Gotlandsbolaget, which has its headquarters in Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, has paid €38 million for the 2004 built cruise ship Birka Stockholm that is of 34,924 gross tons.

Thew ship will be introduced for part of the year on cruises from the Swedish capital Stockholm to Mariehamn on the Aland Islands that belong to Finland and Visby, with the first departure planned for the spring of next year. 

Birka Stockholm has been laid up since the start of the pandemic three years ago and before that it was used by Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö on short cruises from the Swedish capital, mainly to Mariehamn.

Gotlandsbolaget also operates ferry services between Nynashamn on the Swedish mainland and Visby. Håkan Johansson, CEO of the company, said that there is a market for the kind of cruises Gotlandsbolaget plans to operate in the Baltic and that the cruise ship would complement the company’s ferries that serve Visby. The island of Gotland itself has become a popular destination for cruise ships, he pointed out.

After laying Birka Stockholm up, Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö had explored the possibility to covert the ship that  has accommodation for 1,800 passengers and a high ice class to an expedition cruise ship with approximately 600 berths. However, these plans did not materialise.