Baltic Queen on the Bay of Tallinn, 14 May 2019

Last Tuesday, I had the chance to do a shot trip on the Megastar and try out the special Tallink 30th anniversary menu in the gourmet restaurant. Those of you who speak Finnish can read my review of the menu on the Ulkomatala website here. In this entry, however, we will be looking at photos of the Baltic Queen – which has finally received the current-style Tallink logos – taken during the same trip.

Baltic Queen

IMO 9443255
Built 2009, STX Europe Rauma, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draught 6,42 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 500 berths
600 cars
1 130 lanemeters
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 32 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 24,5 knots

The story of the Baltic Queen is succint so far: it was delivered in 2009 as the last ship of Tallink's three-strong Galaxy class. On delivery, the ship was placed on the Tallinn-Stockholm run, on which it stayed (excepting occasional deputising on the Turku-Stockholm route) until 2014. The charter of the Silja Europa as an accommodation ship to Australia that year resulted in the Baltic Queen moving to take over the Helsinki-Tallinn 22 hour cruise circuit in what seemed like a permanent solution. However, when the Silja Europa's charter ended after just one year, Tallink were left in a conundrum of what to do with an extra ship, with the Silja Europa temporarily placed on day cruises from Helsinki to Tallinn (not as a second 22 hour cruise ship on that route as some sources have erraneously claimed). Rumour has it that DFDS invested the Baltic Queen for purchase in 2016, but if this really happened, nothing ever came of it. Instead, in December 2016 a radically refitted Silja Europa returned to take over the Helsinki-Tallinn 22-hour cruise circuit, and the Baltic Queen returned to the Tallinn-Stockholm run.

In January 2019, the Baltic Queen sailed to the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk for a change of the unreliable original reduction gears, in a similar refit to what had been carried out the year before on the sister ship Baltic Princess (I was onboard the Baltic Princess for that ship's hourney from Turku to Gdansk, of which you can read more here). At the same time, the Baltic Queen was repainted with the current-style Tallink logotypes – no less than seven years (!) after they had been taken into use.

The photos below show the Baltic Queen on the Bay of Tallinn, outbound from Tallinn to Stockholm on the evening of 14 May 2019, photographed from onboard the inbound Megastar. As per the usual practice, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Contemporary Estonian dry-land architecture meets contemporary Finnish maritime architecture.

Coinciding with the painting of the new-style logotype, they also painted over the red "Cruise" text that was next to it, improving the looks of the ship if you ask me.

However, I do wonder who at Tallink thought it was still nescessary to keep the www.tallink.com text on the hull in the year 2019?

Sailboats, always pictoresque.

Stockholm calling.

Kships will return.

Silja Europa outside Helsinki, 13 June 2018

I realised recently that I haven't posted any exterior photos of the Silja Europa since her late-2016 return to the Helsinki-Tallinn 22-hour cruise circuit, and that there is no up-to-date history of her in this blog. So today, we will look at some photos of the SE from last summer.

Silja Europa

IMO 8919805
Name history: Europa, Silja Europa
Built 1993, Meyer Werft, Germany
Tonnage 59 912 GT
Length 201,78 m
Width 32,60 m
Draught 6,80 m
Ice class 1 A Super
3 013 passengers
3 696 berths (as of 2013, may have changed)
340 cars
932 lane metres
4 MAN diesels, combined 31 800 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 22 knots

The Silja Europa was originally ordered by Rederi AB Slite, one of the owners of Viking Line, in 1989. The Europa, as she was to be known (in keeping with Slite's tradition of taking their names from Greek and Roman mythologies), was to be the jewel in the company's crown, outdoing both SF Line's (the other Viking Line partner) Cinderella and Silja Line's still-under-construction Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony. In terms of basic design the Europa is an enlarged version of the Athena and Kalypso, built in 1989 and 1990 respectively (they in turn were based on the Mariella of 1985 and her sister Olympia of 1986).

While the Europa was under construction at Meyer Werft, a disaster struck the Finnish shipbuilder Wärtsilä Marine, who were building both Slite's Kalypso and Silja's Serenade and Symphony. Wärtsilä Marine went bankrupt and in the ensuing reorganisation the prices of the still under construction newbuildings rose radically, leaving both Slite and Silja Line in heavy debt.

