Estonian shipper Tallink moved its ro-ro vessel Sea Wind from her current Turku-Långnäs-Stockholm route to the growing Finland-Estonia service on 8January. Tallink said its cruise ferries, Galaxy and Baltic Princess, have capacity to meet demand from Finland’s west coast city to the Swedish capital, and both call in at Åland on their twice-daily crossover sailings at Mariehamn (daytime) and Långnäs (at night).
Sea Wind was built in Helsingør, Denmark, in 1972 and is the last of three ro-ro ships that sailed under the Seawind Line established in 1998 by Silja Line as its rail-wheeled cargo service. Star Wind was sold in 2005 and Sky Wind in 2007 as rail traffic fell. Sea Wind stopped carrying rail freight in 2010 and passengers two years earlier, when Seawind Line was merged into Tallink.
Now Sea Wind will sail from Helsinki’s Vuosaari Harbour to Tallinn’s Old City Harbour, making the return crossing twice a day, taking 3½ hours. The 15,587gt Sea Wind has capacity for up to 1,000 lane metres and can take 119 drivers, with accommodation for 98 in cabins. Her four MaK 8M453AK diesel engines produce up to 7.36Mw. JP
