Stormen Alfrida, with its strong winds, could lead to record-breaking waves.
This has caused Viking Line to cancel several of its ferries for Tuesday evening.
On New Year's Eve, one of Viking Line's ships travelled directly to Helsinki instead of making a stop in Mariehamn.
– The wind was so strong then that the ship could not stop in Mariehamn at 11:45 PM, says Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, communications director at Viking Line, to Iltalehti.
According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, winds of between 25-27 metres per second are possible tonight. This in turn could result in record high waves of seven metres in western Finland, reports Yle.
This has caused Viking Line to cancel its service between Mariehamn and Kapellskär on New Year's Day. On Wednesday, several departures on the same route will be cancelled.
According to Johanna Boijer-Svahnström, passengers were warned and several have rebooked. Should the few Ålandic passengers be unable to disembark in Åland, they will be accommodated in vacant cabins.
”Every commander makes their own assessment.”
But not all shipping companies are cancelling their services.
– Each captain makes their own assessment as to whether it is safe for passengers and the vessel to leave the quay, but we have no cancelled departures, says Oscar Brehmer, communications manager at Tallink Silja.
Elsewhere, ferries to Poland and Denmark have also been cancelled.
In Sweden, the SMHI has issued class 2 warnings in several areas due to Alfrida, as both rail and road traffic have been affected by the storm.
Source: svt.se
