for the Danish publicly-owned Bornholmstrafiken. Bornholmstrafiken had been nationalised in 1973, and soon afterwards it was decided the company would require two newbuilt ships to replace the existing fleet of four aged vessels. The first ship, the Povl Anker, was delivered in late 1978, and she was followed by the Jens Kofoed a few month afterwards. Both ships were used on on the Copenhagen-Rønne -route, which was extended from Rønne to Ystad in Sweden. Originally the ships were painted in an absolutely superb livery with the black-red-white funnel colours of Danish state-owned ferry operations, grey hulls, and yellow masts (for images of the ship in original livery, visit for instance Simplon Postcards).

In the mid-1990s the ships lost their attractive grey hulls in favour of white ones with Bornholmstrafiken written on near the stern. In 1997 the Jens Kofoed was rebuilt with additional cabins. A further refit at Remontowa in Gdansk, carried out in 2001, saw the addition of side sponsons - somewhat harming the ship's original attractive profile. At the same time the onboard tax-free shop was replaced by lounges.

Bornholmstrafiken took delivery of a new pair of larger ships in 2005, the Hammerodde and Dueodde, and the Jens Kofoed was sold to Rederi Ab Eckerö in Finland, for service with their subsidiary Eckerö Linjen. The new owners renamed the ship Eckerö (she was the second ship in their fleet with that name) and subjected her to a radical refit. The hull was reinforced to comply with the demands of the Finnish-Swedish ice class 1B, while the entire interiors was rebuilt, designed by the Ålandian architect Bettina Ingves. Externally, the Eckerö was painted in the traditional white-hulled livery with blue/yellow stripes on the hull.

The Eckerö eventually re-entered service for Eckerö Linjen in 2006, on their sole line linking Eckerö in the Åland Islands to Grisslehamn, Sweden. In Eckerö Linjen fleet the Eckerö replaced the papenburger-type ferry Alandia. Initially, the Alandia's sister ship Roslagen was retained as a second ship alongside the Eckerö, used to provide additional capacity during the summer seasons. In 2007 the Roslagen was sold and the Eckerö became the sole ship in Eckerö Linjen service.

Originally the Eckerö was registered in her namesake port, but in 2009 she was moved under the Swedish flag, with Grisslehamn as her home port. An important contributing factor were the onboard sale of snus; the tobacco product is illegal in most of the European Union, but it can be sold in Sweden and onboard Swedish-registered ships - therefore the Swedish registry is an important competitive advance. In the beginning of 2013 the company held a Facebook competition to choose a new livery for the ship. The variant chosen was a blue-and-yellow seagull motif on a white background, a changed typeface on the company logo on the hull, with the funnel colours slightly altered by the removal of the blue funnel top and repainting the funnel symbol in a slightly smaller scale. Personally, while I think overall the new livery is very attractive, the funnel looked more balanced when its top was painted blue.

The photographs below were taken on the afternoon of 9 June 2014 and show the Eckerö arriving at, and departing from, Berghamnen in Eckerö. Photographed from the breakwater outside the harbour. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

The sun was behind a cloud as the ship arrived, and resultingly this image (and the two below) had to be heavily edited to bring the ship out from the almost identically coloured clouds in the background.

Impressive rain clouds in the background.

About to pass into the harbour basin and reverse to quay.

About half an hour later, the Eckerö depart again. The crossing between Eckerö and Grisslehamn in the shortest route between Sweden and Finland, taking only two hours. The Eckerö makes two or three return trips every day.

More impressive rain clouds.

Forward views on this visit were a bit rare to come by, but this one turned out rather nice.

Foreground crap, courtesy of particularly nicely placed rocks.

Taking course for Grisslehamn. Various sea birds were rather common in Grisslehamn - I hope photography from the breakwater didn't unduly disturb them.

Next stop Sweden, as the old advertisement slogan went.

(A note on the tags for this entry: I've decided not to create a separate tag for Eckerö Linjen. Instead, this and any possible future Eckerö Linjen entries will be sorted under Eckerö Line).

Translandia and Nordlandia in Tallinn, 16 May 2012

Just a little something I stumbled on while looking though old photos. For some reason, I had never published this. Now seems as good a time as any to do so.

Translandia

IMO 7429229
Name history: Transgermania, Rosebay, Eurostar, Eurocruiser, Rosebay, Transparaden, Translandia
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
2 propellers
Speed 19 knots

Nordlandia

IMO 7928811
Name history: Olau Hollandia, Nord Gotlandia, Nordlandia, Isabella I
Built 1981, AG Weser Seebeckswerft, Bremerhaven, West Germany
Tonnage 21 473 GT
Length 153,40 m
Width 24,70 m
Draugth 8,80 m
Ice class 1A
2 048 passengers
938 berths
450 cars or 42 trucks
4 Pielstick diesels, combined 15 300 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 20 knots

Nordlandia and Translandia, the two Eckerö Line Helsinki-Tallinn ferries that were replaced by the arrival of the Finlandia at the end of 2012. For a brief history of the Translandia, see here. An even frisfer history of the Nordlandia can be found here. Today the Translandia is owned by the Salem Al Makrani Cargo Company of United Arab Emirates, retaining her Eckerö-era name. The former Nordlandia, meanwhile, was supposed to begin sailing in the Black Sea under the name Isabella I for Paradise Cruise & Ferry. However, the current situation between Russia and Ukraine seems to have put a spanner in the works and the ship remains laid up at Perama, Greece.

