A newly purchased vessel will cut seaborne journey times between Tallinn and the island of Aegna in half, once she enters service in spring. The new boat can also carry twice the passenger complement of her predecessor.
The boat, the Vegtind, will start serving the route on May 1 and will be operated by Spinnaker, the firm, which has won the city of Tallinn-organized tender process.
The Vegtind is 29 meters in length and has an 8-meter beam, and is already in dock at the Noblessner port development in North Tallinn, having arrived from Sweden earlier this month.
The vessel had previously sailed under the Norwegian flag, and was laid down around 28 years ago.
Spinnaker sales manager Kaspar Eisel said that the Vegtind would cut the former journey time in half, meaning passengers could reach Aegna from Tallinn, and vice versa, in half-an-hour.
The vessel can also accommodate 100 passengers, twice as many as her predecessor, the Vesta, operated by Kihnu Veeteed and sailing from the Linnahall quay in central Tallinn.
The faster, larger vessel need not mean a change in fare prices, though these are to be set by the City of Tallinn.
The 3-square km island of Aegna lies on the northeastern extremity of Tallinn Bay and is administratively part of the City of Tallinn, Kesklinn district. It is permanently inhabited, with a population of a dozen or so.
Partly due to its proximity to the capital and the mainland, it is popular with tourists and day visitors. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
