Viking Line is the largest tourism company to be granted use of the Finnish Key Flag Symbol, awarded by the Association for Finnish Work. The company is Finland’s largest employer in maritime transport and in many ways impacts the whole Finnish economy and employment throughout the country.

Viking Line, which is Finland’s biggest employer in maritime transport, has been granted use of the Finnish Key Flag Symbol. The most important criterion for being awarded use of the symbol is that the company’s service is produced in Finland. Finnish Key Flag companies must also have significant domestic ownership and management that operates in Finland. The company’s head office furthermore has to be located in Finland. Finally, the domestic content of service must be at least 50 per cent of break-even cost. Use of the symbol is awarded by the Association for Finnish Work on application.

“Domestic origin is one of our core values together with sustainability, and we want to use the Finnish Key Flag Symbol to make this even more visible. The symbol nicely sums up our long-term, wide-ranging and concrete work for materials and services of domestic origin,” says Ninna Suominen, Vice President of Marketing at Viking Line.

“We have the biggest fleet of vessels sailing under the Finnish flag among Finnish passenger shipping companies, and Viking XPRS was recently added to that group. In Finland, we have 1,200 seafarers employed full-time and about 500 on short-term contracts – and we are also one of the biggest employers in the country’s entertainment industry. Through our procurement of goods and services and because our employees reside throughout Finland, our economic impact extends from our port cities to all across the country.”

The Association for Finnish Work has granted businesses use of the Finnish Key Flag Symbol since 1975, and as many as 90 per cent of Finns are familiar with the symbol. In the tourism industry, some thirty companies have been awarded use of the symbol.

“Buying a domestic service is seen by most Finns as a way to influence society and choose sustainable values, which improves the country’s competitiveness and prosperity. Viking Line is the largest tourism company to be granted use of the Key Flag Symbol, and the company will provide exposure for our symbol to millions of passengers. It is great that they have joined the group of businesses that vouch for the importance of Finnish work,” says Tero Lausala, chief executive officer of the Association for Finnish Work.

How domestic origin is viewed at Viking Line

• Viking Line is Finland’s biggest employer in maritime transport. About 1,900 of the Group’s 2,400 employees reside in Finland. Last year, Viking Line had total sales of 494.7 million euros.
• The company has its main office in Mariehamn and also has places of business in Helsinki and Turku.
• Four of Viking Line’s five vessels sail under the Finnish flag: Viking Glory, Viking Grace, M/S Gabriella and Viking XPRS, which was recently registered in Finland’s Register of Ships.
• Three of Viking Line’s five vessels were built in Finnish shipyards: Viking Grace and M/S Cinderella in Turku and Viking XPRS in Helsinki.
• The design and technology for the company’s newest vessel, Viking Glory, are mostly the result of Finnish work and engineering know-how. Among the companies that supplied technology for the vessel are Wärtsilä, Kone and ABB.
• Viking Line is one of Finland’s biggest employers in the entertainment industry. Thousands of gigs are performed on the company’s vessels each year.
• Cleaning of the vessels in Finnish ports employs 400–500 people.
• Large volumes of products for the restaurants on board, such as cream, butter, kefir and eggs, are from Finnish producers and farmers. Domestically-sourced food from small producers is also promoted in menus.
• Viking Line plays an active role in the work to protect the Baltic Sea and nature in the archipelago as well as in research in this field. The company supports a number of Finnish environmental organizations, such as the John Nurminen Foundation and the Tvärminne Zoological Station.
• This year, Viking Line is sponsoring production of a new film based on the classic novel about life in the Baltic Sea archipelago, Stormskärs Maja. Filming is now under way in the company’s home territory, Åland.