Tallink warns: without state support, ships may leave the Estonian flag
The government has dropped its passenger-shipping support measure. Tallink and seafarers warn this could push ships and jobs abroad; the minister floats a green-fuel subsidy in a year.
All years as a table
| Year | Revenue | Profit | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 406 260 000 € | — | 421 |
| 2024 | 433 533 000 € | — | 437 |
| 2023 | 429 692 000 € | 49 118 000 € | 474 |
| 2022 | 379 788 000 € | — | 440 |
| 2021 | 243 846 000 € | −5 014 000 € | 448 |
| 2020 | 238 619 000 € | 97 628 000 € | 394 |
| 2019 | 450 274 000 € | — | 548 |
Tallink and the seafarers' union warn, according to ERR, that the government's decision not to continue the passenger-shipping support measure could take some ships, along with their crews, out from under the Estonian flag. Infrastructure Minister Kuldar Leis replies that in a year maritime transport could be supported by a new measure focused on green fuels.
A year and a half ago the Reform Party and Eesti 200 promised in their coalition agreement to restore the support to keep Estonia competitive with its neighbours and protect thousands of jobs on ships. In a climate ministry press release Leis warned that without a similar measure ships and jobs could sooner or later move to neighbouring countries, costing the state about €54 million a year in tax revenue.
Last year the Riigikogu nevertheless decided not to restore the support, largely because Reform MP Mart Võrklaev had promised to back a cut in the remote gambling tax only if the government dropped the shipping measure. The measure stayed in the state budget strategy until earlier this week, when the government agreed in the new strategy to strike it. According to next year's budget documents, dropping it saves about ten million euros a year in 2027–2030.
Tallink chief executive Peep Jalakas says the decision is good neither for the company's sustainability nor for Estonian shipping more broadly. Tallink is constantly weighing whether to move a ship out from under the Estonian flag, and the lack of support makes that more likely. Jalakas declined to say how likely, stressing that decisions will not be rushed. A year ago the seafarers' union warned that Tallink might move the ferry Victoria, with 300 jobs, out of the Estonian flag.
According to Jalakas, conditions in shipping have become harder: marine fuel costs have nearly doubled since the start of the year, and all passenger shipping has been covered by carbon taxes since January, adding millions of euros in costs. Union head Jüri Lember calculates that one ship leaving the Estonian flag takes about ten million euros in tax revenue with it, because the crews are unlikely to change their place of residence.
Minister Leis says much depends on Tallink's own decisions and that the state must take the budget situation into account. The climate ministry still wants to support shipping, but differently: it will ask the European Commission for state-aid approval so that companies using more environmentally friendly fuels can be supported from the budget in future. The ministry plans a volume of around €10 million a year, the same as was once planned for the passenger-shipping measure.
According to the business register, Tallink Grupp AS itself had revenue of €406.3 million in 2025 (2024: €433.5 million) and 421 employees. This is the parent company's figure, not the whole group's.