The MS Bluefort was an accommodation vessel owned by the Canadian-based company Bridgemans Services Group LP. She was built in 1979 as a car/passenger ferry by Meyer Werft , Papenburg , Germany as Diana II av Slite for Rederi AB Slite for use in Viking Line 's traffic. She has also sailed under the names Diana II , Vironia , Mare Balticum , Meloodia and ARV 1 .
31-516: Rederi AB Slite had great success with their first generation of car and passenger ferries servicing between Sweden and Finland and by the late 1970s the growing market demanded larger ships. Slite's first route within the Viking Line marketing company had been that between Kapellskär and Naantali but this route had since been clogged with Viking Line ships and received competition from Silja Line 's similar service between Norrtälje and Turku . As
62-516: A Singapore -based company controlled by Norwegian interests. Subsequently, the Meloodia was renamed ARV 1 . In January 2008 the ARV 1 arrived at SembCorp Marine shipyards, Singapore for conversion into an accommodation and repair vessel, with the planned delivery in the third quarter of 2008. The Bluefort was acquired by Vancouver, BC, Canada-based Bridgemans Services Group LP in 2015. In December 2017,
93-556: A first step to find new markets, Rederi AB Slite had sold their merely six years old Apollo in 1976 and replaced her with the older Apollo III , making 24-hour cruises between Stockholm and Mariehamn . The company still served the Kapellskär—Naantali route with their other ship, the 1972-built Diana . But with four other Viking Line ships competing for the same cars and passengers on that route, Slite still needed to break new grounds to keep themselves profitable. In 1974,
124-584: A location in Stockholm County , Sweden is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about transport in Sweden is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . MS Regina Baltica MS Regina Baltica is a cruiseferry owned by the Spanish shipping company Balearia . She was built in 1980 as Viking Song by Wärtsilä Perno shipyard , Finland for Rederi Ab Sally , one of
155-449: A lot during the next five years, with Hirtshals , Denmark replacing or appearing alongside Harwich as the main destination. In December 1990 Fred. Olsen sold their ferry operations to the new Color Line , however Braemar was not included in the sale and she was laid up. In January 1991 Braemar was chartered to Baltic Shipping Company and renamed Baltica for planned service between St. Petersburg , Russia and Stockholm. This service
186-950: Is a port about 90 kilometres (60 mi) north of Stockholm , in Sweden . It is located by the Baltic Sea , in Norrtälje Municipality , Stockholm County . The port was served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn , Åland , Finland , operated by Viking Line , with three services per day and direction during peak season, until January 8,2023. Now there are services to Naantali in mainland Finland , calling at Långnäs port in Åland, operated by Finnlines , and to Paldiski in Estonia operated by Tallink and DFDS Seaways . [REDACTED] Media related to Port of Kapellskär at Wikimedia Commons 59°43′17″N 019°03′53″E / 59.72139°N 19.06472°E / 59.72139; 19.06472 This article about
217-609: The Meloodia was on charter to the Spanish shipping company Baleària on service between the Balearic Islands and Spanish mainland. She operated different routes between Barcelona , Mahón and Palma de Mallorca . In November 2007 Tallink entered a memorandum agreement to sell the Meloodia , with delivery in December 2007. When the ship was delivered on 7 December 2007, the buyer was revealed to be Equinox Offshore Accommodation Ltd ,
248-579: The Bluefort successfully completed a contract for accommodations and CTV boat landing services in the wind farm industry in Belgium. In October 2021 MS Bluefort was sailed to Alang , India awaiting dismantlement and scrapping. A number of alterations to the original design of the Diana II has been made during the years. Already during her first year of Viking Line service, her decks were heavily polluted by soot from
279-615: The Mediterranean sea, on route Almeria (Spain) – Nador (Morocco). From February 2012 Regina Baltica served as a floating hotel in Sheringham, England. She arrived Harwich in the beginning of February. From April 2013 Regina Baltica serves as a floating hotel for the Bard Offshore1 windfarm, Germany. April 2014 to 2017 she served as a floating hotel in Lerwick, Shetland . In 2017 she
310-719: The Spain-based Acciona Trasmediterránea and entered service their Almería – Nador route on 25 June 2009. On 20 September 2009 she was returned to Tallink and laid up in Riga. In the end of May 2010 Regina Baltica was again chartered to Acciona Trasmediterránea, serving first on their Algeciras – Tangier route and from June on the Almeria—Nador route. This charter will last until 3 September 2010. On 11 September 2010 Regina Baltica arrived in Vágur, Faroe Islands . She
