Due to the pandemic, the operating environment was initially very unfavorable, with corresponding economic consequences. From the end of February, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine contributed to sky-high fuel prices and market uncertainty. At the same time, there was a renewed demand to travel, especially locally. In October, AMORELLA was sold and in December an agreement was reached to sell ROSELLA. In March, the new VIKING GLORY, began its traffic. The ship has been very popular and will reach the 1 million passenger milestone after less than a year in traffic.

Traffic on the different routes

The largest increase was on the Turku - Åland - Stockholm route with 1,955,988 (904,321) passengers (+116.3 %). Viking Line's market share was 64 %. On the Helsinki - Åland - Stockholm route, only GABRIELLA operated during the year and had 515,445 passengers. During the summer, the ship did several special cruises. VIKING CINDERELLA, in cruise traffic between Stockholm and Mariehamn, had 517,354 (256,344) passengers and also did special cruises to several destinations in Sweden during the year. The number of passengers between Mariehamn and Kapellskär on ROSELLA was 464,375 (348,209). Between the capital cities of Helsinki and Tallinn, VIKING XPRS had 1,266,642 (586,354) passengers.

The number of freight units decreased to 117,777 (129,278) while the number of passenger cars increased to 630,651 (442,484).

- We are ending an exceptionally eventful year. A decision was taken to flag VIKING XPRS under the Finnish flag, AMORELLA was sold in October, in December an agreement was reached to sell ROSELLA, and the new VIKING GLORY began her traffic in March. We are pleased with VIKING GLORY's successful traffic start. She has made her mark on shipping both internationally and within our own traffic area in the Baltic Sea. The vessel has been popular in the market and has also performed well and significantly contributed to the company's results. Her 1 millionth passenger will be achieved in January 2023. The new business year 2023 will be both challenging and engaging. We are closely following the development of business cycles and adapting to meet the challenges - especially regarding the new environmental standards we face. At the same time, we look optimistically towards the future, says Jan Hanses, CEO of Viking Line.     

© Shippax