Silja Line Finnjet To Louisiana

It is reported that Silja Line's GTS FINNJET has been chartered for use by Louisiana State University Medical Center and will be docked in Baton Rouge. The world's fastest ferry departs Rostock, Germany tomorrow (Sep 20th) and is expected to arrive Baton Rouge on Oct. 2nd.

Details at: http://www.finnjetweb.com/en/

Would love to see it make a refueling stop at Port Canaveral, but no stops are indicated.

BobK/Orlando

Hi Bobk

Im a hugh Finnjet fan from UK, having done many trips onboard her in the Baltic.

I am pleased to see the US is now discovering the legendary fastest ferry in the world!

Im here on a begging mission today, myself and the chaps on www.finnjetweb.com are desperate for photos of the vessel in Baton Rouge and indeed her Atlantic crossing, also any info or details of her stay would be very welcome. feel free to email me.

Many thanks paularai

Hi,

Last thing I heard (sorry, I forgot the source of this information) is that the city of Baton Rouge said they don´t have the docking facilities for such a big ship. This sounded like a weird excuse as ocean going vessels are going up to Baton Rouge. It´s true that Baton Rouge is no cruise ship port and doesn´t have facilities for big cruise ships. Don´t know if the Finnjet has arrived or not.

Maybe you can see something on the BR webcams:

http://www.instacam.com/showcam.asp?id=PRTAL&size=S (this one usually shows the riverfront of Baton Rouge)

http://www.2theadvocate.com/traffic/tower.shtml (showing the I-10 bridge)

http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=463020&nav=0aWV8Shg8g7A

steamboats

Thanks for links, web cam of the bridge seems to show Finnjet, just a little blurry right now, however i have seen a daytime shot on Finnjetweb so shes definatly there.

Actually i have seen a most amusing picture of her in Freeport, Bahamas, somehow seems funny with the palm trees infront of an ice breaker ferry!

www.onlyfree.de/cgi-bin/forenserver2/foren/F-1035/cutecast.pl?

www.tesomankatu.net/jettikierros/

Paularai,

The Finnjet has arrived in Baton Rouge yesterday:

http://2theadvocate.com/stories/100605/new_keepschool001.shtml

steamboats

The Finnjet website also published this photo from the Channel 2 webcam of WBRZ-TV, Baton Rouge, showing the Finnjet at the Port Allen dock in Baton Rouge, adjacent the Interstate 10 Bridge over the Mississippi River.

I was disappointed to learn GTS Finnjet visited Freeport instead of Nassau. Nassau was too far for me to travel but had I known she was going Freeport, I would have taken a day trip over to get photos. Unfortunately I'm in Florida and have no plans to go to Louisiana at this time. However, we can expect the ship to be docked there for many months.

My experience with GTS Finnjet was in 1993 on the Travemünde to Helsinki route in a Tourist Class cabin. Even though it was very small and crowded, it is a very fond memory and I still have a picture on my wall with us in the cabin. Long live the Finnjet. Welcome to America!

BobK/Orlando

Hello

I am impressed, you have travelled on Finnjet. In 1993 she was indeed on the Travemunde - Helsinki route the very route she was specificaly built for, the high speed was to achive a turn around every 24 hours, conventional ferries took almost 36 hours.

She transferred to the Rostock - Tallin - Helsinki route at the end of the 90's and in 2003 Rostock - Tallin - St Petersberg.

I dont think America has many ferry fans, I guess away from the great lakes there are not many suitable routes.

Ah tourist class, they are quite small. For the last three trip i took, and now I earn a little more money I treated myself to Commodore class, as you know these are on the top deck (previously as built the sun deck) they were a little larger with proper beds a dedicated retaurant, lounge and small sun deck below the radr mast.

My only experience of cruise ships to date is my trip from Southampton - New York in May 2004 on the QM2 which was mind blowing crossing the Atlantic.

Maybe and this now appears to be a long shot, if she returns to Europe you can catch her in freeport if she refuels there.

Im still hoping that there are forum members in the arrea who will take some nice photos.

