MS Romantika

MS Romantika[lower-alpha 1] is a cruiseferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink. The ship is on charter to Holland Norway Lines on a route Kristiansand to Eemshaven.[2][3] She was built in 2002 by Aker Finnyards, Rauma and she was the first ever newbuilding to be delivered to Tallink. Between 2002 and 2006 the Romantika was used on the Helsinki–Tallinn route, until she was replaced by the new MS Galaxy. After this she was transferred to the Tallinn–Stockholm route, sailing parallel with her sister MS Victoria I.

MS Romantika in Stockholm, August 2019
History
Name	MS Romantika
Owner	Tallink
Operator	Holland Norway Lines
Port of registry	2002–09: Tallinn,  Estonia 2009–15: Riga,  Latvia 2015–17: Tallinn,  Estonia 2017-22: Riga,  Latvia 2022-: Eemshaven  Netherlands
Route	Kristiansand–Eemshaven
Ordered	30 August 2000[1]
Builder	Aker Finnyards, Rauma, Finland[1]
Yard number	433[1]
Laid down	23 May 2001[1]
Launched	14 December 2001[1]
Christened	14 December 2001[1]
Acquired	10 May 2002[1]
In service	21 May 2002[1]
Identification	Call sign: PELS IMO number: 9237589 MMSI number: 244524000
Status	In service
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Romantika-class cruiseferry
Tonnage	40,803 GT 4,500 t DWT
Length	192.90 m (632 ft 10 in)
Beam	29.00 m (95 ft 2 in)
Draught	6.50 m (21 ft 4 in)
Ice class	1 A Super
Installed power	4 × Wärtsilä 16V32 diesels, combined 26,240 kW (35,190 hp)
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity	2,500 passengers 2,172 passenger berths 300 cars 1,000 lanemeters

After the delivery of MS Baltic Queen the Romantika was transferred to the Stockholm–Riga route in May 2009.[4] Simultaneously with this she was changed from Estonian to Latvian registry. When the MS Silja Europa was chartered out from Tallink service in August 2014, the Romantika returned to the Tallinn–Mariehamn–Stockholm route.[1]

In December 2016, with the return of Silja Europa, Tallink reorganized the routes of their ferries and Romantika was transferred to the Stockholm - Riga route from December 12.[5]

From July to September 2021 Romantika was chartered to Morocco's Tanger-Med Port Authority for services between Morocco and Sète in France.[6]

On 13 October 2021, she arrived in Glasgow to provide accommodation for people attending the COP26 summit.[7]

Since April 2022, the Romantika is operated by Holland Norway Lines on a Kristiansand - Eemshaven routing on charter. This charter was announced on 1 November 2021, and is due to last three years with two one-year extensions.[8][9][10][3]