Fast forward to January 1993. During the month the Swedish krona (SEK) was devaluated by 25%, leaving Slite 200 million SEK short of the price of the Europa just two months before the ship was to be delivered. The situation was further compicated by the fact that the main funder of Slite, Nordbanken, was also the main funder of Silja Line. While Slite was better off financially of the two, the bank stood to lose more if Silja folded (as it perhaps seemed likely to do at the time). Regardless of what the actual reasons were, Nordbanken refused to grant Slite an additional loan to secure the Europa. During the same month Silja Line signed an agreement with the shipyard to charter the Europa on completion of the ship. Slite's assests, meanwhil,e were evaluated by Nordbanken as being much less valuable than they were. The result was that Slite was forced to declare bankruptcy and their remaining assets (Olympia, Athena, Kalypso and a pair of small achipelago cruise ships operating in Stockholm) were sold, the big ferries for trading outside the Baltic. The money from selling the ships easily covered the debts of RAB Slite, in essence meaning the bankruptcy was unwarranted. With large parts of Viking Line's fleet missing, Silja Line established itself as the dominant shipping company on the North Baltic and managed to somewhat improve it's financial position.

Returning to the Europa, she has been christened Silja Europa on 5 March 1993 and entered service on Silja Line's Helsinki-Stockholm route on 14 March 1993. She had been planned for that exact route, and placing her on the service allowed Silja to cash in on the large-scale marketing Viking Line had already carried out for the ship. In 1994 the Silja Europa was the second ship to arrive on the scene of the Estonia disaster and was appointed head of the rescue operation.

In practice Silja Line found the Silja Europa to be ill-suited as a running mate to the Silja Symphony. More importantly the Silja Serenade – which the Silja Europa had replaced on the Helsinki-Stockholm service – was found to be highly ill-suited for the Turku-Stockholm service, where she had been trasferred to make way for the Silja Europa on the Helsinki-Stockholm route. Resultingly, from January 1995 the Silja Europa moved to the Turku-Stockholm service, with the Silja Serenade returning to the Helsinki-Stockholm route.

Originally the Silja Europa had a partially white funnel, with the seal painted on on blue. However, as there was a tendency for soot to gather in the white part, in 2000 the funnel was repainted all-blue, with the Silja funnel symbol painted on in white (since 1993, both blue-on-white and white-on-blue variants had been used). In 2002, Stena Line were reportedly interested in chartering the Silja Europa to replace their Stena Saga (some claim the staff of the Stena Saga even visited the Silja Europa to get to know her). Resultingly Silja Line's then-owner Sea Containers purchased 42% of the ship from Meyer Werft, which together with the previously Silja-owned 17% gave them a majority ownership and blocked the transfer to Stena. In 2004 Sea Containers purchased the remaining shares of the ship. In 2006, prior to Silja Line being sold to Tallink, the ownership of the ship was passed entirely to Silja Line.

The Silja Europa had for a long time suffered from engine problems, which are particularly problematic on the intensive Turku-Stockholm route. Compounded with the arrival of Viking Line's new Viking Grace on the Turku-Stockholm line in January 2013, Tallink swapped the Silja Europa with the Helsinki-Tallinn 22-hour cruise ship Baltic Princess in January-February 2013. The Silja Europa was transferred under the Estonian flag and marketed as a Tallink ship (although retaining her Silja-prefixed name). She entered service on the Helsinki-Tallinn route on 23 January 2013. Initially, she was marketed in Finland as the Europa, in an attempt to maintain a degree of separation between the Tallink and Silja brands, but as all signage, announcements etc onboard continued to refer to the ship under her full name, the practice was quickly dropped.

The ship remained in Tallink service without incident until July 2014, when her owners took the shipping world by surprise when they made public the agreement to charter the Silja Europa to Bridgemans Services as an accommodation vessel to Australia for 14 months (with a possible extension to 48 months), starting from August. Thus, the Silja Europa sailed to Naantali for conversion to an accommodation ship. At the same time the ship was repainted with Bridgemans logos on the hull. After the refit the ship left the Baltic Sea on a lengthy transition to Barrow Island in northern Australia. She was replaced on the Helsinki-Tallinn 22-hour cruise circuit by the Baltic Queen.

Most observers (myself included) expected this to be the last that we would see of the Silja Europa on the Baltic. And we were all wrong. When the charter ran out at the end of 2015, the ship sailed back to Tallinn (although rumour has it potential buyers inspected her in Singapore en-route) and received a partial refit. After covering for docking periods of other ships, she returned to the Helsinki-Tallinn route for the summer season on a somewhat anarchronistic schedule: day cruises, departing from Helsinki in the morning and returning in the evening (some English-language sources mistakenly claim she was used on the 22-hour cruise circuit alongside the Baltic Queen – a misunderstanding presumably arising from the fact Finnish has two different terms that translate into a English as "day": "päivä", meaning the period from morning to evening, and "vuorokausi", a 24-hour period. Thus, "päiväristeily" and "vuorokauden risteily" both translate as "day cruise", but are completely different products). Unusually, she sailed not from the Tallink terminals in Helsinki's Länsisatama (West Harbour) but from the Silja Line terminal in Eteläsatama (South Harbour).