Paularai, we don't have many cruise ferrys in the United States. The only cruise ferry operations I can think of are the very old "Badger" operates on Lake Michigan (www.ssbadger.com), Discovery operates the "Discovery Sun" (I believe formerly Scandinavian Sun) on the Fort Lauderdale to Freeport, Bahamas route (www.discoverycruiseline.com) and the famous Scotia Prince (www.scotiaprince.com) operates Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. (Not this year, season cancelled) Also, Marine Atlantique operates from Nova Scotia up to Newfoundland. (www.marine-atlantic.ca) And of course up in Alaska there are a number of routes. So Americans have no experience with cruise ferrys unless they've been to Europe.

QM2.....must have been a wonderful experience. After you've traveled on a ship like that, the Finnjet pales in comparison!

Yes, perhaps some viewers from Louisiana can get some pictures.

BobK/Orlando

Bob, Thanks i will look these boats up.

Yes the QM2 is something else but she was only 4 months old so she had no real soul yet, but what an impressive vessel, i was impressed by the sheer scale although its not to every ones taste, I love the liner hull but am not so keen on the superstructure (with the exception on the front) also i hate the stubby funnel, it looks wrong but i know this is out of necessity to enter New York.

Finnjet i am afraid is a 16 year obsession, possibly uncureable, the rot set in as a 16 year old.

She may only be a ferry but is extreamly instrumental in the propulsion plants appearing on many model cruise ships including the QM2, the CODAG combined Gas Turbine and Deisel Electric machinery, in 1977 way ahead of the others.

Incidentally Silja line brought in another first before the cruise ship industry, the full length mall in 1990 (correct me if i am wrong!!) on the Silja Symphony/Serenade sisters.

I hope to do another transatlantic next year, me and 3 friends are hoping to do a roadtrip form New York to LA, arriving by boat would be superb.

We followed our Finnjet sailing with the Helsinki to Stockholm run on Silja Symphony. So we have visited the inside promenade on a ship a decade before Royal Caribbean introduced it on the Voyager of the Seas. I know both the Silja Symphony and Silja Serenade were built in Finland, as were the Voyager-class ships. So I presume the indoor mall idea was a Finnish idea.

Road trip NY to LA.....sounds like an incredible journey!

BobK/Orlando

You can add my name to that of the (very) short list of North American FINNJET fans. (I might add that Paul is surely one of a small group of UK FINNJET fans; we are all in the minority not being from the Baltic region and in particular her traditional fan bases in Finland and Germany.)

Never sailed in her, but I have always been interested in ferries as well as liners and cruise ships, and FINNJET is one of my favorite ferries.

So, a hearty welcome to FINNJET - maybe she'll earn a few more fans on this side of the pond!

Im finding it facinating with fans coming out of the wood work! it will be interesting to see how many will have come forward by the end of the charter.

There is much debate on finnjetweb about her future after the charter (assuming there is future) of course as happy as we are to let our friends over the pond borrow her we would like her back one day.

I know from an engine room visit this summer that using her full power on the old Travemunde - Helsiki route burned close to 400 tons of turbine fuel, plus oil for the main diesels, you can see why they are not so keen on using her these days.

Paularai, how did you discover this Cruise Critic web site?

I don't think Finnjet fans are crawling out of the woodwork. But there certainly are a few of us over here! I think the future looks bleak, unfortunately, unless the price of oil drops 25% or so. And from what I've read on the Finnjet website, the price of Finnish labor (labour to you :rolleyes: ) is very high compared to Estonian labor so Tallink is able to operate much cheaper than Silja Line and Viking Line.

And I'm not convinced that the ferry lines do a very good job of copying the experience given by the regular cruise lines. I realize in most cases the point is to carry passengers from Point A to Point B, but some ferry lines advertise the "cruise experience" but then charge extra for everything! This summer we did a 2-night sailing on DFDS Scandinavian Seaways advertised as a mini-cruise. OK, I knew the food was extra but the meal prices were crazy! Then they wanted money to use the swimming pool, money for the sauna, money for watching a movie! And on and on. They're not going to sell many mini-cruises with those practices. Of course, I've heard that the Stockholm - Helsinki route is a great place to meet wild Scandinavian women. I couldn't complain about that!!

