Setback for the re-establishment of the Kapellskär–Mariehamn route

FerryÅlands Folkrederi AB, which - through a local share subscription in the Åland Islands - aims to re-establish the route between Kapellskär and Mariehamn with a newbuild vessel, has had its application for financial support rejected by the Åland Structural Fund Programme (ERUF).

This was reported by the local news outlet Ålands Radio. The application sought EUR 84,400 to cover roughly half of the cost of hiring a project manager to continue Ålands Folkrederi’s development of tonnage for the route from September 2025 to March 2026.

The plan was for Kaj Jansson, former Technical Director at Viking Line and now part of the core at Ålands Folkrederi, to complete the building specifications for the proposed battery-hybrid RoPax newbuild. So far, the parties involved in Ålands Folkrederi have been working voluntarily, but through the application they had hoped to begin what they considered a necessary professionalization of the project, Ålands Radio writes.

Viking Line ceased operations on the Kapellskär–Mariehamn route in January 2023, when the route’s ferry, the 1980-built ROSELLA, was sold to Aegean Sea Lines, which today operates the vessel under the name ANEMOS out of Piraeus.

Oct 06 2025