At the end of August 2016, the Silja Europa was laid up at Muuga, the freight harbour of Tallinn, for a large-scale refit, with all public rooms (except the ones done the previous spring), cabins, staircases, corridors, etc. rebuilt. Following the refit, the ship re-entered service on the 22-hour cruise circuit between Helsinki and Tallinn in December, replacing the Baltic Queen. For an overview of the current interiors, feel free to look at this entry.

And that pretty much brings us to the present: the Silja Europa remains on the Helsinki-Tallinn 22-hour cruise service, complemented with two-night special cruises to Visby, Riga and Mariehamn during the summer seasons.

The photos below show the Silja Europa inbound outside Helsinki, photographed from onboard the Finlandia sailing in the opposite direction. As per normal practice, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Still looking every inch a Silja Line ship, even with Tallink logos. I've often thought they would be smart to cash in on the ship's perceived special status by just painting her name in large letters on the side in place of the Tallink-text.

The Finlandia and Silja Europa pass just on the edge of the Helsinki archipelago, giving impressive views.

Always nice when you get sun reflecting from the windows.

She is a bit of a chunky lady, to be honest. But I for one like my ladies that way.

She has a lovely rear, too.
Okay, I'll stop with the questionable puns now.

Kships will return.

Isabelle in Stockholm, 30 October 2018

Last week, we made a two-night ferry cruise to Stockholm with my wife and son onboard the Silja Symphony (thanks to its sushi bar, this ship is now our family's favourite of the two Silja Helsinki-Stockholm ships). While ship photography wasn't the point of the trip, and for most of it the weather was too atrocious for any good ones anyway, I ended up in the right place at the right time by accident and got my first photos of the Isabelle in her newish white-hulled livery.

Isabelle

IMO 8700723
Name history: Isabella, Isabelle
Built 1989, Brodogradiliste Split, Yugoslavia
Tonnage 35 154 GT
Length 169,40 m
Width 27,60 m
Draft 6,40 m
2 480 passengers
2 166 berths
364 cars
900 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Pielstick diesels, combined 23 760 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 21,5 knots

Since it's been a few years since the Isabelle was featured here, I guess it's also time to take an updated look at the ship's history.

The Isabelle started life as the Isabella, the second of two ships ordered in the mid-80s by SF Line from the Brodogradiliste Split shipyard in the (then-)Yugoslavia. The older sister Amorella was completed for the Turku-Stockholm service in 1988. On delivery in 1989, the Isabella was planned to be placed on the Naantali-Kapellskär -route. However, the port authorities of Kapellskär were less than thrilled about the thought of expanding their harbour to accommodate the Isabella (and her envisioned running mate, Rederi AB Slite's Athena, today the Pearl Seaways). In the end Naantali did expand their harbour to accommodate the new ships, while Kapellskär did not. To make the best of the situation, SF Line decided to place the Isabella on a new service linking Naantali to Stockholm when the ship was delivered in June 1989.

Initially, the plan was for the Isabella to stay on the Naantali-Stockholm service around the year, but this proved unprofitable and instead the ship was moved to a service of 25-hour cruises to nowhere (actually Tallinn roads) from Helsinki for the 1989-1990 winter season. For the summers of 1990 and 1991 Isabella returned to Naantali, but the Naantali-Stockholm service was deemed a failure and from autumn 1991 the ship sailed exclusively on the 25-hour (later changed to 24-hour) cruise service from Helsinki. In spring 1992, the Isabella was rebuilt with the addition of an observation lounge on deck 11, converting the garage on deck 5 into cabins and on the exterior the addition of a red stripe running along the windows of deck 6. During the summers of 1993 and 1994 the ship also made occasional cruises from Helsinki to Visby.

In the aftermath of the bankruptcy of Rederi AB Slite (the other partner of Viking Line) in 1993, the Isabella swapped routes with the Cinderella after the 1994 summer season, moving to the Helsinki-Stockholm service. During the 1996 summer season the Isabella's (and her running mate Mariella's) route was briefly extanded to Tallinn-Helsinki-Stockholm. This was not a success at the time and the excercise was not repeated (although it was revived in 2014 and has been a regular feature since). When the Gabriella was acquired in 1997, it took over the Isabella's place on the Helsinki-Stockholm service. Isabella in turn moved to the Turku-Stockholm service (replacing the Rosella), pairing for the first time in its career with the sister ship Amorella.