BobK/Orlando

Hi Bob, actually i found Cruise Critic forum while searching the word "Finnjet" on google in order to find out more about her stay in the US.

I am a member of a number of European ferry sites and do look at some cruise liner sites and webcams, actually my interest in Cruise ships is growing especilllay after my QM2 trip and the fact that as i got a little older i could actually afford cruise ship fares.

Silja line have handled business in the past 10 years very badly, the cruise ferry model has definatly gone by the way side! as you know Scandinavia is extreamly expensive for both labour and luxury items, beer can cost 10 dollars in many bars! Why do you think us Eropeans come to the US so much.

I have also travelled on many of the DFDS routes since a very young age with one of the best being the one from Harwich to Hamburg, docking in the city centre. I guess the basic fare is cheap but the add ons such as food, pool etc add up, however I would think that these short trips lead many to think about trying a proper cruise.

I have done the Stockholm - Turku route twice with Silja onboard the Silja Europa, once in the winter through the ice which was fantastic, as were the women!!! Also trips from UK to spain with P&O or Brittany Ferries are certainly worth a shot.

Whats the story on the Carnival ships apparently on charter to the US goverment re New Orleans?

Are you planning any further European ferry trips?

Finnjet was built 1974-1977 near Helsinki city centre at Wartsila Helsinki shipyard. The original operator was Finnlines Ltd, a subsidiary of Enso Gutzeit. Enso Gutzeit was a state owned paper manufacturer, which had own shipping company Finnlines. It was funny that they ordered a gas turbine ship just in the midddle of 1973 energy crisis. It was vital to get 24 h turn-around time for the route Helsinki Travemunde (WestGermany) Afterwards the ship was converted to use dual engines, diesel and gas turbine. Original operator Finnlines had almost only one (?) passenger ship, the Finnjet. In 1986 the ship was moved to Silja Line. Silja Line already used "animal" logo on it's ferrys between Finland and Sweden and Finnjet got a new paint scheme in 1986. Finnjet stayed a long time on it's original route Finland - Germany. Still in summer-season 2003 it sailed the original route, with additional stop in Tallinn (estonia).

http://simplonpc.co.uk/Finnjet.html

Yep were certainly talking the same "Finnjet"!

You know your stuff, How are you familiar with the ship? are you from Baltic region, any trips on her?

I think she was Finnlines only true passanger ship by 1986, I note that they run a fleet of RoPax ferries out of Travemunde and even offer "mini cruises" about 36 hours each way to Helsinki plus a few other Finnish ports.

Have you looked at Finnjetweb?

Our sailing on DFDS this past June was on the Crown of Scandinavia. We did two nights Copenhagen-Oslo-Helsingborg. We followed that with a one night crossing Trelleborg to Travemünde on TT-Line Peter Pan. The latter was a rather small ferry but very new and beautiful cabins even in the cheapest category. We have no plans for additional ferry trips at this time but I'll sign off below with my listing of scheduled cruises....including this weekend! :p I did order the 2006 brochure from the DFDS website but they mailed me another copy of the 2005 brochure so I'll have to try again in a couple months. I think the "cruise ferry" concept is viable if they make it more attractive. When one can fly far on Ryanair and EasyJet for £29 they've got to offer something you can't get on an airplane!

If you're going to take your cross-the-USA road trip you should include a visit to Florida and take a 3-night cruise on Carnival or Royal Caribbean. Depending on the time of the year, it can cost as little as $250 for 4 days/3night trip to the Bahamas and that does include all the food you can eat! Then stop by to visit the Finnjet in Louisiana.

Information about the government charter of 3 Carnival ships can be found at: http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Articles/fema_charter.aspx

I believe 2 ships are in New Orleans and one remains docked in Mobile, Alabama where she normally cruises from. The ferry Scotia Prince is also in New Orleans, I understand.

