Tallink () 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 ...

n shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and

ropax 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, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

ships from Estonia to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, Estonia to

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 Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region.Tallink homepage
/ref> It owns Silja Line and a part of SeaRail. Tallink Hotels runs four hotels in

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It is also the co-owner of a taxi company Tallink Takso. It is a

publicly traded company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

, that is listed in Tallinn Stock Exchange. A major shareholder is an investment company AS Infortar, that also has ownership in several Tallink subsidiaries and a natural gas company Eesti Gaas.

History

Background

The history of the company known today as Tallink can be traced back to 1965, when the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-based Estonian Shipping Company (ESCO) introduced passenger ferry services between

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and Tallinn on . Regular around-the-year passenger ferry services began in 1968, on MS ''Tallinn'', which served the route until it was replaced by the new in 1980., retrieved 2007-11-02

1989–1992

In May 1989, ESCO formed a new subsidiary,

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

() Tallink, together with the Finnish Palkkiyhtymä Oy. In December of the same year, ESCO and Palkkiyhtymä purchased MS ''Scandinavian Sky'' from SeaEscape, and the ship began servicing the Helsinki–Tallinn route on 8 January 1990 as .Tallink official website: Company history
, retrieved 2007-11-02 During her first year in service the ''Tallink'' carried 166,000 passengers. Later in the same year the freighter joined the ''Tallink'' on the Helsinki–Tallinn route and Tallink was established as the name of the company as well as the main ship. At the same time ESCO still operated the ''Georg Ots'' in the same route, essentially competing with its own daughter company. This conflict was resolved in September 1991, when the ''Georg Ots'' was chartered to Tallink. In the early 1990s, passenger numbers on Helsinki–Tallinn traffic were steadily increasing, and during winters between 1992 and 1995, Tallink chartered from

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Pembr ...

to increase capacity on the route.

1993–2000

Tallink became a fully Estonian-owned company in 1993, when Palkkiyhtymä sold its shares of both the Tallink company and MS ''Tallink'' to ESCO. At this time, other companies were establishing themselves on the lucrative Helsinki–Tallinn traffic, including the Estonian New Line, owned by the Tallinn-based Inreko.FCBS Forum: Tallinkin, ESCO:n, Inrekon jne. suhteista
retrieved 2007-11-02 ESCO and Inreko saw no sense in competing with each other and in January 1994, Tallink and Inreko Laeva AS were merged into AS Eminre.FCBS Forum: Tallinkin, ESCO:n, Inrekon jne. suhteista
retrieved 2007-11-02 Tallink remained the marketing name for the company's fleet. Later in the same year Inreko purchased MS ''Nord Estonia'' from EstLine (a daughter company of ESCO and the Swedish Nordström & Thulin), renamed her and placed her in Helsinki–Tallinn traffic for Tallink., retrieved 2007-11-02 Inreko also brought with them two fast

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

s, HS ''Liisa'' and HS ''Laura'' which began serving under the Tallink Express brand. In 1994, Tallink also attempted traffic from Estonia to Germany for the first time, with two chartered ferries and that were placed on the route Helsinki–Tallinn– Travemünde. In September 1994, AS Eminre's operations were divided into two companies, one that took care of the traffic to Germany (which was soon closed down) and AS Hansatee which took the Helsinki–Tallinn traffic and the Tallink name. ESCO was the dominant partner in Hansatee, controlling 45% of the shares, whereas Inreko owned only 12.75% (the remaining 42.25% belonging to Eesti Ühispank, Estonia). In 1995, Hansatee brought the first large ferry into Helsinki–Tallinn traffic when they chartered MS ''Mare Balticum'' from EstLine and renamed her .Fakta om Fartyg: M/S Diana II av Slite (1979)
retrieved 2007-11-02 Following various disputes between ESCO and Inreko (most notably about the charter price of ''Vana Tallinn''), Inreko sold their shares of AS Hansatee to ESCO in December 1996. At the same time Inreko sold the Tallink Express hydrofoils to Linda Line, Estonia, and begun operating the ''Vana Tallinn'' on Helsinki–Tallinn traffic under the name TH Ferries. In 1997, a second large ferry was brought to Tallink's traffic when the company chartered from

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

. To replace the lost hydrofoils, Hansatee purchased a new express catamaran in May 1997, which was named . At this time it was clear that two large ferries were needed for traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn, and when the ''Normandy''s charter ended in December 1997, Tallink purchased MS ''Lion King'' from Stena Line, which entered traffic in February 1998 as .Fakta om Fartyg: M/S Turella (1979)
retrieved 2007-11-02 In July of the same year, Tallink purchased the freighter which opened a line from

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- ...

