MS Baltic Queen - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

MS Baltic Queen is a cruiseferry

Cruiseferry

A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...

owned by the Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

-based ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

operator Tallink

Tallink

Tallink is an Estonian shipping company currently operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden, Latvia to Sweden and Finland to Germany. They also own Silja Line and a part of SeaRail...

and normally operated on their Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

–Mariehamn

Mariehamn

Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...

–Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

route. The ship was built by the STX Europe shipyard in Rauma, Finland

Rauma, Finland

Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...

Concept and construction

Initially known under the project name Cruise 5, Baltic Queen was ordered from (what was then) Aker Yards

Aker Yards

STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, a subsidiary of the South Korean industrial chaebol STX Corporation, is the largest shipbuilding group in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. With headquarters in Oslo, Norway, STX Europe operates 15 shipyards in Brazil, Finland, France, Norway,...

shipyard in Rauma, Finland

Rauma, Finland

in April 2007. She is a sister ship to and and Tallink's fifth newbuilt cruiseferry. The ship's planned route was a mystery to the general public for a long time, until on 11 November 2008 Tallink revealed then he would be placed on the Tallinn–Stockholm service on completion. The ship was launched from drydock and officially named Baltic Queen on 5 December 2008. By this time the shipyard had been renamed STX Europe. Tallink took delivery of the ship on 16 April 2009.

Service history

Baltic Queen entered service on the Tallinn

Tallinn

–Mariehamn

Mariehamn

–Stockholm

Stockholm

route on 24 April 2009, replacing Tallink's first newbuilt ship , which was moved to the Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

–Stockholm service. Baltic Queens Tallink Silja fleetmate encountered problems with her steering on 22 November 2009, and she had to be taken out of service for repairs. As a result the Baltic Queen was moved to the Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

–Mariehamn–Stockholm service as a temporary replacement from 26 November until 11 December 2009.

Decks and facilities

Numbered from bottom to top.

Crew facilities, sauna
Sauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....

, swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

, engine room
Engine room
On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...
Cardeck
Cardeck (hydraulic platform that can be lowered to divide the car deck in two giving space for two layers of passenger cars)
Conference rooms, outside and inside cabins
Cabin (ship)
A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a "deckhouse."-Sailing ships:...
Cafeteria
Cafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...

, tax-free shops, showlounge (lower level), promenade deck
Promenade deck
The promenade deck is a deck found on several types of passenger ships and riverboats. It usually extends from bow to stern, on both ddd,çsides, and includes areas open to the outside, resulting in a continuous outside walkway suitable for promenading, thus the name.On older passenger ships, the...
Buffet
Buffet
A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events...

and a la carte restaurants, bars, pub, showlounge (upper level)
Suites
Suite (hotel)
A suite in a hotel or other public accommodation, denotes a class of luxury accommodations, the key feature of which is multiple rooms. Many properties have one or more "honeymoon suites", and sometimes the best accommodation is called the "presidential suite".Suites offer multiple rooms, with more...

, outside and inside cabins
Cabin (ship)
A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a "deckhouse."-Sailing ships:...
Suites, outside and inside cabins
Cabin (ship)
A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a "deckhouse."-Sailing ships:...
bridge
Bridge (ship)
The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is underway the bridge is manned by an OOW aided usually by an AB acting as lookout...

, crew facilities, discothèque, sun deck
Sun deck

External links

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