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| Company type | Osakeyhtiö |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Helsinki,Finland |
Area served | Baltic Sea |
Key people | Taru Keronen (President and CEO) |
| Services | Passenger transportation Freight transportation |
| Website | www.eckeroline.fiwww.eckeroline.ee |
Eckerö Line is aFinnishshipping company owned by theÅland-basedRederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates two ferries betweenHelsinki (Finland) andTallinn (Estonia). Eckerö Line should not be confused with the similarly namedEckerö Linjen, also owned by Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö, which operates ferry services betweenBerghamn in the Åland Islands andGrisslehamn inSweden.
In 1992,Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö andBirka Line founded a jointly owned subsidiary,Eestin Linjat, to operate theMSAlandia on the fast-growing route between Helsinki and Tallinn. The name of the company was reportedly selected for practical reasons as it required the change of only a few letters to re-paint Eckerölinjen into Eestin Linjat (or vice versa). Similarly the livery of Eestin Linjat was very similar to that ofEckerö Linjen. However, due to the use of the word Eesti (Estonian for "Estonia") instead of theFinnish word Viro, the Finnish public presumed the new company was an Estonian one. This was made worse after theEstonia-disaster in 1994 when many people in Finland began associating Eestin Linjat withEstLine, owners of the ill-fated MSEstonia. As a result of this Eestin Linjat changed its name into Eckerö Line in 1995 (with the livery of the ships made identical to those of Eckerö Linjen). At the same time a second ship,MSApollo (a sister ship the Alandia and Eckerö Linjen's Roslagen) was added to the route.
In 1998 Eckerö Line acquired its first (and only) genuinecruiseferry,MSNordlandia which replaced both of the previous ships sailing on the route. The Nordlandia also brought with it a slight change in livery as thetypeface used in the ship's hull was changed from a heavyserif into a light, italicizedsans-serif. In May 2004 Eckerö Line purchased the freight/passenger ferryMSTranslandia as a second ship for the Helsinki–Tallinn route in response to the high demand for freight capacity after Estonia joined theEuropean Union.
In May 2019 it was confirmed that P&O had sold European Endeavour to Eckerö Line.[1] She was renamed MS Finbo Cargo and is to act as a complement to Eckerö's current vessel the Finlandia on the Helsinki to Tallinn Route commencing in June berthing at Vuosaari on the outskirts of Helsinki. She will join the service following another dry docking with an increased capacity of 366 passengers.
| Ship | Type | Built | Entered service | Gross tonnage | Passengers (max) | Vehicles | Knots | Route | Flag and home port | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS Finlandia | Cruiseferry | 2001 | 2012– | 36,365 GT | 2.080 | 27 | Helsinki –Tallinn |   Eckerö, Finland |  | |
| MS Finbo Cargo | Ro-Ro | 2000 | 2019– | 22,152 GT | 366 | 22,5 | Vuosaari –Muuga | Eckerö, Finland |  |
Ships that are still in use are marked in green.
| Ship | Built | In service | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS Apollo | 1970 | 1995–1999 | Scrapped in 2021. |
| MS Translandia | 1976 | 2004–2012 | Scrapped in 2014. |
| MS Nordlandia | 1981 | 1998–2013 | Since 2016 MSAlmariya forTrasmediterránea. |
