RG Line
Encyclopedia
RG Line Oy Ab is a Finnish
shipping company founded in 2001 that operates a ferry line between Vaasa
, Finland
and Umeå
, Sweden
.
The company was founded in 2001 by well known Rabbe Grönblom
, just months after Silja Line
had put their traffic on Kvarken / Merenkurkku
to an end because of a decision in the EU
to stop taxfree sales on travels between member states. RG Line bought Silja's M/S Fennia and renamed her to M/S Casino Express, the ship was put in traffic on the route Vaasa–Umeå on 16 May 2001. At first RG Line profiled the ship as a ship where you could have fun and party, much like the ferries who trafficked Kvarken in the tax-free times. However, it did not become a success; people did not want to cruise anymore. The blackjack
and roulette
tables they had added to get a casino
feeling were removed before a year had passed. Nowadays they are focused on ordinary travellers and cargo
. The route over Kvarken is supported financially by the city of Vaasa. The city of Umeå or the county of Västerbotten do not support international connections because of a policy. The county of Västerbotten is responsible for local bus transport, but they don't have a bus line to the Umeå port, the nearest is 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi) away.
The company filed for bankruptcy
on 29 November 2011, and the operations are suspended.
On 24 November, one day after RG Line informed the public about the purchase of their new ship Kahleberg, bad luck struck the company. Casino Express, with 39 passengers and 27 crew members on board, ran aground just outside the harbour of Holmsund
near Umeå. At the time of the accident, there were strong south-western winds up to 25 m/s (90 km/h; 55.9 mph). Casino Express got some serious damages that had to be repaired; six days after the grounding the ship was pulled from the reef and then towed to a repair shipyard
in Estonia
.
On 26 November, RG Line announced that they had chartered M/S Alandia from Eckerö Linjen
to temporarily sail for the company while Casino Express was being repaired in Estonia. Alandia is a well-known ship for people in the Kvarken region, as she had been trafficking for Vasabåtarna for thirteen years as Botnia Express before she was sold to Eckerö Linjen.
Alandia, which at the time of Casino Express accident was laid up in Eckerö
, was sent to a repair shipyard in Stockholm
to fix a broken propeller. After that she would immediately take up the traffic for RG Line. She arrived at Holmsund on 9 December, where she loaded cargo, food et cetera that had been on Casino Express. Alandia took of to Vaasa that evening; she would make her first regular trip from there the morning after. But the ship did not get far; she ran aground on the same place as Casino Express did just weeks earlier. Alandia suffered some damages and could not continue to Vaasa; she was instead sent of to a repair shipyard in Mariehamn
and RG Line was once again without a ship.
RG Line's new ship Kahleberg arrived to Vaasa in the last days of January 2005. The plan was to rebuild the ship and not put it into traffic until in May. Alandia was still being repaired, RG Line did not want to wait for her to get back. Instead they decided to put the unrenovated Kahleberg into traffic on January 21. On her first trip to Umeå she had a motor breakdown about 10 minutes out of Vaasa and had to set anchor; she eventually made it to Umeå but delayed. Kahleberg was classed to take no more than 75 passengers; RG Line intended to reclass her after having renovated her. The local newspapers criticized RG Line for putting a ship with such low passenger capacity and low comfort into traffic. For the school's winter holidays, when travelling between Sweden and Finland rises, RG Line had to charter the now repaired Alandia, which have a higher passenger capacity. She was in traffic between Umeå and Vaasa between 26 February and March 9 instead of Kahleberg.
On April 23, Kahleberg was chartered to deliver cargo to Sundsvall
. At the same time RG Line announced that, starting that summer, they would make one trip a week to Sundsvall.
On May 1, Casino Express returned from the Estonian shipyard and was put back in traffic on her old route. The renovation of Kahleberg could now finally begin.
. The 53 NM crossing between Vaasa
and Umeå
(Holmsund
) takes 4 hours and 30 minutes.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
shipping company founded in 2001 that operates a ferry line between Vaasa
Vaasa
Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
The company was founded in 2001 by well known Rabbe Grönblom
Rabbe Grönblom
Rabbe Grönblom is a businessman from Vaasa, Finland. His first company—a pizzeria—was called Pizzeria No 1 and it was founded in 1976 in the center of Vaasa. Nowadays he is known as the "Pizza-emperor" , because he is the founder of a well known pizza franchise chain called Kotipizza...
