Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Tourism, Transport

Meie Maa newspaper wrote on Friday that SLK plans to charter the new ferries Saaremaa and Muhumaa to routes in Germany already this summer and will bring back decades-old and much smaller ferryboats to the mainland-Saaremaa route instead.

On Friday, SLK announced that the ferry Saaremaa will be sent to the first scheduled repairs after being in use for five years to Klaipeda for the next two weeks.

Rihvk said that the ferries servicing the routes are going through scheduled maintenance, calling the stories about the plans to take the ferries to Germany a speculation.

"As we have said before, of course the company is constantly searching for new business directions in Europe and elsewhere in the world, but no concrete agreements have yet been signed," said Rihvk in a press release.

He confirmed that the Saaremaa Shipping Company will fulfil all obligations stipulated in the contradict with the state until 1 October 2016, when the contract expires, as well as the obligations connected to the use of the ferries, according to which the ferries have to pass maintenance work every five years.

"Saaremaa Shipping Company will certainly inform the public about the company's development, when there is something to talk about, but we are not going along with speculations," Rihvk said.

The public transport contract with current operator Väinamere Liinid OÜ, subsidiary of SLK, for operating the mainland-islands connections was concluded in 2006 and is valid till September 30, 2016.

Last autumn, the Estonian Ministry of Economy and Communications concluded a contract with state-owned port operator company AS Tallinna Sadam for operating the ferry service at the mainland-Saaremaa and mainland-Hiiumaa island for the next ten years.