341-641: The Tallinn–Mariehamn–Stockholm route, and Regina Baltica was moved to Stockholm– Riga route, where she replaced Fantaasia . In August of the same year the Regina Baltica ' s homeport was changed from Tallinn to Riga. The Regina Baltica was withdrawn from service with Tallink in April 2009, when she was replaced by Romantika in the Stockholm–Riga service. Subsequently she was chartered to
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#1732852651800372-630: The beginning of a service out of St. Petersburg, when Anna Karenina started traffic on the St. Petersburg– Nynäshamn – Kiel route for Baltic Line . In 1995 St. Petersburg was dropped from the itinerary. In January 1996 Baltic Line was declared bankrupt and Anna Karenina (soon renamed Anna K. ) returned to Fred. Olsen for laying up in Germany. Anna K. was sold to EstLine (a daughter company of Nordström & Thulin , Sweden and ESCO , Estonia) in 1996 for service between Tallinn , Estonia and Stockholm, Sweden. She
403-595: The beginning of the summer season 1981, Diana II was transferred to the Kapellskär-Naantali route. Although she returned on the Stockholm-Turku during the summer of 1982, the Diana II remained on the Kapellskär-Naantali route for the rest of her Viking Line career. During her time in Viking Line service, the Diana II encountered one serious incident. On February 5, 1989, she touched ground near Kapellskär and started taking in water. Due to her pumping system at
434-525: The ferry can't sail 3 times daily from Tórshavn three times weekly like Smyril did, but two times daily every day. Smyril came back again on 15 October 2010, and went back on its route on the same day. Regina Baltica sailed for the last time from Tórshavn at 13:00 to Vágur. Smyril left from Krambatangi ferry port at 15:30 according to the planned schedule. Regina Baltica was lying at the port of Vágur for 6 days. The ferry left Vágur on 21 October 2010. From June to September in 2011 Regina Baltica sailed in
465-482: The funnel. The funnel received extended smoke pipes but as the problem persisted, the screen on the rear top of the funnel was removed. After another extension of the smoke pipes, the problem was eventually solved but made the ship's exterior appearance rather odd. The Diana II' s large car deck on deck 4 was during the 1980s deemed to be larger than necessary and of its port side was rebuilt with additional cabins. In preparations of her entry into EstLine service in 1994,
496-516: The owners of the Viking Line consortium. She has also sailed under the names Braemar (for Fred Olsen Lines ) and Anna Karenina (for Baltic Shipping Co.). Delivered in August 1980, Viking Song was the last newbuilding delivered to Rederi Ab Sally for use on Viking Line's routes. She served alongside her sister Viking Saga on the route connecting Helsinki , Finland to Stockholm. Although she
527-519: The ship ran aground in Swedish waters near Kapellskär . There were no victims in the accident, which happened on the day of the 11th anniversary of the sinking of the Estonia . In April 2006 Regina Baltica made three trips between Tallinn and Helsinki, due to the ice situation being so bad that all of Tallink's normal ships on the route could not traffic. On May of the same year MS Romantika replaced her on
558-554: The ship received its most extensive modification to date. Apart from the sealing of the bow visor a "duck tail" was added at the stern. Also, the ship's funnel was once again rebuilt to sport a more solid look. The bow remained inaccessible until its complete rebuilding prior to the ships entry into the Tallinn—Helsinki service in 1996. When sold by Tallink in 2007, the vessel underwent a major reconstruction transforming her to an accommodation and repair vessel. The superstructure at
589-480: The stern was cut away, leaving way for a crane and a helicopter pad was constructed on top of her bridge front. To increase stability, big side sponsones were also added. Under ownership of Bridgemans Services Group LP, an extensive refit was completed in 2016. In October 2021, the ship stranded in Alang , India to be scrapped. Kapellsk%C3%A4r Kapellskär ( Swedish pronunciation: [ˈkâpːɛlˌɧæːr] )
620-404: The time only operated at half of its capacity, the ship took in a substantial amount of water and partially sunk in the shallow harbour of Kapellskär. She was soon refloated however and was docked for repairs. In order to finance their newbuilding Kalypso which had been a victim of the bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine , Rederi AB Slite had to sell the Diana II to PK-Banken in 1989. The ship
