Rederi AB Eckero, owner of Birka Cruises that operates the 34,578 gross ton Birka Paradise mainly on 20 hour cruises between the Swedish capital and Mariehamn on the Aland Islands, has decided to rename the vessel Birka Stockholm.

The 2004 built vessel is currently in dry dock in Naantali in Finland and when it will re-enter service next Monday, it will have been renamed, a company official told the Alandstidningen daily.

The same company recently introduced a 36,000 gross ton ropax ferry on service between Helsinki in Finland and the Estonian capital Tallinn that it renamed Finlandia. Built in 2001, the vessel had started life in the fleet of Moby Lines in Italy. It replaced the 1980 built Nordlandia in Eckero service.