''TS Laevad'' ("TS Ships") is an

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 which operates two routes between the Estonian mainland and the islands of

Hiiumaa Hiiumaa ( , ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within ...

and

Muhu Muhu (also called Muhumaa in Estonian) is an island in the West Estonian archipelago of the Baltic Sea. With an area of , it is the third largest island belonging to Estonia, after Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Together with neighbouring smaller i ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Muhu is connected by a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

to Estonia's largest island,

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

.Praamid.ee. (Official website of TS Laevad OÜ).
/ref> The company is a fully owned

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the

Port of Tallinn Port of Tallinn () is the biggest port authority in Estonia. Taking into account both cargo and passenger traffic, it is one of the largest port enterprises of the Baltic Sea. Port of Tallinn is a publicly listed company managing five constitue ...

(),Port of Tallinn. ''The subsidiary company of Port of Tallinn, TS Laevad OÜ, has published a call for tenders to purchase ferries.''
/ref> which is in turn 70 percent owned by the Estonian state. The state subsidises the ferry routes with a sum of over €20 million per annum.ERR News. ''Ministry plans to buy up majority of island ferries.''
/ref> The company operates five

ice class Ice class refers to a notation assigned by a classification society or a national authority to denote the additional level of strengthening as well as other arrangements that enable a ship to navigate through sea ice. Some ice classes also have ...

ferries, four of which were purpose-built for TS Laevad.

Routes

Two routes across the

Väinameri The Väinameri (Estonian language, Estonian for ''Strait Sea'' or ''Sea of Straits''; ) or Väinameri Sea is a strait and sub-bay of the Baltic Sea, located between the West Estonian Archipelago and the Estonian mainland, within western Estonia. ...

are operated by TS Laevad.

History

Contract period 2016–2026

''TS Laevad'' replaced the previous operator, '' SLK'', on 1 October 2016 after submitting a

public procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the purchase of goods, works (construction) or services by the state, such as by a government agency or a state-owned enterprise. In 2019, public procurement accounted for approximately 12% of GDP ...

bid 64 million euros less than its predecessor. It was originally contracted to operate the routes until 30 September 2026.ERR News. ''Economic affairs minister applies for long-term island bridge link plan.''
/ref> As none of ''TS Laevads new ferries were delivered in time for the start of the company's contract, three vessels from Vjatšeslav Leedo's Saaremaa Shipping Company (''SLK'') were chartered as an interim solution. The

Sefine Shipyard Sefine Shipyard () is located in Yalova Province, Turkey. It builds a wide variety of ships, including tugboats, fireboats, passenger/car ferries and well boats. Overview Sefine Shipyard, which is owned by the Sefine Denizcilik Tersanecilik Turiz ...

in Turkey and the

Remontowa Remontowa (full name: Gdańska Stocznia "Remontowa” im. Józefa Piłsudskiego S.A.) is a company and shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. The yard specialises in ship repair and conversions. ''Remontowa S.''A. is one of 26 companies that make up the Re ...

shipyard in Poland paid ''TS Laevad'' a total of nearly €11 million in late fees. All four new ferries were in service by the end of April 2017. In 2019 the ferry Tõll had batteries installed which were expected to reduce the vessel's diesel consumption by 20%. It thus became the first hybrid passenger vessel in Estonia. In 2022, the company's ferries carried a total of 2.3 million passengers and 1.1 million vehicles. 72 percent of total passengers sailed on the Saaremaa route, with the remainder on the Hiiumaa route. The busiest month was July, with 394,000 passengers. The least busy month was February, with 96,000 passengers. All five ferries have an onboard shop operated by R-Kiosk Estonia AS. In addition, the four larger ferries have a "Take Off" restaurant operated by ''Baltic Restaurants Estonia AS.''

Contract period 2026–2033

In April 2024, TS Laevad won a public tender to operate the Saaremaa and Hiiumaa routes from 1 October 2026 until September 2033. The company was the only bidder in the tender. Under the terms of the new contract the company's profits will be capped, after concerns on the islands of seemingly excessive profits.ERR News. ''TS Laevad island ferry profits to be capped.''
/ref>

Incidents and disruptions to service

On 28 July 2017, the ferry Tiiu struck the seabed twice and sustained hull damage en route from Rohuküla to Heltermaa. The incident was caused by a controls failure on autopilot. While Tiiu underwent repairs at

Turku Repair Yard Turku Repair Yard Ltd (; ) is a Finnish ship repair company. Its premises are situated in Luonnonmaa island, Naantali. The company has focused on repairing of ships and boats. Turku Repair Yard is a part of Estonian BLRT Grupp. Premises Th ...

in Finland she was replaced by the chartered ''Hiiumaa'' for a period of six weeks. In the spring of 2018 ferry services to Hiiumaa were periodically suspended due to low water levels in the Väinameri. The minister responsible,

Kadri Simson Kadri Simson (née Must, born 22 January 1977) is an Estonian politician, formerly from the Centre Party, who served as the European Commissioner for Energy in the von der Leyen Commission between 2019 and 2024. Early life Simson graduated fr ...

, blamed the cancellations on inadequate

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

in the Rukki Channel, through which ferries pass between Rohuküla and Heltermaa. From mid-March to early May in 2020, TS Laevad reduced the frequency of its services due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Travel to the islands was restricted to residents only, and the number of passengers reduced by 92 percent compared to the previous year. On 22 July 2021 Tõll collided with the berth at Kuivastu Harbour causing damage to the berth, the ferry and some vehicles on board including that of Estonian president

Kersti Kaljulaid Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonia, Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021, and was its first and only female head of state since the country declared independence in 1918. S ...

. Tõll was out of service for over two weeks during the peak summer season causing queues of up to two hours. The company stated that the collision was caused by a technical failure resulting in a loss of engine power as the ferry approached the berth.

Future developments

The Ministry of Regional Affairs stated its intention to introduce new environmentally friendly vessels on the routes from 2033. The Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs is assessing the option of building a bridge or tunnel connection between the mainland and Muhu across the

Suur Strait Suur Strait () is a strait in Estonia, it is located between Muhu and the Estonian mainland. The strait (being itself part of Väinameri) connects Väinameri and Gulf of Riga. Several islets are located in the strait: e.g. Papirahu, Kesselaid, K ...

. It is expected to be determined by 2026 whether a bridge, tunnel or continued ferry operation will be the preferred option.Postimees Majandus. ''Sild, tunnel või parvlaevad – selgus Suure väina püsiühenduse osas saabub 2026. aastaks.''
/ref>