MS Galaxy, Cruise Ferry

In 2002, the Estonian company Tallink launched a new ferry Romantika on the Tallinn-Helsinki route, replacing its competitor Viking Line. A year later, fearing a drop in revenue from duty-free trade after Estonia joined the EU, the Norwegian company removed its flagship Cinderella from the line and replaced it with its oldest vessel, Rosella, which had half the passenger capacity and was more focused on cargo transportation. To compensate for the increased demand, Tallink decided to build a larger vessel, and transfer the Romantika ferry to the less busy Tallinn-Stockholm line.

On October 28, 2004, the Finnish shipyard Aker Finnyards in Rauma received an order for the construction of a ferry with a capacity of 2,500 passengers in cabins (another 300 can accommodate in the deck halls) and 420 cars. The ship was laid on April 21, 2005, and launched on December 1 of the same year. When designing it, the experience of operating the Romantika ferry was used, as a result, significantly larger areas were allocated for public areas. Another feature was that all passenger cabins were placed above the waterline. The vessel has the following dimensions: length 212.10 m, width 29 m, draft 6.4 m, height 15.4 m, the hull has an ice class 1A Super (Ice thickness when moving behind the icebreaker is up to 1 m).

The Galaxy ferry has 12 decks and has a full range of infrastructure typical of cruise liners. There are five restaurants with a capacity of 1,250 passengers, five 24-hour bars, a conference hall with 450 seats and a two-tiered entertainment hall, a nightclub with a disco, a sauna and SPA, a fitness room, three extensive duty-free zones, a children's playground and a slot machine room.

The ferry's power plant consists of four Wärtsilä 16V32 diesel generators with a total capacity of 32,000 kilowatts. Two electric rowing motors with variable pitch propellers provide a cruising speed of 24.5 knots (45.4 km / h). To facilitate mooring and maneuvering, the vessel has four thrusters.

The ferry is named Galaxy and has an original livery made by Estonian artist Heiki Trola (known as Navitrola). The ship's hull is white, with images of animals, the superstructure is blue with white clouds. In public spaces, the decor is also reminiscent of exotic travel.

On May 2, 2006, Galaxy made its first flight on the Tallinn-Helsinki line. The journey time was only 7 hours and the cruise potential was practically not in demand, so in April of the following year it was transferred to the longer Stockholm-Turku route. The ship received registration in Sweden and, accordingly, the Swedish flag, and instead of Tallink Cruise, the inscription Silja Line appeared on board.

During the entire operation of the ferry, there was only one emergency on it.: On the morning of July 31, 2010, while en route from Turku, a car caught fire on the cargo deck, but the fire was extinguished within 15 minutes and no one was injured. Starting from September 25, 2022, the ferry is located in Amsterdam and is used as a shelter for refugees from Ukraine.

I have twice taken Galaxy on a night cruise from Stockholm to Turku, in October 2010 and August 2013. You can see the interiors and atmosphere on board by clicking on these links.