BobK/Orlando

coming up:

Royal Caribbean Sovereign of the Seas (10/05)

Costa Mediterranea (01/06)

Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas (03/06)

Norwegian Sun (05/06)

Silja line have handled business in the past 10 years very badly

Ah well, this is mostly because it's not Silja (that is, in the form of their old Swedish and Finnish owners) any more, but rather Sea Containers... A company whose hallmarks seem to be cost-cutting and minimal amounts of capital investment. With Sea Containers it's the same old story all over, not just Silja - look at Hoverspeed for example.

Right now of their seven passenger ships, Silja have five - yes five up for sale... That is, FINNJET, SILJA FESTIVAL, and SILJA EUROPA, plus the cruise ships SILJA OPERA and WALRUS. FINNJET's service has ended, SILJA OPERA's cruise service is being pulled, and WALRUS' charter in Asia is over and she's now laid-up. As for SILJA FESTIVAL and SILJA EUROPA, Stockholm-Turku is now supposed to go to two new ro-pax ships, leaving SILJA SERENADE and SILJA SYMPHONY as the only real passenger ships in a shrunken-down Silja fleet. However, this hinges on Sea Containers deciding to actually shell out the money for the two ro-paxes - they had a letter of intent which expired but theoretically they're still going to build them "some time in the future". The official plan to refit SERENADE and SYMPHONY, and order the two new ships... But this sounds way to costly for Sea Containers, and whether it will actually happen is very much in doubt.

Of course this downsizing and cost-cutting is just standard Sea Containers stuff; it happens all over the Sea Containers empire.

I might add that rumors in Scandinavia right now are very much focused on the possibility of Tallink buying Silja from Sea Containers... An interesting proposition, though whether this would be good or bad for Silja is unclear.

I might add that all is not entirely well at DFDS either, as their passenger operations are eternally shrinking and starved for capital as well. Just a few days ago it was announced that Harwich-Cuxhaven is closing and the chartered DUCHESS OF SCANDINAVIA will return to her owners. On Harwich-Esbjerg they have replcaed a real passenger ship (DANA ANGLIA) with a makeshift ro-pax (DANA SIRENA) while DANA ANGLIA has in turn become DUKE OF SCANDINAVIA and after a brief fling on an unsuccessful service to Poland, she is now on Newcastle-Ijmuiden replacing the larger and faster PRINCE OF SCANDINAVIA which has been sold. DUKE OF SCANDINAVIA, PRINCESS OF SCANDINAVIA, and QUEEN OF SCANDINAVIA are all older ships that could use replacement but that is probably not forthcoming... Though there are rumors that we might see SILJA EUROPA sold to DFDS, running on Copenhangen-Oslo along with PEARL OF SCANDINAVIA. This presumably would see CROWN OF SCANDINAVIA cascading down to Newcastle-Ijmuiden to replace DUKE. I imagine she - can a ship called DUKE OF something be a "she"? - would then be sold.

All this neglect for DFDS' passenger operations is coming largely because the company's resources are almost entirely focused on cargo. They are building a lot of new ro-ros while there has not been a newbuild DFDS passenger ship since 1978 (no, that is not an error)! It seems that DFDS is currently controlled by managers who rose up from the cargo division, and they are hugely expanding that market at the expense of the very neglected passenger division.

Anyhow, with the big cutbacks at P&O Ferries the whole scene for Northern European passenger ferries is pretty grim at the moment, unfortunately. Hopefully things will pick up soon...

Yep were certainly talking the same "Finnjet"!

 

You know your stuff, How are you familiar with the ship? are you from Baltic region, any trips on her?

 

Finnjetweb?

I managed to make just one Finnjet trip (with car on board) Rostock- Helsinki in 2003, the trip was veri nice. I live in Helsinki, I saw the Finnjet being built back in 1976. The start of Finnjet traffic made big headlines in Finland back in 1977. A Finnish TV show followed Finnjet captain's work in some kind of saturday TV-special. It is nice to see that Finnjet made still some headlines, hope it will be around a long time.

