On Wednesday, Tallink Grupp informed the Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Estonian Seamen's Independent Union (Meremeeste sõltumatut ametiühingut) and the employees of the group's Estonian-flagged ships about the start of the collective redundancy process.

Chairman of the Management Board Paavo Nõgene said so far redundancies had been avoided but it had become clear business will not return to the pre-crisis level this summer.

"Partial travel restrictions remain in place in a number of countries, which will ultimately affect economic performance until at least next summer," he said.

He said as there will be a reduction in ferry services not all of the company's current employees will have enough work. Some members of staff have been offered a 20 percent reduction in their workload and pay. Nõgene said he hoped this would stop the company having to make larger redundancies.

The company has also started redundancy processes in Latvia and Sweden, where up to 800 employees are affected. The lay offs will also mainly affect ships' personnel. In Finland, most employees are on unpaid leave.

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