MS Rosella
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Rosella |
| Route: | Kapellskär–Mariehamn |
| Ordered: | 18 January 1979 |
| Builder: | Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Turku, Finland |
| Laid down: | 27 April 1979 |
| Launched: | 14 August 1979 |
| Acquired: | 25 April 1980 |
| Maiden voyage: | 23 May 1980 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cruiseferry |
| Tonnage: | 16,850 GT |
| Length: | 136.11 m (446 ft 7 in) |
| Beam: | 24.24 m (79 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 5.4 m (17 ft 9 in) |
| Ice class: | 1 A |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 20.2 knots (37.4 km/h; 23.2 mph) |
| Capacity: |
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MS Rosella is a cruiseferry, built in 1980 by Wärtsilä Turku shipyard, Finland for SF Line, one of the owners of the Viking Line consortium. She currently serves Viking Line's Kapellskär–Mariehamn route.
The market for transporting passengers, cars and cargo trucks across the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden grew steadily during the 1960s and the early 1970s. During these years, two major carriers on these services emerged: Viking Line and Silja Line. By the time of the mid 1970s, the Ålandian based shipping company SF Line operated three ships as a part of Viking Line. Although not more than ten years old, these ships was already beginning to be too small and held too few passenger cabins to meet the growing demand from passengers. In response to this, as well as the newbuilings recently added to the Silja Line fleet, SF Line decided to order two new and bigger ships. These ships would later be known as the MS Turella and the Rosella.
The lowest bid for building the two new vessels came from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In order to save job opportunities in Finland, the Finnish state subsidised the construction of the new ships with 17 million Finnish markka. Thus, the order for the ships eventually went to Wärtsilä and both ships were to be built at their shipyard in Turku, Finland.
SF Line's latest newbuilding was the Aurella, delivered to the company in 1973. The Aurella was of a new breed of ferries crossing the Baltic, she had two decks of public spaces along with two separate car decks. Inspired by the success of the Aurella, the newbuildings' design resembled her closely although more cabins and larger public spaces were added.
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