Following the delivery of the new Viking Grace, the Isabella was laid up and placed for sale. Although Corsica Ferries were rumoured to be interested, no buyer emerged and Viking Line produced plans to reactivate the ship for the Helsinki-Tallinn line for the summer season, sailing as a running mate to the Viking XPRS. At this point Viking's main competitors Tallink did a little math and came to the conclusion that they would lose less money by buying the Isabella than they would if Viking could bring an extra ship in for the summer season. In April 2013 the ship was sold to Tallink; a few days before the sale was finalized, its name was amended to Isabelle and Tallink retained the name, as well as the red-hulled livery, only replacing Viking Line logos with their own (see my first entry on the Isabelle).

In May 2013 the Isabelle entered service on Tallink's Stockholm-Riga route, replacing the Silja Festival as the Romantika's running mate. Between August 2014 and December 2016, the Isabelle sailed as the sole ship on the route, due to route changes resulting from the Silja Europa being chartered to Australia (and the period after its return when Tallink pondered on what to do with their fleet). In February 2017, the Isabelle was docked at the Turku Ship Repair Yard in Naantali, Finland, where the ship was repainted in a similar style to its running mate Romantika, all-white with black stripes along the passenger deck windows.

The photos below show the Isabelle at the new Värtaterminalen in Stockholm on the afternoon of 30 October 2018. Photographed from onboard the Silja Symphony. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

For once, I'm rather pleased with a shot of a ship at quay and taken from the side of the quay (although I rather think one could also get great shots from the Lidingö side).

These shots also turned out surprisingly sharp considering the fact I didn't have a tripod with me – as you can see from the "warp speed" trucks, the exposure time wasn't exactly short.

Kships will return.

Megastar in Tallinn and on the Gulf of Finland, 5 March 2017

I am deviating from the advertised programming again to give a somewhat more newsworthy entry. As people will probably be aware, Tallink Grupp and Rauma Marine Constructions signed a letter of intent to build a new fast ropax ferry for the Helsinki-Tallinn route last Thursday. Although not said outright in the press release, the ship looks likely to be based on the Megastar, albeit with improvements – an artist's impression that was originally included with the press release (but pulled after a few hours) showed a version of the Megastar with additional cabins up on Deck 11 (a nescessary change, as the Megastar has insufficient cabins for the crew and they actually have to accommodate crew in cabins originally meant for passengers). According to Shippax, the public room decks will also be rearranged compared to the Megastar, so it remains to be seen how much of a sister ship the new one will really be.

Anyway, since the new ship will at least be related to the Megastar, I thought we'd look at her again.

Megastar

IMO 9773064
Built 2017, Meyer Turku, Finland
Tonnage 49 200 GT
Length 212,20 metres
Width 30,60 metres
Draught 7,10 metres
2 824 passengers
186 cabin berths
800 cars (if no freight units carried) or
320 cars and 110 freight units
3 653 lane metres
5 Wärtsilä LNG/diesel hybrid engines, combined 45 600 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
2 stern thrusters
Service speed 27 knots
Ice class 1A

For interior views of the Megastar, see here.

The photos below show the Megastar arriving at Tallinn (first three) and on the Gulf of Finland approaching Helsinki (the last three) on 5 March 2017, all taken from onboard the Silja Europa. As per the normal procedure, click on the images to see them in larger size.

No idea what the little cargo ship there was, but it made for a nice background.

I'm still not 100% sure about the relatively extensive use of the colour red in the Megastar – it's a very Viking Line-y shade.

The Megastar and Tallink's Helsinki-Tallinn cargo ferry Sea Wind. Since this photo was taken, the Sea Wind's harbour in Estonia has been moved to Muuga, Tallinn's outer cargo harbour, so you can't take a photo like this anymore.

Later, that same day, the Megastar passed us en-route to Helsinki.

Passing the Helsingin kasuuni (Helsinki Caisson) lighthouse.

Next time: Spirit of British Columbia (this time for real)

Star in Helsinki, 5 August 2018

To follow up on last week's entry on the Princess Anastasia against impressive storm clouds, this time we'll look at the Star. Kind of high time, too, as it's apparently been over three years since that ship was last featured here.

