MS ''Baltic Princess'' is a cruiseliner owned by the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

-based ferry operator

Tallink Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea ...

and operated under their

Silja Line Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company Tallink, AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja osakeyhtiö, O ...

brand. She was built by Aker Finnyards Helsinki New Shipyard in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

in 2008. The ship began service on the cruise route between Helsinki, Finland to

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

, Estonia on 17 August 2008. From 1 February 2013 the ship began service on the

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

–

Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in t ...

– Stockholm route.

Concept and construction

The ''Baltic Princess'' was ordered as Tallink's fourth new cruiseliner in December 2005. The purpose of the vessel was at the time undisclosed, but after Tallink's purchase of

in 2006 it was revealed that the ship would replace on the Tallinn–Helsinki cruise route. The ship was christened on March 6, 2008. The forward sections of the ship was constructed at Aker Yards'

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, Loire river ...

shipyard in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and was towed to Helsinki in April 2007. In September the section was towed into the drydock where the hull was completed. The ship was floated out of drydock in Helsinki on 9 March 2008 after being officially christened.

Service history

Baltic Princess was delivered to Tallink on 10 July 2008 and she entered the Tallinn–Helsinki route on 15 July 2008. On 2 February 2013, MS Baltic Princess entered the Turku–Åland–Stockholm service and was re-flagged from Estonia to Finland. She was replaced on the Tallinn–Helsinki service by Silja Europa.

References

External links

Tallink Silja official website

Tallink Silja official website for Baltic Princess
(in Finnish)
Baltic Princess at marinetraffic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltic Princess Ferries of Estonia Ships built in Helsinki Cruise ships 2008 ships Ships built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique