Finnmaid in Helsinki, 25 June 2019

As promised, this week we return to last week's jaunt at Vuosaari and photos of Finnlines' Finnmaid.

Finnmaid

IMO 9319466
Built 2006, Fincantieri Ancona, Italy
Tonnage 45 923 GT
Length 218,80 m
Width 30,50 m
Draft 7,00 m
Ice class 1 A Super
500 passengers
500 berths
4 216 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 48 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 25 knots

The Finnmaid was delivered in August 2006 from Fincantieri's Ancona yard as the second ship of Finnlines' five-strong Star-class (the order for the class was split between Ancona and Castellammare di Stabia). The ship was placed on the Helsinki-Travemünde service alongside the older sister Finnstar (the two were later joined by the third sister Finnlady). Originally, the ship(s) sailed from the Sompasaari harbour close to the city center, but in 2008 switched to the new Vuosaari harbour, some 15 kilometres from central Helsinki, alongside all other cargo- and cargo-oriented vessels sailing from Helsinki.

A series of route changes were made for the Finnmaid and its running mates in 2009: first, in June, intermediate calls as Gdynia were added to some (but not all) departures; then, in October, an additional intermediate call at Rostock was added (as reaction to Tallink's cessation of the Helsinki-Rostock service for the winter season); and finally, in December, the service was split in two, with the Finnmaid and its running mates alternating between Helsinki-Travemünde and Helsinki-Gdynia-Rostock routes. In the long run, this arrangement failed to find the popularity Finnlines were hoping for, and in October 2012 the Helsinki-Gdynia-Rostock route was terminated.

Since then, the Finnmaid's life has been uneventful. In 2014, it was re-registered in Mariehamn (in place of the original Helsinki) and visited the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk for scrubber installation, and in May 2017 it had the honour of hosting Finnlines' 70th anniversary celebrations, for which the ship visited Helsinki's Eteläsatama and Olympiaterminaali, the terminal normally used by the ships of Silja Line.

The photos below show the Finnmaid departing from Vuosaari in the evening of 25 June 2019 (approximately an hour delayed); and as you can see, the Finnlines cargo roro Finnhawk is also present in the first pic. Photographed from Särkkäniemi. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Which funnel belongs to which ship again?

I admit to quite liking the looks of the Star-class.

Reappearing from behind Pikku Niinisaari. Now if one could get to that island, some beautiful photos would result!

Travemünde awaits!

Kships will return.

Finnclipper in the Åland Archipelago, 10 January 2018

Today we return to photos taken during last month's rather unusual trip with the Baltic Princess from Turku to the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk. While sailing through the Turku and Åland archipelagos, we encountered Finnlines' Finnclipper en route, sailing in the other direction. Since the Finnclipper was last featured here in 2015, this is also a good time to offer an update to her history.

Finnclipper

IMO 9137997
Built 1999, Astilleros Españoles Puerta Real, Spain
Tonnage 33 958 GT
Length 188,30 m
Width 29,30 m
Draugth 6,30 m
Ice class 1A
440 passengers
452 berths
3 079 lane metres
4 Sulzer diesels, combined 23 040 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22,1 knots

The Finnclipper was originally ordered in 1995 by Stena Line as the first ship of their four-strong Stena Seapacer -class. However, while the ship was under construction Stena struck a deal with Finnlines to sell the two two ships in the class to Finnlines on completion. The ship was delivered to Stena Line in May 1999, and immediately resold to Poseidon Schiffahrt, the German subsidiary of Finnlines and registered in Lübeck. However, she was given a Finnlines-traditional Finn-prefix name, rather than Poseidon's Trans-prefixed one, a step in the process of Poseidon losing their own identity. The Finnclipper was initially placed on Finnlines' service between Travemünde and Helsinki. In 2001 she was re-registered in Helsinki. From the beginning of 2003 she moved to the Naantali-Kapellskär -route (which was marketed as Finnlink), only to move to the Malmö-Travemünde (Nordö Link) -route in the beginning of 2005, at which time she was re-registered in Malmö. This proved a short stint, as from the beginning of 2006 she reverted to the Finnlink service.

