MS ''RG I'' ( IMO 8306577) was a passenger/cargo ship which was last owned by the Finnish

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

RG Line RG Line Oy Ab was a Finnish shipping company founded in 2001 that operated a ferry line between Vaasa, Finland and Umeå, Sweden until the end of 2012. Nowadays the Vaasa-Umeå line is operated by Wasa Line. The company was founded in 2001 by ...

. The ship was a

ro-ro Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ship. The ship was built in 1983 at the VEB Mathias Thesen Werft shipyard in

Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. The ship had a .M/S KAHLBERG
Fakta om Fartyg. Accessed on 6 July 2013. ''RG I'' was last registered in Finland and its homeport was in

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Kvarken Kvarken ( (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Sweden, Swedish mainland to the Mainland Finland, Finnish ...

between Vaasa, Finland and

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

, Sweden up to 2012. The travel time was four hoursRG Line - Lyhin meritie Ruotsiin
, Visit Sweden - Sweden's official travel site. Accessed on 2 February 2008. and the ship used Finnish time. The ship carried 300 passengers. ''RG I'' was sold to the Danish company Fornaes Shipbreaking in 2013. Sister ships of MS ''RG I'' are MS ''Caribbean Carrier'', MS ''Ile de Ire'', MS ''Fast Independence'' and MS ''Lodbrog''.

Usage history

1983-2003

The ship was launched on 23 November 1982 and it was transferred to VEB Deutfracht/Seereederei GmbH on 31 October 1983, who registered it under the flag of

. Its homeport was in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

. The ship was named ''Kahleberg'' at the time. On 18 June 1990 the ship was registered under Deutsche Seereederei GmbH under the flag of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In August 1991 ''Kahleberg'' went to the Warnowwerft shipyard in Rostock, where the number of her cabins increased from 12 to 50. On 2 January 1992 the ship was moved to TT-Line GmbH's traffic between

Trelleborg Trelleborg () is a town in Skåne County, Sweden, with 43,359 inhabitants as of 31 December 2015. It is the southernmost town in Sweden located some west from the Smygehuk, southernmost point of Sweden and the Scandinavian Peninsula. It is one ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and Rostock, Germany. On 1 January 1994 ''Kahleberg'' was registered under Euroseabridge Schiffahrtsgesellschaft. In February 1997 the ship moved under the flag of

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. Its homeport was in the nation's capital in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

. After the change of flag the ship moved to traffic between Rostock and

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. On 13 May 1997 the ship moved to Euroseabridge's traffic between

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...

, Germany and Liepāja, Latvia. In April 1999 the ship returned to traffic between Rostock and Liepāja. In February 2000 ''Kahleberg'' was moved to Amber Line's traffic between Liepāja and

Karlshamn Karlshamn () is a locality and the seat of Karlshamn Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden. It had 13,576 inhabitants in 2015, out of 31,846 in the municipality. Karlshamn received a Royal Charter and city privileges in 1664, when King Charles ...

, Sweden. On 29 March 2003 the ship's loading company changed when the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

company Polferries started using it to traffic between

Świnoujście Świnoujście (; ; ; meaning " Świna ivermouth"; ) is a city in Western Pomerania and seaport on the Baltic Sea and Szczecin Lagoon, in the extreme north-west of Poland, mainly on the islands of Usedom and Wolin, and Karsibór island, once ...

, Poland and

Ystad Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...

, Sweden.

2004-2013

On 23 November 2004 the Finnish shipping company RG Line bought the ship. On 29 December ''Kahleberg'' moved to Vaasa for repairs after discontinuing Polferries traffic a few days ago. On 18 January 2005 the ship was registered under the flag of Finland. Its new homeport was in Vaasa. After this the ship started traffic between Vaasa and Umeå. On 23 April the ship was rented for one voyage between Vaasa and

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

, Sweden. From 30 June to 6 August ''Kahleberg'' made one voyage per week between Vaasa and Sundsvall. On 1 July 2005 the ship was renamed MS ''RG I''. In November the ship had technical problems for two times. The ship had technical problems again on 18 July 2006, which caused her departure from Vaasa to be cancelled. There were five cases of technical problems in December, causing the departures to be either postponed or cancelled. The ship had technical problems again on 6 February 2007, causing her to be late for several hours. The ship was in traffic for the last time on 30 December 2012, after which she remained in Vaasa awaiting transfer. In February 2013 the ship was towed to

Grenå Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Denmark, Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal ...

, Denmark, and was scrapped in May.Laivaharrastajat: RG 1 -laivan purkaminen alkoi Tanskassa
Ilkka.fi. Accessed on 2 October 2013.

References

External links

at Fakta om Fartyg
MS ''RG I''
at The ferry site
RG Line
{{DEFAULTSORT:RG I Ferries of Finland Merchant ships of Finland Ships built in Wismar 1982 ships