Since TS (Tallinna Sadam = Port of Tallin) took over the ferry services to
the Estonian islands of Saaremma and Hiiumaa, the passenger traffic has been growing by 6%.
Under the name Praamid , the company operates four new ferries, two built in Turkey, two in Poland. Now it seems that four ferries is not enough, and an extra €4 million has been added to the 2018 budget for the summer charter of a (still to be decided) fifth vessel.
Chartering is a short-term solution. In cooperation with the minister of transport, TS is looking at the possibility to order a fifth new vessel.
In the meanwhile, ferry HIIUMAA left Estonia, bound for Kiel, where she arrived on October 7. German company Conmar Shipping GmbH has acquired her.
During winter HIIUMAA will be prepared for a new charter in the Baltic Sea.
Sistership MUHUMAA is laid up in Bremerhaven, and SAAREMAA is operating the Elbe ferry route Cuxhaven-Brunsbüttel. Elb-Link, the ferry company behind this route had asked the Governments of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony to help rescue the ferry line.
Photo: one of the four new ferries © Praamid