Star

IMO 9364722
Built 2007, Aker Finnyards Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 36 250 GT
Length 186,00 m
Width 27,70 m
Draugth 6,50 m
Ice class 1A
1 900 passengers
520 berths
450 cars
1 981 lanemeters
4 MaK diesels, combined 48 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 27,7 knots

It seems that the history of the Star has never been covered in this blog before, I guess it's high time we look at it. Not that there would have been too many events during the history of the ship to date.

The ship that eventually became the Star was contracted from Aker Finnyards in August 2008. During the research process for Innovation and Specialisation – The Story of Shipbuilding in Finland, I discovered that the final design of the Star had been preceeded by various different proposals by the shipyard for a Helsinki-Tallinn ferry, none of which had been considered satisfactory by Tallink. In the end, a design based on the SeaFrance Rodin was acceptable (in part perhaps because it was cheaper to build a near-sister to an existing ship). Originally, the contract included an option of a sister ship, but this was never taken up and instead, the Star would be paired with the Fincantieri-built Superstar.

Although designed by Aker Finnyards' Rauma yard, the Star was built at the company's Helsinki facility, which at the time specialised in building ferries. The ship was delivered in April 2007, approximately one week late due to problem with one of the engines. Once in service, the Star pretty much revolutionised the Helsinki-Tallinn route, being the first ship to combine a high service speed with the onboard amenities of a large ferry. Incidentally, the ship's interiors – designed by the Finnish company Aprocos and the Estonian architect Pille Lausmäe – attracted much positive comment. The same cannot be said for the lime-green livery, also the work of Aprocos (I think it's quite fetching, to be honest).

Since April 2007, the Star has remained on the Helsinki-Tallinn line, almost without incident. In December 2013, the internal ramp leading to the upper car deck collapsed while the ship was about to start unloading in Helsinki. In the end, the ship has to sail back to Tallinn, where the upper car deck could be emptied using the floating ramp left there from the days when Tallink's three Superfast ferries served the port.

In winter 2017, coinciding with the arrival of the Megastar, the Star was rebuilt for twin-level loading and unloading (provisions for which had been there from the start), with a small alteration to the ship's bow in the process. Rumour has it that the ship was due to be lengthened in 2018, to bring its capacities closer to the Megastar. If such plans ever existed, they were clearly abandoned in favour of contracting a sister ship to the Megastar, which Tallink announced as their intention earlier this summer. This intention also indicates that the Star's time in the Tallink fleet is running to a close – as Tallink have not other routes for which the ship would be suitable, the arrival of a Megastar sister will surely mean the older ship's sale out of the fleet.

Anyway, onwards to the photos! The show the Star arriving in Helsinki Länsisatama (West Harbour) on the evening of 5 August 2018. Photographed, unusually, from the submerged isthmus linking Sisä-Hattu to Vattuniemi – I was leaving the island after the departure of the Princess Anastasia, without realising the Star was incoming. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Sisä-Hattu in the foreground. Yes, I was standing in the sea when I took these. There was a convinient stone there that I could put my backpack and shoes on.

The lighting was somehow hugely challenging for my camera, giving widely different hues for the storm clouds in the background for different frames.

Apparently, the ideal way of turning when arriving at the new Länsiterminaali 2 was tested in a model tank to discover the ideal way.

Interestingly, the Star still hasn't been painted with the new-style Tallink logos, instead retaining the old italic font. If the ship is to be replaced soon, it might be the text is never updated.

Notice the little bit of white railing missing from the top of the bow compared to the earlier pictures of the Star here – this was removed to allow the twin-level loading mentioned in the text above.

Next time: Azamara Journey interiors, if all goes to plan.

Megastar in Helsinki, 13 June 2018

The Megastar isn't exactly new anymore, but she hasn't actually been featured in this blog that often. Furthermore, the photos are somewhat newsworthy right now, as Tallink recently indicated their interest in contracting a sister ship for the Megastar - although where and when such a ship would be built is another matter entirely.

Megastar

IMO 9773064
Built 2017, Meyer Turku, Finland
Tonnage 49 134 GT
Length 212,10 metres
Width 30,60 metres
Draught 7,00 metres
2 824 passengers
188 cabin berths
800 cars (if no freight units carried) or
320 cars and 110 freight units
3 653 lane metres
5 Wärtsilä LNG/diesel hybrid engines, combined 45 600 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
2 stern thrusters
Service speed 27 knots
Ice class 1A

For those interested, my interior tour of the Megastar can be found here.

