HELSINKI: Passenger cruise liner company Viking Line is considering shifting to Sweden if the government cut support to passenger ships, reported Finnish language daily Helsingin Sanomat. The government is planning to downsize the support to passenger ships by about €20 million.
Over half of the reduction targets Viking Line since the company has the most Finnish flagged passenger ships. Viking Line’s Managing Director Jan Hanses estimates the cuts to weaken the company’s revenue and jeopardise jobs. According to Hanses, Viking Line is likely to relocate to Sweden if the government goes ahead to implement the reduction.
The passenger shipping cuts is part of conditional further measure which is considered if the social contract realisation fails. The Chairman of the Finnish Seafarers’ Union Simo Zitting told Helsingin Sanomat that the government had earlier promised not to intervene on aid schemes which concerns commercial shipping.
