On 28 May 2020, the Estonian Government decided that as of 1 June, citizens of 16 Schengen countries (Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland) may enter Estonia without a quarantine obligation and in addition, citizens of 11 other European countries (Sweden, Belgium, Portugal, Malta, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland) may enter the country, but must then remain in quarantine for two weeks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs updates the list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter without a quarantine obligation every Friday according to the rate of infected persons in the countries of origin.
The government's decision will help to resume passenger transport on Estonian-Finnish shipping lines, where it has been possible to travel only for work-related purposes or for urgent family matters since 14 May. Finland has not yet announced the opening of borders to tourists, so Finnish citizens can travel freely to Estonia, but citizens of Estonia and other countries cannot travel to Finland for tourism, yet.
In the statistics of the summer months of 2019, the share of citizens of the above-mentioned countries without quarantine obligations accounted for 61% of all passengers on the Tallinn-Helsinki route, including 53% in Finland. The share of citizens of countries subject to quarantine obligations was 3.2%. Thus, it can be assumed that the lifting of restrictions will most affect Finnish passengers, who will be able to sail to Tallinn again. The second largest group of passengers on Estonian-Finnish shipping lines are Estonians (24%), of whom 26% travel for work.
The Tallinn-Stockholm and Tallinn-St. Petersburg shipping lines are still closed, and it is unknown at this time when they will be restored. There have been no cruise ship calls in Tallinn this season, there are valid reservations for the period July-September, but cruise companies have the right to cancel them free of charge, which has been done with current May-June reservations.
Tallinna Sadam is one of the largest cargo- and passenger port complexes in the Baltic Sea region, which in 2019 serviced 10.64 million passengers and 19.9 million tons of cargo. In addition to passenger and freight services, Tallinna Sadam group also operates in shipping business via its subsidiaries – OÜ TS Laevad provides ferry services between the Estonian mainland and the largest islands, and OÜ TS Shipping charters its multifunctional vessel m/v Botnica for icebreaking and construction services in Estonia and offshore projects abroad. Tallinna Sadam group is also a shareholder in an associate AS Green Marine, which provides waste management services. Tallinna Sadam group's sales in 2019 totaled EUR 130.5 million, adjusted EBITDA EUR 74.3 million and net profit EUR 44.4 million.
Additional information:
Marju Zirel
Head of Investor Relations
AS Tallinna Sadam
m.zirel@ts.ee