The photo below were taken on the afternoon of 13 June 2018, showing the Megastar outside Helsinki, bound for Länsisatama (West Harbour), photographed from onboard the outbound Finlandia. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

I do like the departures where ships meet just outside Länsisatama. The views are always so dramatic.

Case point.

If you're close enough, the ship looks so sleek.

Look in the other direction, and the sky changes dramatically. Yes, this is from the same session, though you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

Next time: we will probably do a little change of pace and look at the little Helsinki local ferry Isosaaari.

Superstar in Helsinki, 25 January 2017

These are the last proper pictures I ever took of the Superstar. My original plan was to post these when the ship begun her new career with Corsica Ferries, but for some reason that never happened. So instead these will be the Kships Christmas greeting.

Superstar

IMO 9365398
Name history: Superstar, Pascal Lota
Built 2008, Fincantieri Ancona, Italy
Tonnage 36 400 GT
Length 175,10 m
Width 27,60 m
Draugth 7,00 m
Ice class 1A
2 080 passengers
520 berths
665 cars
1 930 lanemeters
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 50 400 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 27,5 knots

The Superstar was ordered by Tallink from Fincantieri in August 2005, for delivery in spring 2008. The ship was based on the design of the Moby Wonder -class, which Fincantieri were heavily promoting at the time (they also negoatiated about building a ship of the same design for Viking Line). The Superstar was ordered at the same time as her eventual running mate Star, and originally both contacts included an option for a sister vessel. At the time there were plenty of rumours circulating around about the future deployment of the ships: the Star and her sister were expected to go to the Helsinki-Tallinn -line, while the Superstar and her potential sister were expected to open an Estonia-Germany service for Tallink. Other rumours suggested one pair would go on the Gothenburg-Frederikshavn route in competition with Stena Line. Tallink at the time also expressed interest in submitting a tender for the state-funded service between the island of Gotland and the Swedish mainland. In the end only the Germany service came true, by the virtue of Tallink buying Superfast Ferries' Baltic Sea operations. Neither sister ship option was taken up, and the somewhat mismatched pair of Star and Superstar took over Tallink's non-cruise Helsinki-Tallinn services.

The Superstar continued in service without incident for eight years. In late 2014 Tallink signed a memorandum of agreement to build a new, larger, LNG-powered fast ferry for the Helsinki-Tallinn route, which was confirmed as a firm order in February 2015. In preparation for the delivery of the new ship, the Superstar was sold to Corsica Ferries in November 2015, with delivery in December, but chartered back to Tallink until the delivery of the new Megastar in January 2017.

After making her last crossing with Tallink on 28 January 2017, the Superstar was briefly registered in Cyprus and sailed to La Spezia in Italy for an extensive refit (somewhat oddly, most of the original Italian-influenced decor was removed). In early March, the ship was renamed Pascal Lota, after the recently-deceased founder of Corsica Ferries (originally, the ship was reported to be renamed Mega Express Six). In June, the ship finally entered service with Corsica Ferries, on routes from Livorno to Bastia and Golfo Aranci.

The photos below show the Superstar arriving at Helsinki Länsisatama (West Harbour) in the afternoon of 25 January 2017. Photographed from Vattuniemi. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

A surprising number of dents on the sides.

I'm not sure how often the ship is going t osee snow these days...

...but the snow did make for nice pictures.

The real obejctive of the day was the brand-new Megastar, which was in Helsinki to test ramps, but her depature was delayed until after dark. But getting the Superstar in the same shot as the ship wthat replaced her was nice.

Merry Christmas everyone, Kships will return.

Megastar in Helsinki, 19 May 2017

I've done surprisingly few entries about the Megastar, and I since there are a few sets sitting on my hard drive that have not been published here - or anywhere else for that matter - I think it's high time to rectify the case. (Though in my defence, a new small human appeared in my life a few months before the Megastar entered service and as a result I have also photographed her surprisingly few times).

Megastar

IMO 9773064
Built 2017, Meyer Turku, Finland
Tonnage 49 134 GT
Length 212,10 metres
Width 30,60 metres
Draught 7,00 metres
2 824 passengers
188 cabin berths
800 cars (if no freight units carried) or
320 cars and 110 freight units
3 653 lane metres
5 Wärtsilä LNG/diesel hybrid engines, combined 45 600 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
2 stern thrusters
Service speed 27 knots
Ice class 1A

Nothing much to write about the history of the ship so far, as she's only been in service for less than ten months now. If you want to see what she looks like on the inside, check this previous entry.