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 ...

, Tallink's first route to Sweden. In October, the original MS ''Tallink'', which no longer conformed modern safety regulations, was sold. Two months later Hansatee purchased their first fast ferry capable of carrying cars, .Fakta om Fartyg: HSC SuperSeaCat France (1996)
retrieved 2007-11-02

2000–2006

By the year 2000, ESCO had become the sole owner of EstLine, and in December 2000, EstLine's two ferries and were chartered to Hansatee, and the line between Tallinn 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 ...

began to be marketed as a part of Tallink. A few months earlier, in August 2000, Hansatee had ordered their first newbuild the 2,500-passenger cruiseferry from the Finnish

Aker Finnyards STX Finland Oy, formerly Aker Yards Oy, was a Finnish shipbuilding company operating three shipyards in Finland, in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma, employing some 2,500 people. It was part of STX Europe, a group of international shipbuilding compani ...

., retrieved 2007-11-02 This was the first ship in a new building programme that between 2001 and 2010, cost €1.2 billion. In June 2001, Tallink purchased ,, retrieved 2007-11-02 while next month, EstLine was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

. In 2002, AS Hansatee changed its name to AS Tallink Grupp, and in May of the same year, the company took delivery of the , which was placed on

–Tallinn traffic. In November of the same year, the classic ''Georg Ots'' was sold to the government of Russia. In 2004, three new ships joined Tallink's fleet, Fakta om Fartyg: HSC Pegasus Two (1997)
retrieved 2007-11-02 and
retrieved 2007-11-02 alongside the ''Romantika''s sister which was placed on Tallinn–

route, replacing MS ''Fantaasia'' which in turn started a new route from Helsinki to St. Petersburg via Tallinn. This route proved unprofitable and was terminated in January 2005. Later in 2005, Tallink ordered a sister ship of the to-be-delivered and a fast

ferry from

, retrieved 2007-11-02 as well as another

ferry from the

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

yard in Italy., retrieved 2007-11-02 On December 9, 2005, Tallink was listed at Tallinn Stock Exchange.

2006–present

In 2006, Tallink purchased the Baltic Sea operations of

Superfast Ferries Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopoulos, Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopoulos, Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 5 car-passenger fer ...

from

Attica Group Attica Holdings S.A. is an operator of international ferry services in Europe. Attica Group's operations include its subsidiaries Superfast Ferries, which began in 1995 with the launch of its first ships, Superfast I & Superfast II, and Blu ...

, opened a route between

and Stockholm (with MS ''Fantaasia'', which was within a month replaced by MS ''Regina Baltica'', retrieved 2007-11-02), took delivery of the new which replaced ''Romantika'' on the Tallinn–Helsinki route, transferred ''Romantika'' to the Tallinn–Stockholm route, and withdrew ''AutoExpress'' from service. A few months later, the company purchased the rival Finnish passenger line Silja Line from Sea Containers. The purchase of Superfast and Silja cost €780 million. In October 2006, the company expressed an interest in making an offer to operate ferries on the state-subsidized routes between the Swedish island of

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

and the Swedish mainland between 2009 and 2015. Baltic Princess leaving Tallinn

From the beginning of 2007, the former Superfast ships were moved under the Tallink brand and their route changed to Tallinn–Helsinki–

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 ...