The photo below show the pair still in their Eckerö Line incarnations on the Bay of Tallinn, with the Nordlandia departing for Helsinki while the Translandia arrives. Photographed from Linnahall. Click on the image to see it in larger size.

Notice that despite the fact the ships sailed for the same company, they carried quite different liveries.

Next time: Artania

Finlandia in Helsinki, 2 April 2013

Finlandia

IMO 9214379
Name history: Moby Freedom, Freedom, Finlandia
Built 2001 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Okpo, South Korea
Tonnage 36 093 GT
Length 175 m
Width 27,60 m
Draught 7 m
2080 passengers
1190 berth
665 cars
1950 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 50 400 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 27 knots

For a history of the Finlandia, see the first entry on her.

The photographs below show the Finlandia arriving in Helsinki West Harbour in the evening of 2 April 2013, photographed from Sisä-Hattu. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Photogenic ice feat. the Finlandia.

This photo shows why, contraty to the popular belief, the diagonal line separating the blue and white on the side of the ship is pure genious: it continues directly from the angle of the funnel. When viewed directly from the side (alas, I didn't include any photos like that) they line up perfectly.

Passing the competition; the Finlandia's current timetable is planned to perfectly match the arrival/depoarture times of the Star/Superstar, as the three have to temporarily use the same quay.

About to turn in order to reverse into quay.

This is a photo that needs to be retaken during the summer; setting sun and photogenic foreground rocks.

The Photogenic Tree makes a cameo appearance.

Next time: Well, this shall be a surprise to all of us.

Finlandia interiors, 23 January 2013

Yes, this is yet another entry on the Finlandia. What can I say? It's not every day we get a brand-new ferry sailing from Helsinki - particularly not one with such attractive interiors. So, in this entry we shall be taking another look at the Finlandia's interiors, this time taken during my day cruise to Tallinn on the ship on 23 January.

Those interested in more than just photographs can also read my trip report from the ship at MaritimeMatters here.

Finlandia

IMO 9214379
Name history: Moby Freedom, Freedom, Finlandia
Built 2001 Daewoo Shipbuilding & Heavy Machinery Okpo, South Korea
Tonnage 36 093 GT
Length 175 m
Width 27,60 m
Draught 7 m
2080 passengers
1190 berth
665 cars
1950 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 50 400 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 27 knots

It might be of interest to compare the images in this entry with the images taken of the still-incomplete interior of the ship a month before as featured in the previous Finlandia entry.

All photographs below were taken on 23 January 2013. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Deck 9 houses the bridge, sun deck and the upper level of Cafeteria Satama.

As is often the case in my photographs, a not-very-sunny suc deck.

The ship's pool in the shape of Moby Lines' whale was undoubtedly useful in the Mediterranean, but for the Baltic is was plated over. I guess you can sit on the edge of that thing? During summertime at least, it's bound to be very cold right now.

Deck 8 houses the principal public rooms, from fore to aft: Bar Nosturi (which extends down to deck 7), Pub Jätkäsaari, Pub Telakka, Shop Bellezza, Bar Naissaar, Buffet Eckerö, and Cafeteria Satama.

Bar Nosturi as seen from deck 7.

The mezzanine level between decks 7 and 8.

View down from deck 8, with the band just finishing their set after arrival in Tallinn-

The aft seating area of Bar Nosturi. Due the layout of the room this space doesn't really give much views forward and you can't hear the music too well either.

Pub Jätkäsaari looks much better with the chairs unwrapped...

...but the same cannot be said of Pub Telakka.

Another Pub Telakka shot, facing forward and towards the bar.

Pub Jätkäsaari, Pub Telakka and Bar Naissaar all have wall decor panels somehow relating to the space's name of theme. Here is the one for Pub Telakka, showing (amongst other things) the old Eckerö Linjen ferry Roslagen being lenghtened in 1973 (the text actually reads 1986 but that is an error).

My favourite space onboard in terms of decor: Bar Naissaar.

Alas, the chairs were rather uncomfortable due to being quite small. And while I liked the space, my wife disliked it due to the "grandmotherly" carpet patterns.

Naissaar ceiling light detail.

The blue staircase, located between Bar Naissaar and Buffet Eckerö.

The aft part of Buffet Eckerö. The blue leaf decor in the ceiling is a remnant from the ship's previous incatnation as the Moby Freedom, and the current decor of the space has been inspired by the leaf.

The forward part of Buffet Eckerö. In the background on the left is the servery area for warm foods, desserts and drinks. The servery area for starters is out-of-frame to the right.

The main level of Cafeteria Satama, as seen from the balcony level.

The multipurpose room port and forward of Cafeteria Satama's main space. This area serves either as a part of the buffet (accessible from the door at the back) or the cafeteria depending on the need.

The same space, viewed aft towards the cafeteria. The chairs here - as those in Bar Nosturi - are Moby Freedom originals that have simply been reupholstered.

Another lamp close-up, this time the floral-shaped lamp in the Satama multi-purpose room.

The balcony level of Cafeteria Satama on deck 9.

Deck 7 houses the lower level of Bar Nosturi, and passenger cabins.

Deck 6 has the EckeröMarket, Extra Class lounge (see the previous entry for photos of these), entrance vestibule and cabins.

The entrance vestibule.

The original operator failed to specify a luggage room. Eckerö solved this problem by taking matresses out of two cabins and making them into luggage rooms. I can't help thinking that a part of the multi-million-euro refit the ship recieved could have been put to demolising these cabins and converting them into a proper luggage room.

The yellow (midship) staircase on deck 6.

Next time: Superstar.