After 16 pandemic months, Tallink re-opened the Tallinn – Stockholm cruise ferry route on Friday, 9 July. Initially, the route is operated with MS Baltic Queen, departing Tallinn and Stockholm every other day respectively.

Although the route was re-opened to the public on 9 July, Tallink operated a special cruise to Stockholm which departed Tallinn on Wednesday, 7 July. Onboard were invited cooperation partners and employees of Tallink who thus got the first opportunity to cruise again and help to wake up MS Baltic Queen from a long slumber. focus – the magazine of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Estonia, was among the invited passengers and could enjoy a fantastic cruise in beautiful summer weather.

The special cruise started with a welcome reception in Baltic Queen’s Starlight Palace with speeches by this voyage’s Captain of the ship, Tallink Grupp’s CEO Paavo Nõgene, Tallink Grupp’s Chairman of the Supervisory Board Enn Pant, and Sweden’s Ambassador to Estonia Mikael Eriksson.

- When we temporarily suspended the Tallinn - Stockholm cruise ferry route on 14 March 2020, we never thought it would take us nearly a year and a half to restore this route. Nothing is as good as a direct connection, so I am very pleased that the improvement of the pandemic situation and the progress with the vaccinations, has now reached a point where travel between Tallinn and Stockholm can become a reality. MS Baltic Queen, as well as all our other vessels, provide sufficient opportunities for social distancing together with extremely strict hygiene and disinfecting procedures on board, said Paavo Nõgene.

Our first evening onboard included a very nice and cozy dinner, as well as a visit to Baltic Queen’s Sea Pub to follow the European Championship football match between Denmark and England (as most already know, England won that match, but lost to Italy in the final).

“The Queen of the Baltic Sea is back! After a long break, the Baltic Queen finally returned to Stockholm. Now the long-awaited traffic starts between Tallinn and our summer capital. Wonderful to see her again and that the traffic restarts - warm, warm welcome,“ commented the Ports of Stockholm our Thursday morning, 8 July, arrival at Värtahamnen.

Following a warm and sunny day in downtown Stockholm, we headed back to Tallinn on Thursday evening. The fantastic summer weather followed us all the way back and I must say that few things beat a sunset in the Stockholm archipelago.

On behalf of the SCCE, I wish Tallink and MS Baltic Queen all the very best with the re-opened traffic between our two countries’ capital cities.

Sincerely,

Kristiina Brodén - SCCE Ombudsman