Amadea, 1 June 2007

Amadea

IMO 8913162
Built 1991, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki, Japan
Tonnage 28 856 GT
Length 192,82 m
Width 24,70 m
Draugth 6,60 m
624 passengers
2 MAN-Mitsubishi diesels, combined 17 300 kW
2 propellers
1 bow thruster
Speed 21 knots

For a history of the Amadea, see the previous entry about her.

The photographs below show the Amadea arriving in Stockholm. Photographed from onboard the Mariella. Click on the images to view larger size.

Turning on Stockholms ström before berthing. Despite the calm weather the Amadea needed tug assistance to berth.

Notice both the nicely terraced aft decks and the vertical layout with cabins forward and public spaces aft, the Amadea being one of the few cruise ships to be built to such a plan.

SuperSeaCat Four, 31 May 2007

SuperSeaCat Four

IMO 9141883
Built 1999, Fincantieri Riva Trigoso, Italy
Tonnage 4 697 GT
Length 100,00 m
Width 17,10 m
Draught 2,70 m
800 passengers
175 cars, 2 buses
4 Rouston diesels, combined 27 500 kW
4 KaMeWa waterjets
2 bow thrusters
Speed 38 knots

SuperSeaCat Four was the fourth and last MDV1200-type fast monohull ferry delivered to Sea Containers. On completion in May 1999 she was laid up at the shipyard as Sea Containers did not in fact have a use for her at the time. Reportedly they considered opening a service linking Brindisi (Italy) with Cesme (Turkey) with her, but this sounds very unlikely as the distance is quite long and the ship has no cabin spaces, just airliner seats, a cafeteria and a small tax-free shop. Like her sister SuperSeaCat Three, the SuperSeaCat Four had an image of one of Sea Containers' owner James Sherwood's cats painted on her bow.

Eventually the SuperSeaCat Four entered service in April 2000, sailing for Sea Containers' subsidiary Silja Line on the Helsinki-Tallinn route. The ship was to stay on this service for Silja Line until 2006, although she was always laid for winters as she does not have an ice-reinforced hull. In 2003 she was joined on the service by her sister SuperSeaCat Three and for the 2005 summer season also the first sister SuperSeaCat One. In July 2006 Sea Containers, which was by now in financial troubles, sold the Silja Line operations to the competing Baltic Sea operator Tallink. However, the Helsinki-Tallinn services of the SuperSeaCats could not be included in the sale as this would have given Tallink a dominant market position on the route. Resultingly the SuperSeaCat Three and SuperSeaCat Four stayed under Sea Containers ownership and continued sailing between Helsinki and Tallinn, but now under the SuperSeaCat brand.

Sea Containers continued to look to sell the two remaining SuperSeaCats, and in January 2008 a buyer emerged in the form of Aegean Speed Lines, who took over the entire SuperSeaCat Baltic Sea operations. Resultingly the SuperSeaCat Three and SuperSeaCat Four were painted with ASL funnel colours but otherwise retained their previous liveries. The ASL-owned SuperSeaCat operations proved to be short-lived, as the Helsinki-Tallinn route was closed down in October 2008 and the two ships laid up at Remontowa, Poland. In May 2009 the SuperSeaCat Four was renamed Speedrunner IV (her sister became, logically, the Speedrunner III) and the following month entered service on Aegean Speed Lines' Pireus-Serifos-Sifnos-Folegandros-Milos -route.

The photographs below show the SuperSeaCat Four shortly after departing Tallinn on 31 May 2007, photographed from onboard Tallink's Star. Click on the images to view larger size.

Passing though the Star's wake after leaving Reisisadam.

According to the not-always-reliable Wikipedia, the sleek exteriors of the MDV1200-ships were designed by the automotive designer Pininfarina, who has also designed trains, trams and buses.

The SuperSeaCat Four quickly passed the Star before we even got out of the Bay of Tallinn.

SuperSeaCat Three, 5 October 2006

SuperSeaCat Three

IMO 9141871
Name history: SuperSeaCat Three, Speedrunner III
Built 1999, Fincantieri Riva Trigoso, Italy
Tonnage 4 697 GT
Length 100,00 m
Width 17,10 m
Draught 2,70 m
800 passengers
175 cars, 2 buses
4 Rouston diesels, combined 27 500 kW
4 KaMeWa waterjets
2 bow thrusters
Speed 38 knots

The SuperSeaCats are perhaps best known internationally as fast ferries sailing on the English Channel. However, three of the ships also appeared on the Baltic and there was a short-lived ferry operator SuperSeaCat operating between Helsinki and Tallinn.

Sea Containers had in 1997 taken delivery of two MDV1200-type fast monohull ships from Fincantieri. The company decided to execute their option for two further vessels, which were delivered in 1999 as the SuperSeaCat Three and SuperSeaCat Four, respectively. As a gift to Sea Containers' owner James Sherwood's wife, images of the Sherwood's cats were painted on the bows of these two sisters, a grey cat for the SuperSeaCat Three and an orange one for the SuperSeaCat Four.

