25 January 2011

Baltic Jet, 30 March 2008

Baltic Jet

IMO 9198551
Built 1999, Kvaerner Fjellstrand, Norway
Tonnage 2 237 GT
Length 60,00 m
Width 16,50 m
Draugth 2,15 m
428 passengers
52 cars or 2 buses and 38 cars
2 Caterpillar diesels, combined 10 800 kW
2 KaMeWa waterjets
Speed 38 knots

Nordic Jet Line was a Norwegian-owned fast ferry company operating between Helsinki and Tallinn with two purpose-built fast catamaran ferries, the Nordic Jet and the Baltic Jet. These were built at Kvaerner Fjellstrand in Norway to the same design as the Solidor 3 delivered in 1996 for Emeraude Lines English Channel services.

The Nordic Jet entered service in 1998, with the Baltic Jet following the year after. Both ships were registered in Bergen, Norway. During the winter seasons the ships were laid up due to their inability to sail in ice. Nordic Jet Line continued serving between Helsinki and Tallinn until 2008, when the arrival of Tallink and Viking Line's larger but slower fast cruiseferries Star, Superstar and Viking XPRS caused the company to re-evaluate their position. After the 2008 summer season both the Nordic Jet and Baltic Jet left the Baltic to joint the fleet of the sister company FRS Iberia and they were renamed Ceuta Jet and Algeciras Jet, respectively. At the time there was talk that this was only a temporary change for the winter season and the ships would return to the Baltic in summer 2009, but this never happened and they remain in FRS service.

The photographs below show the Baltic Jet arriving in Tallinn on 30 March 2008. Photographed from onboard Viking Line's Rosella. Click on the individual images to view full size.

Apart from the names, the Baltic Jet and Nordic Jet were externally identical, which can sometimes made identifying the correct ship hard.
Spring in Tallinn: notice the patches of snow on the store in the background. Yes, I really don't have anything else to say about the ship herself.

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