Latvia, Port, Tourism, Transport

The company reported, that the ferry at a safe speed continues its voyage to Riga and plans to arrive at about 10 p.m. on Thursday and leave again for Stockholm at midnight.

Tallink Grupp has informed the passengers who have tickets to the ferry that they can choose either to go to Stockholm, postpone or cancel their trip. The ferry will arrive in Stockholm at 5 p.m. Latvian time.

The company reported that the damaged porthole has been covered and voyage is safe.

As reported, at about 3.40 a.m. this morning the storm broke the ferry’s radar antenna, which fell and shattered one of the ship’s front portholes.

"The ship’s damaged porthole is located in the forepart of the vessel, in the Tango bar on the sixth deck, and water has mostly damaged only this room. Some cabins on the fifth deck were also slightly affected by water and passengers were immediately provided with other cabins. The inflow of water into the ship was minimal and never posed any safety risks to the people," the ferry company’s representatives said, adding that the situation is fully under control and that the crew is constantly monitoring the ship’s damaged part.

The company’s representatives also said that the ferry’s captain last night decided to change the time of departure from Stockholm port to avoid an even greater impact from the storm.

There are currently 277 passengers and 178 crewmembers aboard the Romantika.

The ferry operator has apologized to all the passengers affected by the accident.

The Romantika, built in Finland in 2002, resumed running between Riga and Stockholm on December 12, 2016. The vessel has room for 2,500 passengers.