Gotland Company and Viking Line have partnered to offer intra-Baltic cruises on board Birka Stockholm as of spring 2024.

Gotland Company purchased the laid-up cruiser in March 2023 for €38m, with Viking Line now acquiring a 50% stake for half that price.

The JV will be seated in Stockholm, offering Stockholm-Mariehamn and Stockholm-Mariehamn-Visby trips (and potentially also including other Baltic seaports).

As a result, Viking Line's Viking Cinderella, cruising this year between Stockholm and Mariehamn, will move onto the Helsinki-Mariehamn-Stockholm itinerary next spring.

"We are working on widening Gotland Company's offer with even cruise trips that will supplement our traffic to & from the island of Gotland and other offerings, and who better to do that than with Viking Line and their rich Baltic cruise experience? We see the partnership as a fantastic opportunity where both our and Viking Line's experiences and competencies can work together," Håkan Johansson, CEO of Gotland Company, commented.

He furthered, "The new cruise line will open new ways of travelling to and from Gotland as well as experiencing it. Passengers will have the option to combine cruising with staying on the island or even couple it with sailing with Destination Gotland for a faster link between Gotland and the Swedish mainland."

Jan Hanses, Viking Line's CEO, also said, "We are pleased to have this possibility to work with such a successful shipping line like Gotland Company, for whom we have respect. We consider that our joint contribution to this traffic will further strengthen the cruise product offered from Stockholm."

Photo: Arild Vågen / Wikimedia Commons