The photos below show the Megastar arriving at Helsinki Länsisatama (West Harbour) in the afternoon of 19 May 2017, photographed from Vattuniemi. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

I do like the occasional sailboat for photo purposes.

Pihlajasaari (on the left) would be a nice photo spot for mornings - if a) I would wake up early enough and b) the ferry there would go early enough to actually catch the morning cruise ship arrivals.

Is it just me or does the upper left bit of the red infinity sign actually look slightly sloppishly done, with a reverse arch to what it should be?

Behind the Megastar here is the construction work of a new cruise quay, which has made photography from Hernesaari impossible.

While I like the way the ship looks, her exterior does look like it wasn't given a final touch with the detailing. The are good ideas, but the final execution and detailing just looks messy.

Megastar in Helsinki, 4 March 2017

As promised, today we shall be looking at the Megastar. For those interested in not only looking at my photos but also reading more about the ship, the article I wrote about her for Cruise Business Review's most recent issue can be read online (as can the entire magazine) for free behind this link. (the Megastar article is on pages 53-60).

Megastar

IMO 9773064
Built 2017, Meyer Turku, Finland
Tonnage 49 134 GT
Length 212,10 metres
Width 30,60 metres
Draught 7,00 metres
2 824 passengers
188 cabin berths
800 cars (if no freight units carried) or
320 cars and 110 freight units
3 653 lane metres
5 Wärtsilä LNG/diesel hybrid engines, combined 45 600 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
2 stern thrusters
Service speed 27 knots
Ice class 1A

As there's very little to say about the Megastar's history, I think it best we go straight to the images. These show the Megastar departing Helsinki Länsisatama (West Harbour) on the afternoon of 4 March 2017, photographed from Vattuniemi. As always, you can see the photos in larger size by clicking on them.

The Megastar looks quite okay when viewed from the front... but as we discussed with my friend and collaborator Bruce Peter, she does look like the wasn't given the final designer touch that would make for a truly beautiful ship.

The sun refused to shine on the ship, but it made for good photos never the less.

And the few remnants of the near-nonexistant sea ice of this winter made for a decent foreground.

Alas, seen from the rear the ship isn't particularly attractive - a situation made worse by the sloppy design of the livery in that part.

Dramatic background.

Sisä-Hattu, my usual favourite photo location, was turned into a foreground object this time around.

Kships will return.

Megastar interiors, 27 January 2017

Tallink's new Helsinki-Tallinn fast ropax Megastar will enter service tomorrow, but she was shown to the press yesterday in Tallinn. I was there as a representative of Cruise Business Review and my article on the ship will be featured in the next issue of the magazine. Whilst waiting for that, here is a photographic tour of the ship.

Updated 29.1.2017 with a photo of the garage in normal use and some previously neglected information.

Megastar

IMO 9773064
Built 2017, Meyer Turku, Finland
Tonnage 49 200 GT
Length 212,20 metres
Width 30,60 metres
Draught 7,10 metres
2 824 passengers
186 cabin berths
800 cars (if no freight units carried) or
320 cars and 110 freight units
3 653 lane metres
5 Wärtsilä LNG/diesel hybrid engines, combined 45 600 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
2 stern thrusters
Service speed 27 knots
Ice class 1A

The interior design of the Megastar has been the responsibility of two Finnish interior designers: dSign Vertti Kivi & Co and Aprocos. While dSign is the more widely publicised of the two - having designed the majority of the public spaces - in terms of floor area, the two practices were essentially equal, thanks to Aprocos doing some of the largest areas onboard, most notably the twin-level Traveller Superstore, as well as all the cabins. But, without further ado, let's dig in!

Deck 11 is inaccessible to the public, housing crew areas.

Deck 10 has the command bridge forward, followed by more crew areas, passenger cabins, the diver's lounge and, right aft, the open sun deck for passengers. Being smart, I neglected to visit this deck completely during my tour.

Deck 9 is one of the two principal passenger decks, hosting the buffet and à la carte restaurants forward, followed by the children's play room, a cafeteria and a fast food eatery, with a sitting lounge and two bars right aft.

The Delight Buffet covers most of the forward quarter of the deck. Right at the front, there is a neat bay window, continuing the shape of the command bridge above. A very neat little detail.

In contrast with dSign's earlier shipboard work, the Megastar features plants as decor in various spaces.

The Delight Buffet is designed as a series of cabinet-like spaces, which can be cordoned off on less busy departures.

The servery areas of Delight Buffet are in the middle, in the now-popular island arrangement.

