Silja Line is a Finnish shipping company and cruiseferry brand owned and operated by the Estonian shipping company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden.
The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is, since 2006, a subsidiary of AS Tallink Grupp, handling marketing and sales for Tallink and Silja Line brands in Finland as well as managing Tallink Silja's ship employees. Another subsidiary, Tallink Silja AB, handles marketing and sales in Sweden. Strategical corporate management is performed by Tallink Grupp which also own the ships.Tallink corporate structure , retrieved 2009-01-12
As of 2009, four ships service two routes under the Silja Line brand, transporting about three million passengers and 200,000 cars every year.Tallink annual report 2006/2007, retrieved 2008-09-08 The Silja Line ships have a market share of around 50 percent on the two routes served.
The Silja Line logo features the text Silja Line and a figure of a seal.Tallink Silja kiistää: Hylkeen hymyä ei hyydytetty, Taloussanomat 8 May 2012. Since 2014, the figure of the seal has been smiling.Lehdistötilaisuus m/s Silja Symphonylla 2.9.2014, Valkeat laivat 2 September 2014. The famous theme tune heard in Silja Line's television commercials comes from the tune "Un homme et une femme" ("A man and a woman") by the French film composer Francis Lai.Leinonen, Pauliina: Tiesitkö, mistä Silja Linen ikimuistoinen tunnari on peräisin?, Ilta-Sanomat 19 May 2017. Accessed on 24 July 2022.
History 1904–1957 The history of Silja Line can be traced back to 1904, when two Finnish shipping companies, Finland Steamship Company (, FÅA for short) and Steamship Company Bore, started collaborating on Finland–Sweden traffic. The initial collaboration agreement was terminated in 1909, but re-established in 1910. After World War I in 1918, a new agreement was made that also included the Swedish Rederi AB Svea. Originally the collaboration agreement applied only on service between Turku and Stockholm, but it was also applied to the Helsinki–Stockholm route in 1928. As a precursor to the policies later adopted by Silja Line, each of the three companies ordered a near-identical ship for Helsinki–Stockholm service to coincide with the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki. Eventually only Finland SS Co.'s was ready in time for the Olympics.Malmberg & Stampehl (2007): page 246 At this time the city of Helsinki constructed the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki's South Harbour, which Silja Line's ships still use. Valkeat laivat: Matkustajaliikenteen vaiheita , retrieved 9 October 2007
1957–1970 Realising that car-passenger ferries would be the dominant traffic form in the future, the three collaborating companies decided to form a daughter company, /. Valkeat laivat: Siljavarustamo perustetaan , retrieved 9 October 2007 The new company started out with used ships, which were not particularly well-fitted for the role they were meant for, but in 1961 Silja took delivery of the new , the first purpose-built car-passenger ferry in the northern Baltic Sea. Skandias sister followed the next year and the era's giant in 1966. Valkeat laivat: Uusia laivoja, uusia linjoja , retrieved 9 October 2007 Two more ships based on the Skandia design, and , were delivered in 1967 and 1970 respectively.
Despite the establishment of Silja, FÅA, Bore and Svea also continued to operate on the same routes with their own ships. This led to a somewhat complex situation where four different companies were marketed as one entity. In Finland they went by the name ('Sweden's Ships' or 'Ships to Sweden') whereas in Sweden the preferred terms were (roughly 'the ones that sail together'), ('Finland's Ships') or ('Sweden Ships'). In both countries the names of all four companies were usually displayed alongside the group identity.Malmberg & Stampehl (2007): page 108
1970–1980 In 1967, three of Silja's rival companies had formed a joint marketing and coordination company, Viking Line, which was to become Silja Line's main rival for the next two decades.vikingline.fi: "40 Years of Ferry Service", retrieved 9 October 2007 FÅA, Bore and Svea soon realised that a similar arrangement would be preferable to their current fragmented image, and in 1970 a big change was carried out within the organisations: Silja Line was established as a joint marketing and coordination company between FÅA, Bore and Svea, and the ships of Siljavarustamo were divided between these three. All Silja Line ships were painted in the same colour scheme, with a white hull and superstructure, with Silja Line and the seal's head logo on the side in dark blue. Valkeat laivat: Ympäri vuoden Helsingistä , retrieved 9 October 2007 Each company retained their own funnel colours, so it was easy to distinguish which ship belonged to which company even from a distance: Svea's funnels were white with a large black S, FÅA's were black with two white bands, and Bore's were yellow with a blue/white cross.
Already before the reorganisation Silja had ordered two new ships from Dubigeon-Normandie S.A. of Nantes to begin year-round service between Helsinki and Stockholm (until then the route was summers only). In 1972, these were delivered to FÅA and Svea as and , respectively. Passenger numbers on the Helsinki route grew fast and already in 1973 it was decided that the three companies would each order a ship of identical design from the same shipyard to replace the current Helsinki–Stockholm ships. These were delivered in 1975, first and MS Wellamo, followed by in December. However, winter passenger numbers were insufficient for three ships, and as a result Bore Star was chartered to Finnlines during the winters of 1975–76 and 1976–77. In 1976 Finland SS Co changed its name to Effoa (the Finnish phonetic spelling of FÅA). Valkeat laivat: Svea, FÅA ja Bore , retrieved 9 October 2007 During the latter part of the 1970s Effoa's old ferries and cruised the Baltic, Norwegian fjords and the Atlantic (from Málaga) under the marketing name Silja Cruises.
