MS Silja Europa
The Silja Europa in Mariehamn, 2005
- Europe
IMO no. 8919805
The ferry Silja Europa is a Finnish shipping company Tallink Silja Oy.
With a survey of 59 912 gross tonnage the Silja Europa was at the time it enters service in 1993, the largest ferry in the world. Meanwhile, it is surpassed in this respect by the approximately 75,100 GT again significantly larger Color Magic. The Silja Europa was built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, is a ship in the ice class 1A Super. She was commissioned as a Europe of Rederi AB Slite, one of the then shipping the shipping company merger Viking Line.
To a takeover of some even painted already in Viking Line ferry Jumbo colors but no more came. The 1992 falling exchange rate of the Swedish krona had more expensive the ship for Rederi AB Slite abruptly by 500 million Swedish crowns.
When the shipping company also still lost a loan guarantee their bank, they could no longer pay the ferry and went in the following year 1993 finally bankrupt. The Meyer shipyard completed the ship under construction and registered it then, created solely for this purpose ferry Europe KB based in Mariehamn, Finland, a subsidiary of Papenburg ferry operator GmbH, in turn, the Meyer -Werft is involved. The ferry Europe KB then leased the ferry to the Viking Line rivals Silja Line as part of a long-term charter with purchase option.
The Silja Europa has since been used in Ostseefährverkehr, initially. Between Helsinki and Stockholm, then from 1995 on the route Turku -Stockholm via Mariehamn / Långnäs The regular stopover on Åland (Mariehamn and Långnäs ) has not only logistical reasons, but is also significant from a tax perspective: only with this stop, it is the shipping company allows tax-free to sell goods on board.
On the Silja Europa, there are numerous establishments such as bars, restaurants, disco, theater and a swimming pool with sauna. From 1993 to 1996 the world's first McDonald's restaurant was on the high seas to do so.
When the Estonia in September 1994 the Silja Europa was the first ship that received the distress call from the sinking ship. The former captain Esa Mäkelä referred the initial rescue operation, were involved in the ten ships from the immediate vicinity of the blast site.
After nearly 18 years of service between Stockholm and Turku, the Silja Europa was replaced after its last trip on this route January 20, 2013 from the Baltic Princess. Since 23 January 2013, the ferry now divides his time between Helsinki and its port of Tallinn.