The next change came in 2012, when in the winter she made a single trip from Helsinki to Aarhus, followed by a regular service on the Malmö-Travemünde and Travemünde-Saint Petersburg -routes (reportedly the trips to Saint Petersburg were done in part to purchase cheap marine fuel from Russia). For the 2015 summer season, the Finnclipper returned to the Finnlink service, which had in the interim been altered to include an intermediate call in Långnäs in the Åland Islands in order to secure tax-free sales onboard. In February 2016, the ship briefly returned to Malmö-Travemünde, before sailing to the Turku Ship Repair Yard in Naantali for installation of scrubbers. For the rest of 2016 she again sailed on the Naantali-Kapellskär -route, before returning to Malmö-Travemünde for the winter months of 2017 (she was also briefly chartered to Stena Line for their Trelleborg-Rostock route during this time), then in March again reverting to Naantali-Kapellskär. She remains on the service to this day, but is due to leave it in April, when she is replaced by the larger Finnswan (ex-Nordlink). I'm uncertain where the Finnclipper is heading after this.

The photos below show the Finnclipper in the Åland Archipelago near Ledskär, photographed from onboard the Baltic Princess. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size. It might also be of interest comparing these photos to the previous set taken in 2015, before she had scrubbers installed.

Some neat sunlight on her side. The ship visible in the background on the left is Viking Line's Amorella, inbound to Mariehamn on her mid-day call.

I also quite like the way the sun lights up the exhausts, which almost seem to glow here.

An abrupt change in the lighting changed the colouring of the photo radically. Personally, I really like the way this one looks!

Sailing on towards Långnäs.

I have a confession to make: I actually quite like the way these ships look.

Next time, unless something odd comes up, we will return to sunny Madeira and the Aidablu.

Finnclipper on the Archipelago Sea, 9 June 2015

It's been a while since I've featured Finnlines vessels here - mostly because I'm a lazy bastard and never bother to go to the Vuosaari freight harbour to photograph their vessels sailing from Helsinki. On the other hand, one has plenty of chances to photograph them when sailing between Turku and Stockholm.

Finnclipper

IMO 9137997
Built 1999, Astilleros Españoles Puerta Real, Spain
Tonnage 33 958 GT
Length 188,30 m
Width 29,30 m
Draugth 6,30 m
Ice class 1A
440 passengers
452 berths
3 079 lane metres
4 Sulzer diesels, combined 23 040 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22,1 knots

The Finnclipper was originally ordered in 1995 by Stena Line as the first ship of their four-strong Stena Seapacer -class. However, while the ship was under construction Stena struck a deal with Finnlines to sell the two two ships in the class to Finnlines on completion. The ship was delivered to Stena Line in May 1999, and immediately resold to Poseidon Schiffahrt, the German subsidiary of Finnlines and registered in Lübeck. The ship was initially placed on Finnlines' service between Travemünde and Helsinki. In 2001 she was re-registered in Helsinki. From the beginning of 2003 she moved to the Naantali-Kapellskär -route (which was and is marketed as Finnlink), only to move to the Malmö-Travemünde (Nordö Link) -route in the beginning of 2005, at which time she was re-registered in Malmö. This proved a short stint, as from the beginning of 2006 she reverted to the Finnlink service.

The next change came in 2012, when in the winter she made a single trip from Helsinki to Aarhus, followed by a regular service on the Malmö-Travemünde and Travemünde-Saint Petersburg -routes (reportedly the trips to Saint Petersburg were done in part to purchase cheap marine fuel from Russia). For the 2015 summer season, the Finnclipper returned to the Finnlink service, which had in the interim been altered to include an intermediate call in Långnäs in the Åland Islands in order to secure tax-free sales onboard. This also means that currently all three Finnlines' Seapacer-class ships (Finnclipper, Finneagle and Finnfellow [ex-Stena Britannia]) sail on the same route. It is perhaps of interest to note that the fourth ship in the class currently sails as the Stena Germanica in a radically rebuilt form.

The photographs below show the Finnclipper on the Archipelago Sea, en-route from Naantali to Långnäs, photographed from onboard the Baltic Princess. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

The Archipelago Sea is utterly pictoresque.

The Finnclipper, on the other hand, is in need of a fresh lick of paint.

I'm still not terribly keen on the current blue-hulled Finnlines livery (as I've explained before), but the ship does look alright.

I admit this is almost the exact same view of the ship as above... but it's a fine-looking photo.

