MS ''Baltic Queen'' is a

cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while ot ...

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 ...

-based

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 ...

operator

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 ...

. The ship was built by the

STX Europe STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, was until 2012 a subsidiary of the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. With headquarters in Oslo, Norway, STX Europe operated 15 shipyards in Brazil, Finland, France, Norway, Romania and Vietnam. Th ...

shipyard in

Rauma, Finland Rauma (; ) is a town in Finland, on the western coast of the country. Rauma is in the Satakunta region, by the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Rauma is approximately , while the sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most p ...

Concept and construction

Initially known under the project name ''Cruise 5'', ''Baltic Queen'' was ordered from (what was then)

Aker Yards Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

shipyard in

in April 2007. She is a sister ship to , and and Tallink's fifth newbuilt cruiseferry. The ship's planned route was a mystery to the general public for a long time, until on 11 November 2008 Tallink revealed that she would be placed on the Tallinn–Stockholm service on completion. The ship was launched from drydock and officially named ''Baltic Queen'' on 5 December 2008. By this time the shipyard had been renamed

. Tallink took delivery of the ship on 16 April 2009.

Service history

''Baltic Queen'' entered service on the

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 ...

–

Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) 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 the city. It is mostly surrounded b ...

–

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 ...

route on 24 April 2009, replacing Tallink's first newbuilt ship , which was moved to the

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 ...

–Stockholm service. ''Baltic Queen''s Tallink Silja fleetmate encountered problems with her steering on 22 November 2009, and she had to be taken out of service for repairs. As a result, the ''Baltic Queen'' was moved to the

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

–Mariehamn–Stockholm service as a temporary replacement from 26 November until 11 December 2009. From 7 August 2014 the ship started sailing from Tallinn to Helsinki, because MS Silja Europa was chartered to an Australian company due to its high fuel costs. MS Baltic Queen was then replaced with MS Romantika on the Tallinn-Mariehamn-Stockholm line. At the end of 2018 once again it is on the

–

route.

References

External links

Tallink official website

Baltic Queen at marinetraffic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltic Queen Ferries of Estonia Ships built in Rauma, Finland Cruiseferries 2008 ships