MS Birka Paradise
Birka Stockholm arriving at Stockholm in June 2013.
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| History | |
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| Name: |
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| Owner: | Birka Line |
| Operator: | Birka Cruises |
| Port of registry: | |
| Route: |
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| Ordered: | 19 November 2002 |
| Builder: | Aker Finnyards, Rauma, Finland |
| Yard number: | 442 |
| Laid down: | 19 October 2003 |
| Launched: | 15 April 2004 |
| Christened: | 10 November 2004 by Arja Saijonmaa |
| Completed: | 8 November 2004 |
| In service: | 11 November 2004 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cruise ship |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 177 m (580 ft 9 in) |
| Beam: | 28 m (91 ft 10 in) |
| Height: | 43 m (141 ft 1 in) |
| Draught: | 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) |
| Depth: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
| Decks: | 11 (10 passenger accessible) |
| Ice class: | 1 A Super |
| Installed power: |
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| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) service speed |
| Capacity: | 1,800 passengers |
MS Birka Stockholm is a cruise ship owned by Birka Line, operated under their Birka Cruises brand. She was built in 2004 by Aker Finnyards at Rauma, Finland, and sailed as Birka Paradise until 2013.
Birka Paradise was ordered by Birka Line from Aker Finnyards at Rauma, Finland on 20 November 2002. She was the first new ship ordered by Birka Line since Birka Queen, ordered in the late 1980s but never delivered due to bankruptcy of the shipyard.
The interior and exterior of the Birka Paradise were jointly designed by Birka Line, Aker Finnyards and Deltamarin. Unlike most of Birka's previous vessels, the ship was designed from the beginning as a genuine cruise ship, without a car-deck. Following a naming competition which drew 3500 proposals, the ship was named Birka Paradise to reflect her Caribbean cruise ship -like design. The ship was designed with various environmentally friendly innovations; in addition to exhaust and closed sewage treatment systems already used on the company's Birka Princess, the Birka Paradise was built to fulfill Det Norske Veritas' Clean Design rule relating to environmentally friendly structural solutions. Her hull form was optimised for smallest possible impact on the sensitive archipelago routes she sails on.
The keel of the Birka Paradise was laid on 19 October 2003 and she was launched on 15 April 2004. Following her sea trials, completed on 19 August 2004 and 14 October 2004, the ship was delivered to Birka Line on 8 November 2004. The then sailed via her port of registry Mariehamn to , where she was officially named on 10 November 2004 by Arja Saijonmaa.
The Birka Paradise entered service on 11 November 2004 on a 22-hour cruise from to Mariehamn, which has been her main route in Birka service. During Christmas 2004 she made a longer cruise from Stockholm, calling at Tallinn, Helsinki and Mariehamn. From 2006 onwards she has made various longer cruises from Stockholm around the Baltic Sea during the northern hemisphere summer season.
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Wikipedia