Editing Silja Line (section)

=== 1993–2006 ===
The year 1993 began with a bang. In January it was reported that Silja Line had chartered {{MS|Europa|1993|6}}, a ship under construction for [[Rederi AB Slite]], one of the owners of Viking Line. Because of financial troubles Slite could not pay for their new ship, and the shipyard decided to charter it to Silja instead. Later in the same year Silja joined forces with [[Euroway]] on their [[Malmö]]–[[Travemünde]]–[[Lübeck]] route. The route proved unprofitable and was terminated in spring 1994.<ref name="Loistoristeilijöiden" />

{{MS|Sally Albatross}} was grounded outside Helsinki in spring 1994 and suffered major damage, which prompted Silja to give up traffic on her. September 1994 saw the largest peace-time maritime disaster on the Baltic Sea, the sinking of {{MS|Estonia}}. ''Silja Europa'', ''Silja Symphony'' and ''Finnjet'' all assisted in searching for survivors from the disaster. ''Silja Festival'' was berthed opposite ''Estonia'' in [[Tallinn]] the day before the sinking,<ref>[http://www.estonia.xprimo.de/estonia%20final%20report/chapter19.htm Estonia Final Report: The Departure], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080207094105/http://www.estonia.xprimo.de/estonia%20final%20report/chapter19.htm archived] on 2008-02-07</ref> but she was in Helsinki when ''Estonia'' sank and did not come to her assistance. The ''Estonia'' sinking led to passenger numbers dropping, which did not help Silja's precarious financial situation. The company was now the largest on the Baltic Sea, having finally overtaken Viking Line in 1993, but financially it was not doing well. In 1995, Effjohn changed their name to Silja Oy Ab. Three years later the name was changed again, this time to [[Neptun Maritime]].<ref name="Loistoristeilijöiden" />

In 1999, Silja faced two big changes. [[Duty free|Tax-free]] sales ended on routes between [[European Union|EU]] countries, which forced the Helsinki–Stockholm ships to start calling at [[Mariehamn]] in [[Åland]], whose autonomous status within Finland allowed them to stay outside the EU tax union after the country joined the EU in 1994 and so avoid the end of tax-fee sales. A bigger change was [[Sea Containers]] purchasing the majority of Neptun Maritime's shares.<ref name="Loistoristeilijöiden" /> In 2000, the new owners brought one of their [[Super SeaCat]]s into service on the Helsinki–Tallinn route and Neptun Maritime again changed its name, this time to Silja [[osakeyhtiö|Oyj]] Abp. In the same year the route between [[Vaasa]] and [[Umeå]] was terminated as unprofitable.<ref name="Uudet">{{in lang|fi}} [http://www.valkeatlaivat.net/historia/uudet_tuulet_puhaltavat.htm Valkeat laivat: Uudet tuulet puhaltavat] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006132700/http://www.valkeatlaivat.net/historia/uudet_tuulet_puhaltavat.htm |date=2007-10-06 }}, retrieved 9 October 2007</ref>

By 2004, Sea Containers owned Silja Line entirely. The company was doing well financially and all seemed to be going well. However, Sea Containers' other operations were not as profitable and in late 2005 they announced their intent to give up their ferry division completely; this naturally including selling Silja Line. In preparation for the sale, the unprofitable ''Finnjet'' and {{MS|Silja Opera}} were taken out of service and transferred under Sea Containers' ownership. ''Silja Serenade'' and ''Symphony'' were also rebuilt in early 2006 to make them more attractive to potential buyers.<ref name="Uudet" />