“Tallink has operated the Finland-Riga route before, from Turku for the past twenty years. We have also carried out ordered trips, also from Helsinki. In this case our customers expressed interest, and last autumn we decided to start dealing with this question,” AS Tallink Grupp’s sales and marketing director, Margus Hunt, told BNS on Wednesday.

“The first journey is scheduled for the end of the week, and ticket sales indicate a keen interest in the route. Like the Visby route has great demand during the summer period, there are also people who want to take advantage of the opportunity to visit Riga,” Hunt said.

“At the same time, we also believe that there is no market for a permanent route. It has to be taken into account that the trip doesn’t allow for passengers to unload their cars in Riga, basically passengers are able to park their cars on the ship for convenience,” he added.

Late last year when it became clear that the Center Party-led coalition intended to increase excise duties on alcohol and tobacco sooner than planned, Tallink said they weren’t interested in the route. “There are currently no plans, but we are always following market developments closely and won’t rule anything out at this stage,” spokespeople for the company said at the time.