In promoting the protection of the Baltic Sea’s sensitive maritime environment, this year Viking Line supports the John Nurminen Foundation, the University of  Helsinki’s Tvärminne Zoological Station and the Baltic Sea Action Group. The company’s collaboration with these organizations complements its own wide-ranging measures to reduce its own environmental impact.

Viking Line is providing support to the John Nurminen Foundation, the University of Helsinki’s Tvärminne Zoological Station and the Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) with a substantial donation.

“The same goal unites us all: keeping the Baltic Sea and its archipelagos alive and promoting biodiversity for future generations. Like before, the money being donated was collected through the sale of plastic carrier bags on board our vessels, so our passengers are once again  contributing strongly to the work to protect the Baltic Sea. We hope this donation also pleases them and inspires as many people as possible to play a part in protecting the Baltic Sea,” says Viking Line’s Sustainability Manager, Dani Lindberg.

Protecting the Baltic Sea has been a key focus in Viking Line’s sustainability work since the 1980s. For the first time, the company is making a donation to the Baltic Sea Action Group, a non-profit foundation that has worked since 2008 with a particular focus on promoting regenerative agriculture and protecting the sea’s biodiversity.

“We are incredibly grateful for Viking Line’s donation, which helps us to continue our ambitious, long-term work. Thanks to donations, we can among other things help landowners in the archipelago to establish private marine conservation areas in their own water areas. With this protection, these valuable marine environments can be protected from further strain, such as water use and dredging,” says the Baltic Sea Action Group’s Corporate Relations Director, Johanna Siltala.

In addition to supporting organizations, Viking Line works with a long-term focus on reducing the environmental impact of its own operations. For example, the company purchased 10 tonnes of biogas in 2023 and about 600 tonnes in 2024. This year, the use of biogas will increase tenfold to about 6,000 tones, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60,000 tonnes.

“Since August, we have purchased European biogas equivalent to the amount of fuel used by Viking Glory. This tremendous increase in our purchase of renewable biofuel has made it possible for all of Viking Line’s passengers and cargo customers to now choose a 100% fossil-free trip. Our Helios concept, which we presented over the summer, also shows that a fully electric sea journey on a large scale is no longer a utopia, but can become a reality as early as the next decade,” notes Dani Lindberg.

Viking Line supports the following organizations:

Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG)

The Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) promotes the well-being of the Baltic Sea especially by reducing the load on waterways from agriculture and forestry. The foundation develops solutions that improve the state of the Baltic Sea, support biodiversity, combat climate change and strengthen protection of the marine environment, especially in the Archipelago Sea in southwest Finland.

University of Helsinki: Tvärminne Zoological Station

Tvärminne Zoological Station is a marine research station located at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, where research on the coastal environment has been carried out for more than 120 years. The station is one of three biological research stations belonging to the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Research is conducted here on subjects such as the impact of climate change on the Baltic Sea’s coastal environments.

John Nurminen Foundation

The goal of the John Nurminen Foundation, founded in 1992, is to save the Baltic Sea and its cultural heritage for future generations. The foundation’s projects improve the state of the  Baltic Sea through concrete measures that reduce both the load on the sea and different environmental risks. The foundation has carried out dozens of projects.