The SuperSeaCat Three initially sailed on the Liverpool-Dublin -route when delivered in 1999, switching to the English channel in 2001 and sailing on the Dover-Oostende and Dover-Calais routes. In 2003 Sea Containers decided to switch the ship to their Baltic Sea subsidiary Silja Line, who had already operated the sister ship SuperSeaCat Four from 2000 onwards. Operating between Helsinki and Tallinn, the ships were marketed as Silja Line SuperSeaCat. Due to the ships not having ice-reinforced hulls, both ships spent the winter months laid up.

By the mid-00s Sea Containers were in trouble financially, and Silja Line was put for sale in 2006. In July 2006 Silja Line was sold to the rival Baltic Sea operator Tallink - however, due to restrictions placed by competition regulators, Tallink could not take over Silja Line's Helsinki-Tallinn services, as this would have given them a dominant market position. Resultingly, the two SuperSeaCats in Helsinki-Tallinn service were demerged into a new, separate company SuperSeaCat which remained under Sea Containers' ownership.

In January 2008 SeaContainers also sold the SuperSeaCat company, to the Greece-based Aegean Speed Lines. Subsequently the ships were painted with ASL funnel symbols, but otherwise there were no changes for the time. However, in October 2008 the SuperSeaCat service between Helsinki and Tallinn was closed down, presumably due to increased competition after both Tallink and Viking Line had taken delivery of new, larger fast ferries. The SuperSeaCat Three and SuperSeaCat Four were laid up in Poland for the winter 2008-2009. In May 2009 the SuperSeaCat Three was renamed Speedrunner III and placed on Aegean Speed Lines' Pireus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos -route.

SuperSeaCat Three at Helsinki's Eteläsatama on 5 October 2006, having just departed for Tallinn. Click on the image to view full size.

Victoria I, 31 May 2007

Victoria I

IMO 9281281
Built 2004, Aker Finnyards Rauma, Finland
Tonnage 40 975 GT
Length 193,80 m
Width 29,00 m
Draught 6,50 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 500 passengers
2 252 berths
400 cars
1 000 lanemeters
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 26 240 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22 knots

Victoria I was the second newbuilt ship built for Tallink, delivered in 2004 from (what was then) the Aker Finnyards shipyard in Rauma, Finland. She is a sister ship of the Romantika, built in 2002, but the Victoria I has a larger number of cabins. There are also some exterior differences in the ships, most notably the large flower motif painted on the sides of the bow of the Victoria I. Both the Romantika and the Victoria I are based on Viking Line's Cinderella from 1989, with a similar (albeit arguably superior) interior layout.

On delivery in March 2004 the Victoria I was placed on Tallink's service between Tallinn and Stockholm, running parallel to the older and notably inferior Regina Baltica. In May 2004 an intermediate call at Mariehamn on the Åland Islands was added to retain tax-free sales onboard after Estonia joining the EU. (The Åland Islands are an autonymous province of Finland that is not a part of the EU taxation system. Resultingly ships calling at the islands can still sell tax-free goods, even though tax-free sales have been abolished in intra-EU traffic).

In 2005-2006 the Victoria I was also occasionally used for trips between Tallinn and Helsinki. Her running mate on the Tallinn-Stockholm service changed in May 2006 when, following the delivery of the new Galaxy the Romantika was transferred to the Tallinn-Mariehamn-Stockholm route. The two sisters sailed parallel to each other on the route until May 2009, when the new Baltic Queen replaced the Romantika (which was moved to the Riga-Stockholm service). As Tallink have since run into financial difficulties after their rapid expansion during the latter half of the 00's, it seems there is no danger of the Victoria I herself getting replaced with another ship in the near future.

The photographs below show the Victoria I in Tallinn on 31 May 2007. Click on the individual images to view full size.

Victoria I  at Tallinn's Resisadan terminal D, with the Galaxy on the background on the right. Photographed from onboard the Superfast VIII.

Shifting berths at Reisisadam; due to there not being enough berths with passenger linkspans at terminal D, the Victoria I had to vacate her berth for the incoming Star. Once the Galaxy departed, the Victoria I then moved to her berth. Photographed from onboard the Star.

More of the same. In addition to the flower on the bow, the Victoria I  can be told apart from her sister Romantika by the protective sidings on the aft sundeck (the topmost black stripe below the funnel). On the Victoria I this extands all the way to the aft, on the Romantika  it does not. Photo taken from onboard the Star.

Star, 31 May 2007

Star

IMO 9364722
Built 2007, Aker Finnyards Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 36 250 GT
Length 186,00 m
Width 27,70 m
Draught 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

Yes, I do  have a shitload of photographs of the Star. She keeps shuttling back and forth between Helsinki and Tallinn so often it's impossible not to get a huge number of pictures of her. Well, admittedly I could just not take photos of her every time she comes around...

Moving on, the photographs below are of the Star outside Helsinki, en-route to Länsisatama on the morning of 31 May 2007 (the ship being less than two months old at the time). Photographed from onboard the Superfast VIII. Click on the individual images to see larger size.

Star passing the Superfast VIII at high speed. It was actually slightly scary, the two ships passing each other at fairly high speed on the relatively narrow deep shipping lane.

With her short, stubby bow the Star looks a bit front-heavy in my opinion, and the terraced shape of the aft of the ship further enhances this look.

The Helsinki cityscape in the background in all it's glory.