Rear view of the ship isn't nearly as attractive as the front, alas.

Onwards to Åland!

Next time: Mein Schiff 4.

Musings on Finnlines' livery

I've recently been reading a lot of books related to the history of Finnlines and Finland Steamship Company/Effoa for my under-construction Master's Thesis. Amongst these books is Matti Pietikäinen's absolutely brilliant recent From High Arctic to Antarctica: Ships of the Thom Companies in the Seven Seas. In addition to ships owned by the Thom companies (Thombrokers, Thomesto and Thominvest - all are the same company who changed their name along the way) Pietikäinen writes about a variety of related things, amongst them the process by which the current Finnlines decided their livery in 1990, when the company was demerged from Effoa (who had owned Finnlines since 1982, when the previous owners Enso-Gutzeit sold it).

As those of you who have read this blog regularly will probably know, the current livery of Finnlines is like in the image below. White superstructure, blue hull, white funnel. Quite stylish, but a bit generic.

Finnmaid at Kustaanmiekka strait on 9 July 2008. Full set here.

What bothers me about the livery is not that it's somewhat generic or that I would think it unattractive, but it lacks a connection to the history of Finnlines. Technically, today's Finnlines is a descendant of not only Finnlines itself, founded in 1947, but also of Finland Steamship Company's cargo-carrying operations - and Finland Steamship Co. was founded way back in 1883. With all that history to choose from, Finnlines could maybe have come up with something more respectful of their past when choosing their new livery in the mid-00s.

In fact, until this most recent livery change, Finnlines did have a livery respecting the past on most of it's ships. When Finnlines demerged from Effoa in 1990, the company's ro-ro fleet were given green hulls. When Finland Steamship Company built it's first ro-ro freighter Juno in the early 1970s she was given a green hull - in part due to the fact that it was the cheapest paint available, but also to differentiate ro-ro ships from the rest of the fleet. Traditionally (since the 19th century) the company's passenger ships were given white hulls and cargo-carriers black. Ro-ro freighters were seen a distinct group from these two and a new colour was needed. During the first 15 years of it's existance, the "new" Finnlines used that colour on the hulls of most of their ships.

A quick manipulation of the Finnmaid in "Effoa green", though the shade is a bit too dark. I also changed the funnel stripe from blue to green to give the ship a more coherent appearance.

Had Finnlines stuck with "Effoa green" they could have saved a fortune in repainting their fleet and had a more unique and recognisable livery.

Variation 2 in Effoa livery, with the original Finland Steamship Company/Effoa funnel colours. The original livery didn't have the thin stripe above the main hull colour, but a variation adopted by Finnlines in 1994 did. I like it, I'm keeping it.

But Effoa green is not the only option available to Finnlines that would respect their past. The original Finnlines, like Finland Steamship Company, painted the hulls of their traditional freighters black, but they too had a separate livery for their ro-ro ships (in this case also including their passenger-carrying roros - with the notable exception of the Finnjet of 1977). From 1966 until the early 1980s Finnlines ro-ro ships were given grey hulls with a narrow blue line between the hull colour and the general white.

The original Finnlines ro-ro livery transferred to the present, complete with ships names written in cursive typeface.

If a blue hull colour is insisted on, and I admit it's a very nautical choice of shade, then perhaps it would have been more fitting to choose, instead of the current fairly mid-range shade of blue, a dark blue shade honouring Finnlines' one-time flagship (and still probably the best-known individual ship in Finland, several years after she was scrapped) the Finnjet. The Finnjet was originally given a unique livery of a dark blue hull and different funnel colours from the rest of the Finnlines fleet. Much later, in the late 1980s when the Finnjet had already lost her distictive livery and become a part of the Silja Line fleet, two ships belonging to the Finnlines fleet but owned by other companies, namely the Finnsailor of Neste and Finnforest of Thomesto were given hulls in the same shade of blue (although with standard Finnlines funnel colours).

Finnmaid meets Finnjet. The shade of blue might not be exact, as the Finnjet's shade was so dark it looked black in certain light and that's very difficult to replicate on a computer. Again, I've maintained the "extra stripe" on the hull as it looks good and it's the only even semi-traditional element in the current Finnlines livery.

