MS Birka Stockholm

Concept and construction

Birka Paradise was ordered by Birka Line from Aker Finnyards at Rauma, Finland on 20 November 2002. She was the first new ship ordered by Birka Line since Birka Queen, ordered in the late 1980s but never delivered due to bankruptcy of the shipyard.

The interior and exterior of the Birka Paradise were jointly designed by Birka Line, Aker Finnyards and Deltamarin. Unlike most of Birka's previous vessels, the ship was designed from the beginning as a genuine cruise ship, without a car-deck. Following a naming competition which drew 3500 proposals, the ship was named Birka Paradise to reflect her Caribbean cruise ship -like design. The ship was designed with various environmentally friendly innovations; in addition to exhaust and closed sewage treatment systems already used on the company's Birka Princess, the Birka Paradise was built to fulfill Det Norske Veritas' Clean Design rule relating to environmentally friendly structural solutions. Her hull form was optimised for smallest possible impact on the sensitive archipelago routes she sails on.

The keel of the Birka Paradise was laid on 19 October 2003 and she was launched on 15 April 2004. Following her sea trials, completed on 19 August 2004 and 14 October 2004, the ship was delivered to Birka Line on 8 November 2004. The then sailed via her port of registry Mariehamn to Stockholm, where she was officially named on 10 November 2004 by Arja Saijonmaa.

Service history

The Birka Paradise entered service on 11 November 2004 on a 22-hour cruise from Stockholm to Mariehamn, which has been her main route in Birka service. During Christmas 2004 she made a longer cruise from Stockholm, calling at Tallinn, Helsinki and Mariehamn. From 2006 onwards she has made various longer cruises from Stockholm around the Baltic Sea during the northern hemisphere summer season.

In January 2009 Rederi Ab Eckerö, the owners of Birka Cruises, made public their plans to re-register Birka Paradise to Sweden "as soon as possible" in order to allow the sale of snuff on board. According to European Union legislation snuff may not be sold within the EU except in Sweden and on board ships registered in Sweden. Until November 2007 the province of Åland in Finland allowed the sale of snuff on board ships registered in the province, but was forced to discontinue the practice when threatened by legal action by the EU. The outlawing of snuff sales caused the loss of approximately 1 million € per year for Birka Cruises, finally resulting in the decision to re-flag the Birka Paradise. The reflagging took place on 3 June 2009.

In January 2013 the ship was renamed Birka Stockholm and given a new livery. The stripes on the hull and funnel were changed from blue, yellow and red to just blue and yellow. Also, "Birka Cruises"-signs were placed on the funnel. According to the CEO, the company wanted to make a "change of profile" to a more Northern European theme. However, the company refers to the ship only as Birka, dropping the port of registry (Stockholm, Sweden) which is part of the official name of the ship.

Decks and facilities

1. Engine room and other technical facilities
2. Outside and inside cabins, engine room and other technical facilities
3. Crew facilities
4. Outside and inside cabins, technical facilities
5. Reception, café, tax-free shop, night club, casino, sundeck, technical facilities
6. Bars, cigar club, buffet and a la carte restaurants, conference rooms, helicopter landing platform
7. Outside and inside cabins
8. Outside and inside cabins
9. Bridge, outside and inside cabins
10. Panorama bar, saunas, swimming pool, sundeck
11. Jogging track