, just months after Silja Line
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy – today Tallink Silja Oy – is a subsidiary of Tallink Grupp, handling marketing and sales for Tallink and Silja...
had put their traffic on Kvarken / Merenkurkku
Kvarken
Kvarken is the narrow region in the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay from the Bothnian Sea...
to an end because of a decision in the EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
to stop taxfree sales on travels between member states. RG Line bought Silja's M/S Fennia and renamed her to M/S Casino Express, the ship was put in traffic on the route Vaasa–Umeå on 16 May 2001. At first RG Line profiled the ship as a ship where you could have fun and party, much like the ferries who trafficked Kvarken in the tax-free times. However, it did not become a success; people did not want to cruise anymore. The blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
and roulette
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
tables they had added to get a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
feeling were removed before a year had passed. Nowadays they are focused on ordinary travellers and cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
. The route over Kvarken is supported financially by the city of Vaasa. The city of Umeå or the county of Västerbotten do not support international connections because of a policy. The county of Västerbotten is responsible for local bus transport, but they don't have a bus line to the Umeå port, the nearest is 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi) away.
The company filed for bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
on 29 November 2011, and the operations are suspended.
History 2004–2005
On 23 November 2004 RG Line announced that they had bought the ship M/S Kahleberg, which has more capacity for cargo and takes less passengers than Casino Express, which it will replace. It is said that Kahleberg will be put into traffic between Vaasa and Umeå in May 2005.On 24 November, one day after RG Line informed the public about the purchase of their new ship Kahleberg, bad luck struck the company. Casino Express, with 39 passengers and 27 crew members on board, ran aground just outside the harbour of Holmsund
Holmsund
Holmsund is a locality situated in Umeå Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 5,482 inhabitants in 2005. It is located 18 km south of the city of Umeå and serves as a port for Umeå. Holmsund lies at the mouth of the Ume River. To the west, across the river estuary, is a town called Obbola....
near Umeå. At the time of the accident, there were strong south-western winds up to 25 m/s (90 km/h; 55.9 mph). Casino Express got some serious damages that had to be repaired; six days after the grounding the ship was pulled from the reef and then towed to a repair shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
in 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...
.
On 26 November, RG Line announced that they had chartered M/S Alandia from Eckerö Linjen
Eckerö Linjen
Eckerö Linjen is a Finnish shipping company operating a ferry between Eckerö in the Åland Islands and Grisslehamn in Sweden. The company is owned by the Åland based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö...
to temporarily sail for the company while Casino Express was being repaired in Estonia. Alandia is a well-known ship for people in the Kvarken region, as she had been trafficking for Vasabåtarna for thirteen years as Botnia Express before she was sold to Eckerö Linjen.
Alandia, which at the time of Casino Express accident was laid up in Eckerö
Eckerö
Eckerö is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
, was sent to a repair shipyard in 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...
to fix a broken propeller. After that she would immediately take up the traffic for RG Line. She arrived at Holmsund on 9 December, where she loaded cargo, food et cetera that had been on Casino Express. Alandia took of to Vaasa that evening; she would make her first regular trip from there the morning after. But the ship did not get far; she ran aground on the same place as Casino Express did just weeks earlier. Alandia suffered some damages and could not continue to Vaasa; she was instead sent of to a repair shipyard in 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...
and RG Line was once again without a ship.
RG Line's new ship Kahleberg arrived to Vaasa in the last days of January 2005. The plan was to rebuild the ship and not put it into traffic until in May. Alandia was still being repaired, RG Line did not want to wait for her to get back. Instead they decided to put the unrenovated Kahleberg into traffic on January 21. On her first trip to Umeå she had a motor breakdown about 10 minutes out of Vaasa and had to set anchor; she eventually made it to Umeå but delayed. Kahleberg was classed to take no more than 75 passengers; RG Line intended to reclass her after having renovated her. The local newspapers criticized RG Line for putting a ship with such low passenger capacity and low comfort into traffic. For the school's winter holidays, when travelling between Sweden and Finland rises, RG Line had to charter the now repaired Alandia, which have a higher passenger capacity. She was in traffic between Umeå and Vaasa between 26 February and March 9 instead of Kahleberg.
On April 23, Kahleberg was chartered to deliver cargo to Sundsvall
Sundsvall
-External links:* - Official site from Nordisk Familjebok - Sundsvalls tourist information bureau. - The alternative guide to Sundsvall. - Blog with photos from Sundsvall....
. At the same time RG Line announced that, starting that summer, they would make one trip a week to Sundsvall.
On May 1, Casino Express returned from the Estonian shipyard and was put back in traffic on her old route. The renovation of Kahleberg could now finally begin.
Route
RG Line operate one route across the Gulf of BothniaGulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...
. The 53 NM crossing between Vaasa
Vaasa
Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...
and Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
(Holmsund
Holmsund
Holmsund is a locality situated in Umeå Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 5,482 inhabitants in 2005. It is located 18 km south of the city of Umeå and serves as a port for Umeå. Holmsund lies at the mouth of the Ume River. To the west, across the river estuary, is a town called Obbola....
) takes 4 hours and 30 minutes.
Fleet
RG Line operate one vessel.| Name | Built | Enterered service | Tonnage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RG I | 1983 | 2005 | ||