MS Aallotar
In 1970 the Finnish shipping company Oy Siljavarustamo - Siljarederiet Ab ordered two new carferries for Helsinki–Stockholm service from the French Dubegion-Normandie S.A. shipyard. During construction of the ships Silja's operations were reorganised, and the building contract for the first ship was transferred to Finland Steamship Company (FÅA). On 23 July 1971 the ship was christened MS Aallotar. She was delivered to FÅA on 17 February 1972, and on 29 February she was set in Silja Line traffic between Helsinki and Stockholm, becoming the first car/passenger ferry to operate on the route, and the first to operate the service around the year. In June she was joined in the route by her brand-new sister MS Svea Regina. In December 1972 she collided with a Swedish ice breaker in the Stockholm archipelago, but was spared serious damage.
The new ships proved the Helsinki–Stockholm route to be highly lucrative, and by 1973 Silja Line's owner companies decided to order three larger ferries to replace the Aallotar and Svea Regina, to be delivered in 1975, so the groundbreaking Aallotar's service on the route was to be short. On 7 August 1973 the Aallotar was chartered for a special cruise around the Porkkala archipelago for the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. On 7 July 1975, after delivery of the new MS Wellamo, the Aallotar was transferred to Turku–Mariehamn–Norrtälje service. She proved unprofitable on this freight-oriented line, and in August 1976 the Aallotar was laid up, waiting for a potential buyer. No buyer was found however, and between June and August 1977 the Aallotar was back in active service, sailing between Turku and Stockholm. After this she was again laid up, but only for a short while as in October 1977 she was chartered to Polferries, who set her on traffic between Helsinki and Gdansk, Poland, without a change of name.
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