History
Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen (later Rederi Ab Solstad and merged into Rederi Ab Sally in 1970) was founded in 1959 and started ferry operations between Gräddö (Sweden) and Korpo (Finland). After a disagreement between the founders, a group of men led by Gunnar Eklund left Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen and started a new company, Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan. The new company purchased the steamer Brittany, renamed her Ålandsfärjan and started operations between Kapellskär (Sweden) and Mariehamn (Åland) in direct competition with Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen.
In 1966, Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan, Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen and Rederi AB Slite joined forces and founded the marketing company Viking Line in order to compete with Silja Line. During the following years, the three companies ordered many newbuildings and Viking Line became a dominant operator in baltic ferry operations.
In 1970, Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan changed its name to SF Line, 'S' referring to Sverige (Sweden) and 'F' to Finland. Their first newbuilding was the MS Kapella, delivered in 1967. As a tribute to Gunnar Eklund's wife Ellen, the names of all subsequent new ships of SF Line ends with '-ella'.
When Rederi Ab Sally in 1987 was acquired by Silja Line's owning company EffJohn, SF Line and Rederi AB Slite forced Sally to leave Viking Line. After the bankruptcy of Rederi AB Slite in 1993, SF Line was the only remaining company in Viking Line. SF Line then changed its name to Viking Line.
Read more about this topic: SF Line
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (18151902)
“We said that the history of mankind depicts man; in the same way one can maintain that the history of science is science itself.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (17491832)
“There are two great unknown forces to-day, electricity and woman, but men can reckon much better on electricity than they can on woman.”
—Josephine K. Henry, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 15, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)