Baltic-Princess

Ahead of the scheduled departure of the ' Baltic Princess ' from Värtahamnen in Stockholm on the evening of Sep 23, 2025, en route to Turku, first the ferry and then a gangway moved a little. No one was injured, but there was some damage to the sheet metal. The ferry, however, has departed as normal and arrived in Turku on Sep 24. Report with photo: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/Rr77qd/aftonbladet-direkt?pinnedEntry=1405941&utm_source=androidapp&utm_medium=share&fbclid=Iwb21leANBLH5jbGNrA0ErbGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeK3dHIvl7Q6iJKTTtAN-WvxNsoQLsg2hAX4qeiTgX9cX8P2Z4P8vcmajOozc_aem_lbk_KEmUPCVF-GkRTmSbzA

The Swedish State Accident Investigation Board has investigated the near collision of the 'Baltic Princess' and the shuttle ferry 'Eskil' (MMSI: 265555080) off Stockholm on Oct 4, 2025. The results now stated that the incident was caused by the 'Eskil' which had departed from Ålstäket towards the Ström Quay in Stockholm In heavy fog and had a problem with an alarm from the starboard side main engine. When the alarm could not be reset, the crew decided to head directly towards the Ström Qiay. In the meantime, the master and deckhand tried to silence the recurring alarm and to restart the main engine. The 'Eskil' thus came far to the port side of the fairway in an unplanned manner. After this, the crew must have discovered that the 'Baltic Princess' was directly in front of the ship. The master of the 'Eskil' then increased speed and turned to starboard. The 'Baltic Princess' had to give way to the ship by first turning to port and then giving hard rudder to starboard. According to the Swedish Maritime Safety Board, the 'Eskil' passed “very close to the bow of the Baltic Princess” at the time of the incident. The cause was considered to be that the master of the 'Eskil' was exposed to an abnormally high workload for a prolonged period due to the sound alarms. Another factor was considered to be the lack of knowledge and familiarity with the technical systems on board. The Swedish Maritime Safety Board believed that this led to attention being diverted from navigation and that the ship therefore drifted unintentionally to port. The recommendation to the operator Djurgårdens Färjetrafik AB was now to ensure that the crews have the knowledge of the engine system that is required to be able to handle different situations that may arise.

On Oct 30, 22024, just before 11 p.m., the 'Baltic Princess',, serving on the route  Turku–Åland–Stockholm, suffered technical problems in the Åland archipelago (Lat. 60.0851; Lng. 20.7857). The ship had to turn around and droppedanchor off the small island Sottunga. The crew managed to fix the problem and the ship resumed its voyage towars Fagarvik shortly after midnight. There were around 400 passengers on board.

A 75-year-old man was sentenced by the Åland district court to daily fines for maritime traffic offenses after having come close to a collision with the 'Baltic Princess' with a sailboat in November 2023. He and another person were underway with the sailboat in the dark at Skiftet on their way from Stockholm to Pargas, when the boat encountered problems with both steering and the propeller shaft. At Skiftet the man had left the helm and gone down into the engine room to check the steering and propeller shaft, causing the boat to lose course and be on a collision course with the ferry. When the man returned to the helm, he made a turn towards the same course the 'Baltic Princess' was heading. The ferry had to turn to avoid a collision, and they passed each other with a distance of about 20 meters. The man was sentenced to 50 daily fines of a total of 500 Euros, and he must also pay 80 Euros in victim surcharge.

In an incident captured on video and posted to social media, several construction company employees, including the manager of the company, have damaged property aboard the 'Baltic Princess', and may now be facing criminal charges. During a voyage in early December, employees from the Finnish construction company Pimura Oy were unruly and disruptive onboard the ship. The company’s 25-year-old manager was part of the onboard party, and even filmed the poor behavior and posted it to his TikTok account. He later deleted the video, but not before it was uploaded to Twitter by other individuals. The unruly behaviour followed a full day of drinking, and included throwing several chairs, cushions, and a small table off an aft-facing stateroom balcony, while others in the party filmed the actions and laughed. The members of the same party reportedly also urinated in one of the ship’s saunas and were “inappropriate” at the ship’s bar, though details of that behavior have not been clarified. Tallink Silja has charged the partygoers for the cost of the furniture, as well as other incidental charges. They have had to pay for the furniture thrown into the sea already there, and an additional bill has followed. The cost of the furniture has not been disclosed, but because it is made to fire-safe standards for use onboard the vessel, it is more expensive than standard furniture would be. Additional fines may also be levied, and local police have been asked to investigate the matter. The cruise ferry line is considering additional charges that may include a criminal filing as they continue to review the incident. Furthermore, the passengers’ poor actions could have had much more severe consequences. The video shows some of the furniture bouncing off the ship’s hull, potentially causing cosmetic damage. Once in the water, the overboard items cause a hazard and can be dangerous to smaller craft in the area, as well as to local wildlife. All passengers involved have been banned from all ships operated by the ferry service for at least the next year. Report with video: https://www.cruisehive.com/passenger-throws-furniture-overboard-from-cruise-vessel/90555