Maybe this is just rambling by a history student/ex-graphic design student who's read one book too many. But don't tell me the other options wouldn't look good, even if I did quickly bash them together.

Finnstar, 3 April 2007

Finnstar

IMO 9319442
Built 2006, Fincantieri Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
Tonnage 45 923 GT
Length 218,80 m
Width 30,50 m
Draught 7,00 m
Ice class 1 A Super
500 passengers
500 berths
4 216 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 48 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 25 knots

There is little to say about the Finnstar that wouldn't have already been covered in the first entry on the ship. But since the current Finnstar is in fact the third ship with that name to sail in Finnlines' fleet, I thought it might be interesting to take a short look at the histories of the first two ships named Finnstar.

The first Finnstar was acquired by Finnlines' (then-)owner Merivienti Oy in 1959. She was a 2 914 GRT general cargo ship built in 1955 by a Dutch shipyard for the Finland-based Lovisa Rederi Ab. Originally named Raimo-Ragnar, she was renamed Finnstar when taken over by Finnlines. She was initially used on Finnlines' services from Finland to US East Coast, but changed to Finland-Mediterranean services in 1962. In 1973 she was sold to Maldives Shipping Ltd. and nine years sold for scrap.

The second Finnstar had been built in 1967 for Finland Steamship Company as their Finland-West Germany ferry Finlandia. When Finnlines took over the entire Finland-West Germany passenger services in 1975, they also bought the Finlandia. She continued sailing until 1977 and the delivery of the new Finnjet. Now Finnlines were faced with a problem: they needed a second ship to serve alongside the Finnjet during the busy summer season, but during the winters the Finnjet sailed half-empty and no second ship was needed. As a solution the decision was made to rebuild the Finlandia's facilities to meet cruise ship standards but retain half of her cardeck. To complete the transformation she was renamed Finnstar before re-entering service in early 1979.

The Finnstar (2) was envisioned to continue sailing for the next five years, maintaining a Helsinki-Copenhagen-Travemünde ferry service alongside short cruises to Leningrad during the summer months and cruising on the Mediterranean and west coast of Africa for the rest of the year. This was not the success Finnlines had hoped for and combined with raising labor costs Finnlines decided already in Autumn 1980 to give up the Finnstar. The ship was sold and converted to a full-time cruise ship, enjoying a long career mostly in Far Eastern waters (and even short stint with Costa Cruises in the mid-1990s). She was scrapped in 2009.

After the withdrawal of the second Finnstar in 1980 the name remained unused for over two decades, until the delivery of the current Finnstar in 2006. Sadly, the current ship is not a graceful as her predecessors.

The photographs below show the (current) Finnstar departing the Sompasaari freight harbour on 3 April 2007. Photographed from Katajanokka. Click on the individual images to view larger size.

Already at this point the paint in the bow is bluer than on the rest of the hull, as on the photographs I had taken a year later. Fellow shipping enthustiast would probably blame italian workmanship.

Departing stormy Helsinki for calmer Germany, perhance? On the background we have Hanasaari power plant on the left and (probably) Korkeasaari, the location of Helsinki Zoo, on the right. Alternatively it could also be Mustikkamaa, the larger island north of Korkeasaari.

And suddenly, the colours change completely with the sun obscured and the dark clouds gone. One minute had passed from the previous pic.

On Kruunuvuorenselkä bound for the Kustaanmiekka strait, the "final obstacle" before open sea.

Finnstar, 15 August 2008

Finnstar

IMO 9319442
Built 2006, Fincantieri Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
Tonnage 45 923 GT
Length 218,80 m
Width 30,50 m
Draught 7,00 m
Ice class 1 A Super
500 passengers
500 berths
4 216 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 48 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 25 knots

Finnstar was the lead ship in Finnlines' five-ship ropax series ordered from Fincantieri for the Finland-Germany and Finland-Sweden routes. Like all this in the class the Finnstar's delivery was severly delayed. She was supposed to enter service in late 2005, but only made her first sailing between Helsinki and Travemünde in August 2006. In November 2008 the port Finnlines' ships used in Helsinki was changed from Sompasaari to the new Vuosaari freight harbour. In 2009 Finnlines' Finland-Germany passenger service was split into two routes: Helsinki-Travemünde and Helsinki-Gdansk-Rostock.

