The company's vessel VICTORIA I left Helsinki on Monday night, 27 July, with just slightly over 1,000 Finnish passengers on board, ready to discover the Estonian island gem of Saaremaa.

This is the first time VICTORIA I is visiting Saaremaa and it is the largest vessel by gross tonnage to ever visit the Saaremaa deep harbour, completed in 2006 and located approximately 40 kilometres from the capital of the island, Kuressaare.

Around 30 coaches were waiting for the passengers at the port this morning to transfer passengers to Kuressaare and to take them on various island tours to visit Saaremaa's famous landmarks, such as Angla windmills, Kuressaare castle and much more.

Commenting on the special cruise, Tallink Grupp's CEO Paavo Nõgene said:

"We are pleased that we have been able to provide our Finnish customers with this special opportunity this year to sail directly from Helsinki to Saaremaa and the number of passengers on this trip clearly shows that Saaremaa is a popular destination among Finns.

"If the passenger feedback is positive to this kind of trip and there is more demand for Saaremaa cruises, we will be happy to consider offering these cruises also in the future."