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The layoff support measure was introduced in March when the pandemic broke out and the message so far has been that it applies until the turn of the year. What happens next is still unclear.
– It is worrying and worrying not to have a clear idea of what happens after the turn of the year. We, like so many other companies, must have a certain investment horizon, says Marcus Risberg, Director of Tallink Silja.
TT: How urgent is it?
– If we cannot get clear information in the near future, and then we are talking about days or a week regarding the extension, then we may be forced to review the number regarding staff.
Severely affected
The cruise industry in particular is one of the most affected activities during the pandemic. Tallink Silja’s interim report this summer was a clear example of this. Passenger numbers during the second quarter totaled just over 388,000, compared with 2.6 million in the same period last year, a run of 85 percent.
Revenue for the quarter fell 74 percent, while operating profit plunged 95 percent. Marcus Risberg claims that about 80 percent of the staff have been on short-term leave and that the winter and spring of 2021 are now considered periods of lost income.
– We have put our business in that we must overwinter during the 2020/21 low season. We see that we will be below a low operating level until spring and then in 2021 we will have a more stabilized existence. So it is important that we have reasonable control over the spread of the infection and that people really want to move.
Legacy down
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, operations on the Stockholm – Helsinki route have been dormant for both Tallink Silja and its competitor Viking Line. Therefore, the recently announced Finland travel restrictions regarding Sweden will not have a major effect on Tallink Silja in the short term.
But Marcus Risberg remains highly critical of the different strategies of the Nordic countries against the spread of infection.
– Nordic cooperation, which was thought to exist, in the end was not as strong as it was thought. No way has been found to address the situation in a balanced way with regard to border and travel restrictions. There has not been a unified line.
Tobias Österberg / TT
Tallink Group operates under the Tallink and Silja Line brands on seven routes in the Baltic Sea and also has several hotels in the Baltic.
The company is listed on the Tallinn and Helsinki stock exchanges.
Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, Tallink Silja, among other things, has been forced to stop travel between Stockholm and Helsinki. As an alternative, the company, among other things, has changed its routes and temporarily operates in Gotland and the High Coast.
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