Valentina Matviyenko said at the ceremony that the event was a major landmark in the economic and cultural interaction of the three Baltic cities. She thinks the new ferry line will significantly strengthen regional cooperation. "We need each other," said the governor.
The ten-deck Fantasia ferry, reports the St Petersburg newspaper Nevskoye Vremya, was acquired by the Estonian Tallink company for $33 million. It is 136 m long and 24.6 m wide, and has 913 rooms and a parking lot for 300 cars.
After the ceremony, Matviyenko and Savisaar signed an agreement on holding the traditional St Petersburg Days in Tallinn on October 21-23. The St Petersburg governor said she would be in the Estonian capital at that time for the opening of the restored museum house of the first Russian emperor, Peter the Great, in the Kadriorg Palace ensemble that also houses the residence of the Estonian president.