., retrieved 2007-11-02, retrieved 2007-11-02, retrieved 2007-11-02 In April of the same year, Aker Yards delivered the fast cruiseferry MS ''Star'' that had been ordered in 2005. With the delivery of the ''Star'', ''Meloodia'' was 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 for ten months and later sold, while ''AutoExpress 3'' and ''AutoExpress 4'' were also withdrawn. During April 2007, Tallink also ordered a third ''Galaxy''-class cruiseferry from Aker Yards. Two new ships followed in 2008, with the fast cruiseferry delivered from Fincantieri and the second ''Galaxy''-class ship, , delivered from Aker Yards. Both ships were placed in service between Helsinki and Tallinn With the delivery of the former, the last AutoExpress fast craft, ''AutoExpress 2'', was withdrawn from Helsinki–Tallinn service. ''Baltic Princess'', meanwhile, replaced her sister ship ''Galaxy'', which was transferred to the fleet of Silja Line. With the arrival of ''Galaxy'' was left without employment in the Silja fleet, and she was in turn transferred to Tallink's fleet, joining ''Regina Baltica'' on the Riga–Stockholm service. In November 2008, , one of three ships purchased from Superfast Ferries in 2006, was chartered to the Canadian Marine Atlantic ferry operator for five years. In April 2009, Tallink took delivery of its last newbuilding (as of 2010), when was delivered STX Europe (the former Aker Yards). The new ship was placed on the Tallinn–Mariehamn–Stockholm service alongside ''Victoria I''. ''Romantika'', that had been ''Victoria I''s running mate since 2006, was in turn transferred to the Riga–Stockholm route, where she replaced ''Regina Baltica'' that was in turn chartered out to Acciona Trasmediterránea. In December 2009, it was reported that the company was struggling to repay its debts of €1.1 billion. The fiscal year ending in August resulted in an operating loss, and the company had to re-negotiate with its 15 funding banks debt repayment schedules for the years 2009–2011. The banks took a more controlling role in the company: it could no longer pay dividends, make investments, or sign new contracts without its creditors' approval. Tallink also had to pick up the pace in debt repayments if conditions were to improve, and had to look for options to sell or rent some of its ships. Most of its debts were incurred for purchasing Silja Line for €470 million and

for €310 million. In November 2009, due to the competitive pressure of larger rivals and higher fuel prices Tallink temporarily withdrew and from the Germany–Finland service. The ships spent the winter of 2009–2010 laid up in Kopli, before re-commencing service between Helsinki and Rostock in April 2010. In March 2011, it was confirmed that the and have been chartered to Stena Line for a period of three years, with the option to extend the charter for another year. Stena Line will use these ships for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

–

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

service. The vessels will be delivered after the end of the high season in August 2011. Until then they are operated on their current route by Tallink. The prospective charter will improve the result of these vessels so that they will be generating a profit. In February 2015, the company signed a building contract for the construction of its first

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

-fueled ship, the MS ''Megastar'' which began from January 2017, providing a six-times-a-day Tallinn–Helsinki–Tallinn service. In 2018, during the course of over 10,000 voyages the company carried 9.756 million passengers, 1.25 million vehicles and 384,958 cargo units. In 2019, the company carried 9.763 million passengers and 385,000 cargo units. In 2019, Tallink reached a franchise agreement with a global fast-food company,

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

to open restaurants in Estonia,

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 ...

, and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and according to the agreement, Tallink will have exclusive rights for running Burger King eateries in the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

for 20 years. The company plans to open the first restaurant in each Baltic state in the first half of 2020. The enlargement of Burger King will employ around 800 people in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In late 2018 Tallink ordered its second

-fueled ship the MS MyStar, it was supposed to be completed by the end of 2019, but was delayed due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. In December 2020, Tallink made its last trip from Riga, the capital of Latvia. It was sailed by the ship MS Victoria I from

. In April 2022, relations with Tallink ships will cease to operate in Latvia. On December 10, 2022, the new MS Mystar arrived in

and started

route on December 13, eventually replacing MS Star which was chartered for 20 months to

and renamed to MS Oscar Wilde.

Controversies

Ignored man overboard

In April 2006, Tallink's ferry , en route from Tallinn to Stockholm, ignored when multiple passengers reported that a passenger had fallen overboard. The crew refused to stop the ship to search for the passenger and the 21-year-old Estonian male perished in the incident. Tallink later accepted no responsibility for the accident, emphasizing that none of the passengers confirmed actually seeing the man falling overboard or in the water.Expressen: ''Tallinks vd: "Det är kaptenen som tar besluten"''
retrieved 2007-08-23

Fleet

Current fleet

On charter

Former vessels

Ships that are still in use are marked in green.

Terminals

Tallink has six terminals, of which two are in Estonia, two in Sweden and two in Finland. D-terminal Port of Tallinn

Estonia * Tallinn: D-terminal. Served by Tallinn bus lines 20 and 20A * Paldiski: Paldiski South Harbour Finland * Helsinki: West Harbour. Served by Helsinki tram lines 7 and 9. * Mariehamn: Västra Hamnen. Served by the Mariehamn city bus. Sweden * Stockholm: Värtahamnen. * Kapellskär:

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Official site
(Swedish)
History of ESCO, EstLine and Tallink
by Joni Huopana (Finnish) {{Members of Tallink Grupp AS Ferry companies of Estonia Companies based in Tallinn Shipping companies of the Soviet Union 1989 establishments in Estonia Companies established in 1989 Estonian brands Companies listed on Nasdaq Tallinn Companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Companies in the OMX Tallinn Companies in the OMX Baltic 10