Adjacent to the buffet entrance is the ship's à la carte dining room, Chef's Kitchen. The placement was strategic on the part of dSign, as it is hoped to encourage passengers en-route to the buffet to "upgrade" their dining experience.

Aft of Chef's Kitchen is the children's playroom.

Moving further aft, the starboard side of the ship is filled with the Fast Lane cafeteria. Here, again, the area is subdivided into indivisual segments with their own colour scheme. This spot is my personal favourite.

The Fast Lane servery areas.

More Fast Lane sitting areas. While the menu and branding are the same as on the Fast Lanes found onboard other ships of Tallink Grupp, the decor is unique.

The aftmost areas of Fast Lane have more neat plant detailings in the space dividers.

While Fast Lane covers the starbord side amidships, on the port there's first the galley and the a Burger King restaurant. Here, the decor is in accordance with the Burger King concept - so nothing to write home about.

The stairwells (seen here is the midships stairs on Deck 9) are all designed by Aprocos in a quite attractive styling. However, each of the three staircases has the same colour scheme; perhaps unique colours for each would have aided in passenger orientation.

Aft of Burger King is the Sitting Lounge, a much-desired if somewhat retro feature. Here, again, the design of the space is by Aprocos.

Apposite of the Sitting Lounge on the starboard side we find the Victory Bar with its centerpiece horse lamp.

Victory Bar was envisioned by dSign as a stylish, contemporary rendering of a classic sports pub.

Again, plants bring a nice organic counterpoint to dSign's angular detailing.

As in the other dSign-drawn spaces, there are some very neat lighting fixtures in the Victory Bar.

The final indorrs public space on Deck 9 is Sea Pub, another concept familiar from earlier Tallink and Silja Line ships, but with a new interior design from dSign.

Sea Pub is, without question, the most vibrant-coloured of all dSign-made public areas onboard.

dSign envisioned the Sea Pub as a more quiet space, in contrast with the Victory Bar. We'll see how the spaces will turn out in practice.

Aft on Deck 9, the outer decks have been built in as an enclosed, winter garden -like space.

Deck 8 is the second public room deck. Forward, there are the extra-cost Business and Comfort Class lounges, followed by the entrance lobby, the Coffee & Co coffee bar, the Lobby Shop and the Traveller Superstore, which covers the entire aft half of the deck.

The forward section on Deck 8 is split between the Business Class (seen here) and Comfort Class areas.

Food and drinks are included in the Business Class price, thus the space has its own buffet servery area.

dSign chose to decorazte the Business Class lounge in restive hues of grey and black, conductive for working.

The Comforst Class lounge, accopying the port side forward, features similarly restive decor as the Business Class.

Again, organic detailing brings the space to life.

The Comfort Class areas also feature three cabinets, which can be used either as private meeting rooms or incorporated into the main lounge on busier departures.

The two extra-cost areas are followed by the entrance lobby and corridors leading to the public rooms midships. On the port side, a video of the ship's naming ceremony, alongside a picture of the godmother (Finland's former president Tarja Halonen) and the lucky coins laid under the keel.

The corresponding space on the starboard side.

Amidships is the Coffee & Co coffee bar area. Here, the walking paths cross from one side of the ship to the other, an interesting new solution devised by dSign.

The Coffee & Co servery area, alongside the reception, is located in the triangular space formed by the crossroads forward.

Port side sitting areas for Coffee & Co. The starboard side has more hues of fuchsia.

The aft triangle from the corssroads has further seating and the Lobby Shop.

Located adjacent to the main supermarket, the Lobby Shop might seem like a strange concept, but many passengers probably welcome the chance for quick shopping in a much smaller space.

The Traveller Superstore, designed by Aprocos, is similar in styling to the Tax Free Superstore found onboard other Tallink and Silja vessels, but with the name altered to reflect the fact there are no tax-free sales on the Helsinki-Tallinn route.

The Traveller Superstore extends down to Deck 7, with an extremely impressive atrium-like staircase in the middle. Alas, the equipment I had with me couldn't quite capture the space in the way it deserved.

Very wish display!

Deck 7 features one of the Megastar's most innovative features: a garage that passengers can access during the voyage. This is meant for shoppers taking large amounts with them, as there is direct access from the garage to the Traveller Superstore.

During our visit, however, the garage was turned into a party space for a short celebratory cruise run from Tallinn later in the evening.

The garage photographed once the ship was in normal service on 29.1. Very similar to a shopping center on dry land.

The Decks below, 3-6, are further car decks, with technical spaces and galleys down on Decks 1 and 2.

As always, Kships will return.