New vessel will halve Tallinn-Aegna journey times
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 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 told ERR that the Vegtind will cut the former journey time in half, meaning passengers can 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, which was operated by Kihnu Veeteed and sailed from the Linnahall quay in central Tallinn.
The faster, larger vessel need not mean a change in fare prices, ERR reports, though these are to be set by the City of Tallinn.
The 3-sq-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.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