651-529: The two other Viking Line partners started operating the Stockholm—Turku route which proved to be quite profitable. In preparation for the new ten-year agreement of collaboration between the Viking Line partners to be settled in 1980, Slite made the decision to try to push out Rederi Ab Sally from the Stockholm—Turku route with a newbuilding that would outmatch their current ship there, the Viking 4 . The new ship
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#1732852651800682-468: Was chartered back to Slite and route remained unaltered. As Slite's finances got worse during 1992 the company was forced to give the ship up altogether and by December 24 that year, the Diana II made her last sailing for Rederi AB Slite and Viking Line. PK-Banken chartered her to TT-Line and she started operating under their brand TR-Line's route Trelleborg — Rostock on December 30. The Diana II operated on her new route until September 1994 when she
713-702: Was chartered to Strandfaraskip Landsins for four weeks from 17 September onwards for use on the service linking Tórshavn to Tvøroyri in Suðuroy while the regular ferry on the route – the Smyril – undergoes a docking in Denmark. The first journey was from Vágur in Suðuroy, but the rest of the time Regina Baltica was embarking and disembarking from Krambatangi ferry port near Tvøroyri. The schedule had to be changed, because it takes longer time to embark with Regina Baltica , therefore
744-502: Was named M/S Diana II af Slite and launching took place on March 31, 1979. Less than three months after her launch, the ship was delivered to Rederi AB Slite. On June 14, 1979, she was put into Viking Line service between Stockholm and Turku with daytime callings at Mariehamn , replacing the Viking 4 . In September the same year, her registered name was shortened to Diana II , although this had been her marketing name since her delivery. At
775-524: Was never realised however, and for the time being the only change was moving the ship to Hamburg where she was again laid up. Later in the same month the ship was sub-chartered to the Russian army for transporting troops out of former East Germany . The ship, renamed Anna Karenina , was badly vandalised by the troops transported on board, and had to be docked in Hamburg afterwards for repairs. March 1991 finally saw
806-620: Was of the same type as that of the Vironia . As a result of the disaster, the Vironia was renamed Mare Balticum to avoid association with the sunken ship due to the similar name ("Viro" means "Estonia" in Finnish). She was docked and rebuilt in Naantali and her bow visor was welded shut. She eventually entered service on Stockholm-Tallinn on November 11, 1994. Two years later, Nordström & Thulin acquired another former Viking Line vessel, Anna K . She
837-583: Was planned together with her contracted builders, Meyer Werft , Papenburg in West Germany . This shipyard had built the Apollo and the Diana for Slite as well as four sister vessels for Rederi Ab Sally. The design greatly resembled the former ships but the newbuilding was larger in every respect. Among the distinguishing differences were the addition of a second car deck as well as a larger number of berths. The new ship
868-633: Was renamed Regina Baltica and replaced the Mare Balticum in August 1996. The Mare Balticum was chartered to Hansatee shipping OY and was renamed Meloodia . The ship's bow was rebuilt with bow gates and she was put into Tallink service on the Tallinn— Helsinki route on September 20, 1996. The Meloodia ' s ownership changed to Tallink's in February 2002 but she remained on the same service until New Year's Eve 2006. From January to December 2007,
899-596: Was renamed Regina Baltica . In 1997 Nordström & Thulin withdrew from Estline leaving ESCO as the sole owner of the company. ESCO later changed its name to Hansatee Shipping. At the end of 2000 the name Estline was abandoned and the Tallinn–Stockholm service became a part of Tallink. In May 2004 a call at Mariehamn was added to maintain tax-free sales on board. In spring 2005 the ship was temporarily chartered to NATO for training exercises in Norway. On 28 September 2005
930-534: Was sold to Nordström & Thulin and Estonian Shipping Company who renamed her Vironia with the intention of putting her into service within the EstLine service between Stockholm and Tallinn together with her former Viking Line fleet mate Viking Sally , by now known as Estonia . Only weeks before the Vironia was due to enter service on her new route, Estonia sank in a storm killing 852 people. The bow visor construction of Estonia , which caused her sinking,
961-517: Was the newer of the two ships, when SF Line brought their new Mariella to Helsinki–Stockholm service in 1985, the Viking Song was withdrawn from service and sold to Norwegian Fred. Olsen Lines . After rebuilding at Blohm + Voss , Hamburg where a second storey was added to her nightclub, Viking Song emerged as Fred. Olsen's new MS Braemar . She was initially set on a route connecting Oslo , Norway with Harwich , UK, although her route varied