Finland Steamship Company
Industry | Cargo and passengershipping |
---|---|
Founded | 1883 |
Defunct | 1990 |
Fate | Merger |
Successor | EffJohn |
Headquarters | Helsinki,Finland |
Subsidiaries | Silja Line Finncarriers Finnlines |
Finland Steamship Company(Swedish:Finska Ångfartygs Aktiebolag,abbreviatedFÅA,Finnish:Suomen Höyrylaiva Osakeyhtiö,abbreviatedSHO) was aFinnishshipping company founded in 1883 by Captain Lars Krogius.[2]In Finnish and Swedish, the company was usually referred to simply as FÅA. In 1976, the company changed its name toEffoa,a phonetic spelling of the abbreviation FÅA.
The company was a founding member of theSilja Lineconsortium.[3]In 1975 FÅA foundedFinncarrierstogether withFinnlinesas a joint freight operations venture. At the same time FÅA gave up passenger traffic between Finland and Germany, the ships used on the route were sold to Finnlines. In the 1980s both Finncarriers and Finnlines became fully owned subsidiaries of Effoa. In 1989 Effoa decided to give up its freight-carrying operations, and its shares of Finnlines were transferred to Effoa's owners.[4]Effoa stopped trading as an independent company in 1990 when its freight operations were demerged to form an independentFinnlines,while the passenger operations were merged withJohnson Line(the other partner in Silja Line at the time) to formEffJohn.
In 1945, FÅA was the first company post-World War IIto restart passenger traffic betweenHelsinkiandStockholm,usingWellamo.The same ship was also the first to start passenger traffic between Helsinki andTallinnafter World War II in 1965.[5]
Ships
[edit]- Arcturus(1899–57) — Passenger ship that operated primarily on theHanko–Copenhagen–Hullroute.
- Oberon(1925–30) — Sunk whenArcturuscollided with it in fog.[6]
- Wellamo(1927–67) — RestartedHelsinki–StockholmandHelsinki–Tallinntraffic after World War II. Scrapped in 1969.
- Ilmatar(1964–80) — Later the casino cruise shipPalm Beach Princess.Scrapped in 2011.
- Finlandia(1967–76) — Effoa's first modern car/passenger ferry. Scrapped in 2009.
- Aallotar(1972–78) — First ship to start year-round traffic between Helsinki and Stockholm. Scrapped in 2004.
- Finlandia(1981–90) — Largestcruiseferryof her time. LaterQueen of ScandinaviaofDFDS Seaways.
- Finnjet(1986–90) — Bought fromEnso-Gutzeit.The longest and fastest cruise ferry of her time, and still fastest as of 2008.
References
[edit]- ^Finland Steamship Company's Emigrant Ships at genealogia.fi,retrieved on December 4, 2006
- ^Finland Steamship Company Ltd. at TheShipsListArchived2006-11-27 at theWayback Machine,retrieved on December 4, 2006
- ^Silja Line official website "History" saved at archive.org Feb 07, 2007,retrieved on November 15, 2007
- ^Finnlines' 55 YearsArchived2007-07-10 at theWayback Machine,retrieved February 16, 2007
- ^"Fakta om Fartyg, S/S Wellamo (1927)".,retrieved February 16, 2007
- ^Wilson, RM (1956).The Big Ships.London:Cassell & Co.pp. 220, 221.