1980–1986 In 1979, Svea and Effoa decided again to order new ships for the Helsinki–Stockholm route, which would be the largest ferries of their time. Bore, however, decided not to participate in building new ships, and in 1980 opted to bow out of passenger traffic altogether (Bore Line still exists as a freight-carrying company). Their two ships were sold to Effoa and their shares of Silja Line split between the two other companies. In Finland, and later in Sweden, a large maritime strike in spring 1980 stopped ferry traffic completely and prompted Effoa to terminate the Silja Cruises service. Valkeat laivat: Valkeat kaunottaret saapuvat , retrieved 9 October 2007
Despite the difficulties Silja's first real cruiseferries, and , entered service in 1981, which led to a 45% raise in passenger numbers. Late in the same year Johnson Line purchased Rederi AB Svea, and the former Svea ships received Johnson Line's blue/yellow colours. The good experiences with the new Helsinki ships prompted Effoa and Johnson Line to order two ships built on a similar principle for traffic on the Turku–Stockholm route, which were delivered in 1985 and 1986 as and . Although similar in proportions and interior layout, the new ships sported an attractive streamlined superstructure instead of the box-like superstructure of Finlandia and Silvia Regina.
1987–1992 1987 was a very eventful year for Silja. Effoa had purchased the famously fast the previous year and from the beginning of 1987 the prestigious but unprofitable "Queen of the Baltic Sea" joined Silja Line's fleet. Later in the same year Effoa and Johnson Line jointly purchased Rederi Ab Sally, one of the owners of their rival Viking Line. The other Viking Line partners forced the new owners to sell their share in Viking, but Effoa and Johnson Line retained Vaasanlaivat / Vasabåtarna, Sally Cruises, Sally Ferries UK and Commodore Cruise Line. Although the purchase of Sally had no effect on Silja Line's traffic for the time being, it proved to be important later. Finally, 1987 saw another order of new ships for the Helsinki–Stockholm route, which would again be the largest ferries ever built, eventually named and . Not revealed at the time, the new ships had a 140-meter promenade-street running along the center of the ship, a feature never seen before in a ship, but by the first decade of the 21st century commonly found on Royal Caribbean International's and Color Line's newer ships.
In late 1989, Wärtsilä Marine, the shipyard building Silja's new cruiseferries, went bankrupt, which led to the ships being delivered later than had been planned. To ensure the delivery of their ferries Effoa and Johnson Line both purchased a part of the new Masa-Yards established to continue shipbuilding in Wärtsilä's former shipyards.
The year 1990 saw the realisation of an old vision: Effoa and Johnson Line merged to form EffJohn. As a result, the seal's head logo replaced the colours of each individual owner company on the funnel. In November, the new MS Silja Serenade made its maiden voyage from Helsinki to Stockholm, approximately seven months after the original planned delivery date. MS Silja Symphony was delivered the following year. Although popular and sporting a successful design, the new ships had been very expensive. This expense, coupled with the depression in the early 1990s, forced EffJohn to cut costs, which resulted in Wasa Line and Sally Cruises being merged into Silja Line in 1992. Also in 1992, Svea and Wellamo were modernised and renamed Silja Karneval and Silja Festival, respectively. Valkeat laivat: Loistoristelijöiden ja tappiovuosien aikakausi , retrieved 9 October 2007
1993–2006 The year 1993 began with a bang. In January it was reported that Silja Line had chartered , a ship under construction for Rederi AB Slite, one of the owners of Viking Line. Because of financial troubles Slite could not pay for their new ship, and the shipyard decided to charter it to Silja instead. Later in the same year Silja joined forces with Euroway on their Malmö–Travemünde–Lübeck route. The route proved unprofitable and was terminated in spring 1994.
was grounded outside Helsinki in spring 1994 and suffered major damage, which prompted Silja to give up traffic on her. September 1994 saw the largest peace-time maritime disaster on the Baltic Sea, the sinking of . Silja Europa, Silja Symphony and Finnjet all assisted in searching for survivors from the disaster. Silja Festival was berthed opposite Estonia in Tallinn the day before the sinking,Estonia Final Report: The Departure, archived on 2008-02-07 but she was in Helsinki when Estonia sank and did not come to her assistance. The Estonia sinking led to passenger numbers dropping, which did not help Silja's precarious financial situation. The company was now the largest on the Baltic Sea, having finally overtaken Viking Line in 1993, but financially it was not doing well. In 1995, Effjohn changed their name to Silja Oy Ab. Three years later the name was changed again, this time to Neptun Maritime.
In 1999, Silja faced two big changes. Tax-free sales ended on routes between EU countries, which forced the Helsinki–Stockholm ships to start calling at Mariehamn in Åland, whose autonomous status within Finland allowed them to stay outside the EU tax union after the country joined the EU in 1994 and so avoid the end of tax-fee sales. A bigger change was Sea Containers purchasing the majority of Neptun Maritime's shares. In 2000, the new owners brought one of their Super SeaCats into service on the Helsinki–Tallinn route and Neptun Maritime again changed its name, this time to Silja Oyj Abp. In the same year the route between Vaasa and Umeå was terminated as unprofitable. Valkeat laivat: Uudet tuulet puhaltavat , retrieved 9 October 2007