Hundreds of trips culled from this year's Hiiumaa, Saaremaa ferry schedules

Ferry operator TS Laevad has been tasked with cutting its transport schedule between the Estonian mainland and the major western islands by 1 percent, reducing the number of trips by a couple hundred.
TS Laevad is fulfilling a mandate from the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture to decrease transport volumes between Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and the mainland by 1 percent on year. This means that this year, there will be 58 fewer departures on the Rohuküla-Heltermaa route to Hiiumaa and 168 fewer departures on the Virtsu-Kuivastu route to Saaremaa, TS Laevad representatives told ERR.
TS Laevad board member Katrin Aron noted that the main schedule for the Hiiumaa ferry will actually be reduced by 38 departures.
"There are 20 reserve trips in the total volume, but the number of reserve trips remained the same both before and after the cut, so the actual impact on ferry departures under the current schedule is 38 trips," she explained.
The choice of where in the schedule to cut departures was made based on both experience and statistics, the operator board member noted.
"In previous years, transport volumes have rather increased, and we've used the increase in the number of trips mainly to extend the [high] season," Aron said.
"We've added the most trips right at the beginning of the season in April, May, and at the end of the season, i.e. from the end of August to October," she continued. "This year, we were forced to cut back slightly chiefly on these trips."
Hiiumaa islanders angry
The reduction in the number of departures has already prompted a response from Hiiumaa islanders: Hiiumaa business-owners and the tourism cluster, together with the Hiiumaa Development Center, sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance, stating that a decision like this is reckless, and was made without consulting business-owners and the community.
"Canceled trips means visitors won't arrive and Hiiumaa businesses' revenues will decrease," the letter states. "The state will miss out on an amount in tax revenue that is several times greater than the approximately €40,000 saved by the cuts."
The islanders are also unhappy with the fact that the most cuts will be made from April's schedule.
"Then there's schools' spring break, Hiiumaa Restaurant Week and this year, Good Friday and Easter as well," the letter pointed out.
"We have worked hard to attract visitors to Hiiumaa outside of Midsummer," it emphasized. "Even so, it is not possible to make any more cuts to February-March or fall period; the schedule is sparse enough [then] as it is."
The islanders added that, converted to the price of a sprat sandwich on board the ferries — €2.70 — the savings achieved by the government-ordered cuts would amount to 14,815 sandwiches.
"This means that if one in every 40 passengers on the Rohuküla-Heltermaa route bought a sprat sandwich at double the price, the missing money would practically land in the government's lap," the letter stated.
Cuts made to off-season
Aron noted that it isn't possible to reduce the schedule on the Hiiumaa route during the winter period, and due to high demand in summer, it can't be scaled back then either.
"On weekdays during the off-season, the Hiiumaa route is only served by one ship, and it isn't possible to make any cuts there," she pointed out, adding that the route's cuts thus involve weekends, when two ferries are operating.
"We have, for example, cut the last rounds of the second ship on Sunday evenings, while still leaving enough departures in the schedule for getting to and from the island," the TS Laevad board member explained. "Cuts on the Hiiumaa route don't affect any so-called main schedule departures."
The greatest number of trips, 14, were cut from the Rohuküla-Heltermaa route's April schedule.
Last year, TS Laevad served a total 680,490 passengers on the Rohuküla-Heltermaa route connecting Hiiumaa to the mainland, and more than 1.78 million passengers on the Virtsu-Kuivastu route connecting Saaremaa to the mainland via the smaller island of Muhu.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla