MS Superstar
Encyclopedia
MS Superstar is a fast 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...
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 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 operated on their Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
–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...
service. She was built in 2008 at the Fincantieri
Fincantieri
Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. is a shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. It was formed in 1959 and is the largest shipbuilder in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest in Europe...
shipyard in Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Concept and construction
The design of the Superstar is based on Moby LinesMoby Lines
Moby Lines is an Italian shipping company that operates ferries and cruiseferries between the Italian or French mainland and the islands of Elba, Sardinia and Corsica. The company was founded in 1959 under the name Navigazione Arcipelago Maddalenino .In 2006 Moby Lines purchased Lloyd Sardegna...
' . The original order included an option for a second ship of the same type, which Tallink decided not to exercise.
The keel of the vessel was laid on January 18, 2007. On October 5, 2007, the Superstar was christened by the Estonian tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi is an Estonian professional tennis player. Her career-high ranking is world no. 16 reached on 14 February 2011....
. The ship was delivered on 8 April 2008 and left Ancona for the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
a day later.
Service history
Superstar entered service on Tallink's HelsinkiHelsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
–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...
route on 21 April 2008. On 30 April 2008 the ship suffered a hydraulics problem while leaving Tallinn, and one Tallinn–Helsinki roundtrip had to be cancelled. On 27 February 2009, while en-route from Tallinn to Helsinki with 400 passengers on board, the ship's main engines stopped due to problems with the cooling systems at 8:45 am. The ship was adrift for nearly two hours, with emergency generators providing electricity, until full power could be restored at 10:30 am. Superstar arrived in Helsinki at 11:30, two hours behind schedule.
Design
The green external livery of the ship is according to Tallink promotion material "meant to reflect the environmentally friendly aspects of the ship's design".The onboard facilities include a three-deck high showlounge, four restaurants, cafeteria, two bars, a casino, a business lounge and various shops. The interiors of the ship have been designed by the Italian designers Carlo Ciribi and Alessandro Cestaro.