(Another Finnish "supership" trivia: the "MIR" submarines at the start of "Titanic" movie by Cameron were made in Finland. Russians bought them from Finnish manufacturer "Rauma Repola" back in 1987).

Wow you live in Helsinki, Ive been there 3 times aboard Finnjet 1990, 1994, 2003 (+ 2 trips to St Petersberg).

I think I have meet the Captain you are refering to on my 2003 trip, Carl Svieberg, he was the original Captain, and was the one sent to the Wartsila ship yard during construction. I spoke to him for a while, he was very friendly

Do you think this program is available on video?

Is it really true that Finnjet was as well known in Finland as say QE2 in England?

I think one trip by you was a poor show!

Doug

Im almost overwhelmed by your knowledge of all things ferry in northern Europe. Have you been UK based at some stage?

I think the day of RoPax only new builds is upon us, the cheap arilines have stolen all foot passengers! There will be a few exceptions such as Color Line. (RoPax for those who dont know are vessels primarily catering for motor vehicles/freight with a small amount of passenger accomodation TT Line Nils Holgerson/Peter Pan are great examples)

Bob

The detour is booked!

lallusi1

I dont suppose you have any pictures of her contruction in 1976? or better still a copy of the TV program? i guess video recorders were not so common then?

Sadly im interest in any thing Finnjet.

Paularai, do you have any experience with Birka Cruises? I don't think their ships carry vehicles. Two years ago I came close to booking one of their short cruises from Stockholm to Riga but it did not come to pass. Would love to visit Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all in one trip but planning such a journey has proven difficult. There is a lot of ferry service to Tallin, Estonia but very limited service to Riga, Latvia. Lithuania almost nothing. And between the countries, the only transportation I could find was with Eurolines bus service.

BobK/Orlando

lallusi1

 

I dont suppose you have any pictures of her contruction in 1976? or better still a copy of the TV program? i guess video recorders were not so common then?.

Finnjet TV-program about the ship and captain was back in 1977, I think it is not available. Finnjet is very well known in Finland. The ship is astonishingly well known also in Germany. Finnjet's Silja Line animal (seal) logo reminds me of a steam ship back in 1972. I made a trip to Sweden a kid, the ship "Bore" carried Silja Line's new logo. Nowadays same ship is located in Helsinki with diesel engines and different livery.

Silja Line's ca 1960-1972 steamship:

http://www.faktaomfartyg.com/bore_1960_bild_2.htm

Finnjet under construction at Helsinki shipyard (same shipyard made many cruise liners like "Sensation"):

http://www.faktaomfartyg.com/finnjet_1977_bild_6.htm

(Helsinki Shipyard's first cruise liner was "Song of Norway" (later "Sundream") built in 1971. I saw the ship coming to Helsinki with passengers 3 years ago, it was opposite to Helsinki shipyard.The ship was accidentally almost in its place of birth).

Hi Bob

I have never sailed with Birka Cruises although i have seen their older vessel in the Baltic is she the Birka Princess? and their new vessel in Stockholm.

I remember reading years ago that no under 16's were aloud onboard, I dont know if this is still the case.

I also seem to remeber they were in the market of very short cruises from Stockholm - Mariehamn - Helsinki. lallusi, being from Helsinki may well know more.

Finnjet used to do Christmas cruises calling in Riga, you might find Silja Opera has a trip around these ports.

Did you know that twice the Opera has been destroyed then rebuilt! she was built as a car ferry (sister of Regina Baltica now with Tallink) she caught fire I think in dry dock and everything from the car deck up was destroyed she was then rebuilt. Some time later she sank in the Achipelago between Finland and Sweden, fortunatly it was shallow and she came to rest on the bottom, was refloated and then rebuilt in her current guise.

Theres a cruise ship with some history?

>Theres a cruise ship with some history?

Yes, a bad history it appears! I did not know that. I think I will stay away from a ship with such bad luck.

BobK/Orlando