MS ''Vana Tallinn'' (''Old

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

'' in Estonian) was a cruiseferry owned by the

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

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

company

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

and operated on the line between

Kapellskär Kapellskär () is a port about north of Stockholm, in Sweden. It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County. Services The port was served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, operate ...

and

Paldiski Paldiski is a seaside Populated places in Estonia, town in northwestern Estonia, located on the Pakri Peninsula and adjacent Pakri Islands, Pakri islands in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. It is the administrative centre of the Lääne- ...

. She was built in 1974 by Aalborg Skibsværft AS,

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

for

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ''The United Steamship Company''). DFDS was founded in 1866, when Carl Frederik Tietgen, C.F. Tiet ...

as MS ''Dana Regina'', and has sailed under the names MS ''Nord Estonia'' and MS ''Thor Heyerdahl.''

History

The ''Dana Regina'' was ordered in 1969 by

, the oldest operational Danish shipping company. The ship was completed in 1974 and christened MS ''Dana Regina''. After a promotional cruise from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

via

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

she started scheduled service on the Harwich–Esbjerg route on 8 July 1974. In January 1977 the ship was rebuilt at

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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 ...

with an enlarged car capacity. In October 1983 the ''Dana Regina'' was transferred to

–

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

route. In June 1990, the ''Dana Regina'' was sold to Nordström & Thulin,

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 ...

, who renamed her MS ''Nord Estonia'' and used her to open a service between

and

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

under colours of their subsidiary EstLine. In 1993 the ''Nord Estonia'' was supplanted by larger tonnage (the ill-fated MS ''Estonia''), and she was chartered to Larvik Line who renamed her MS ''Thor Heyerdahl'' and used her on the

Larvik Larvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Larvik (town) ...

– Frederikshavn route between March and August 1993. The charter contract also included an option for Larvik Line to buy the ship, but they decided not to use it and at the end of the charter the ''Thor Heyerdahl'' was laid up in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. In May 1994 the ship was sold to Inreko, at the time one of the owners of

, who renamed her MS ''Vana Tallinn'' and placed her on the Helsinki–Tallinn route. Already in September 1994 a rift developed between Inreko and ESCO, the two owners of Tallink. As a result, Inreko withdrew from Tallink, and chartered the ''Vana Tallinn'' to ESCO who continued to operate her on the same route under the same name (from the passenger's point of view nothing changed, which has led to some confusing records from this time of the ship's history). Continuous disputes about the charter price of the ship led to breaking the charter agreement in November 1996, and in December of the same year Inreko founded TH Ferries, which began operating the ''Vana Tallinn'' on the Helsinki–Tallinn route in competition to Tallink. However, in January 1998 the ship was sold to Hansatee (now the owners of Tallink), and returned to Tallink's colours, still sailing on the same route under the same name. Tallink began modernising their fleet during the first years of the 21st century, and as new tonnage was delivered the ''Vana Tallinn'' was transferred to service between

(a port town near Tallinn) and

(a port town near

). On new year 2005/2006 the ship was chartered to make a special cruise from St. Petersburg to Tallinn. A year later she made a similar but more extensive cruise with the itinerary St. Petersburg–Helsinki–Stockholm–Tallinn–St Petersburg. After this cruise, on 10 January 2007, the ship was temporarily transferred back to Helsinki–Tallinn route to cover for the MS ''Meloodia'' (which had been chartered to

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) until the actual replacement MS ''Star'' was delivered in April 2007. After the delivery of ''Star'' the ''Vana Tallinn'' was transferred to Stockholm–

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

route, running parallel with MS ''Regina Baltica''. On 2 August 2008 the ''Vana Tallinn'' was replaced by on the Stockholm–Riga service. Subsequently the ''Vana Tallinn'' was laid up in Paljassaare, Tallinn until 1 October 2008, when she was reactivated as a freighter for the Paldiski–Kapellskär service. The freighter service was short however and the ship was laid up again in Estonian Kopli in April 2009. She was subsequently leased to Allferries in June 2011 for a 3-year contract in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and got name ''Adriatica Queen''. The ship was scrapped at Aliga, Turkey in 2014.

References

External links

Company website on Vana Tallinn

Vana Tallinn at marinetraffic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vana Tallinn 1973 ships Cruiseferries Ferries of Estonia Ships built in Aalborg