The photographs below show Finnstar passing Suomenlinna on 15 August 2008. Click on the individual images to view full size.

Coming from behind ;P Suomenlinna's westernly ramparts.

Come to think of it, how many ships do you see today with an actual rear mast? The last one I can think of (before the Star-class) sailing in the Baltic is Viking Line's Rosella and she was built way back in 1980.

No idea what's up with the uneven paintwork.

Entering the actual Kustaanmiekka strait - from a different point-of-view for a change.

And passing through the strait.

Finnmaid, 9 July 2008

Finnmaid

IMO 9319466
Built 2006, Fincantieri Ancona, Italy
Tonnage 45 923 GT
Length 218,80 m
Width 30,50 m
Draught 7,00 m
Ice class 1 A Super
500 passengers
500 berths
4 216 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 48 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 25 knots

Finnmaid was the second of the five Star-class ships delivered to Finnlines in 2006-2007. Along with her sisters Finnstar and Finnlady, the Finnmaid was placed in the service between Helsinki and Travemünde, replacing the older Hansa-class ships. (The latter two sisters were originally said to go to the Naantali-Kapellskär route, but instead entered on the Malmö-Travemünde service and were eventually transferred to the Helsinki-Travemünde route).

In 2009 an intermediate call at Gdansk was added to the route. Later on the service from Finland to Germany was split in two, Helsinki-Travemünde and Helsinki-Gdansk-Rostock. I've no idea if the Star-class ships rotate between the routes or if different ships are attached to different services.

The photographs below show the Finnmaid passing through the Kustaanmiekka strait on 9 July 2008. Click on the images to view full size.

A sight you can't see anymore, as the freight harbour in Sompasaari has been closed down and resultingly Finnlines' ships no longer travel through the Kustaanmiekka strait.

Italian design, I guess.

Not only is seeing the ship here historial, so is the fact the ramparts were freely accessible. Those were the good old days...

Finnhansa, 29 April 2008

Finnhansa

IMO 9010151
Built 1994, Stocznia Gdanska S.A., Poland
Tonnage 32 534 GT
Length 183,00 m
Width 29,90 m
Draught 7,40 m
114 passengers
114 berths
3 380 lane metres
4 Zgoda-Sulzer diesels, combined 23 040 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21,3 knots

Finnhansa was the first of the four Hansa-class ships built for the joint Finncarriers-Poseidon service between Helsinki and Lübeck in 1994-1995. This also made Finnhansa the first passenger-carrying Finnlines ship since the Finnjet was transferred to Finnjet Line in 1982. (The history of Finnlines/Finncarriers and their various owners is quite complex and I won't get further into it here).

In 1997 Finnlines acquired Poseidon and subsequently the Finncarrier-Poseidon marketing name was abandoned, initially simply by painting over the second half of the name from the ship's sides. In 2001 the Finncarriers marketing name was abandoned and "Finnlines" was now painted on the ship's sides. However, all the Hansa-class ships retained their original liveries; Finnhansa, Finnpartner and Finntrader the Finncarriers green (inherited from Effoa) and Transeuropa Poseidon's orange. During the same year the German terminus for the ship's route was changed from Lübeck to Travemünde.

The Finnhansa left Finnlines' fleet in 2009, having become large unnescessary following the delivery of the new Star-class ships to the Finland-Germany service in 2006-2007. The Finnhansa was transferred to the fleet of Finnlines' now-owner Grimaldi, who renamed her Euroferry Sicilia and placed her on Genoa-Catania service. Despite the change of ownership she retained her old livery, down to Finnlines-side texts, funnel marking and even the company's coat of arms in the bow.

Euroferry Sicilia proved to be a short detour for the ship. In 2010 Finnlines bought the ship back from Grimaldi, renamed her Transrussia and placed her on the Trans-Russia Express service between St. Petersburg and Travemünde. Her running mate on the service is her sister Transeuropa.

The photographs below show the Finnhansa on Kruunuvuorenselkä in Helsinki in the evening of 29 April 2009, having departed the now-defunct Sompasaari freight harbour. Click on the images to view full size.

On Kruunuvuorenselkä, with Korkeasaari (I believe) in the background.

Entering the Kustaanmiekka strait some minutes afterwards, with the setting sun illuminating spots of newer paint on the side.