WWF Finland and Tallink started a campaign to support the Baltic ringed seal
WWF Finland and AS Tallink Grupp have today launched a large-scale donation campaign for supporting the Baltic ringed seal. Everyone who donates, will have the opportunity to digitally write their name on board of the new environmentally friendly LNG vessel Megastar. The campaign targets to collect 25 000 euros.
With the collected donations, WWF Finland will start projects to get more reliable data on the size of the population of Baltic ringed seal by boats and planes, study the less known populations for example in the Archipelago Sea and find out where the seals roam and how they choose the area they live in.
WWF protects the habitat of the seal, the Baltic Sea e.g. against eutrophication and oil spills. The ringed seals are Arctic species, and their survival depends on the presence of ice and snow. That is why climate change poses the biggest threat to the Baltic ringed seal today. For example, the Archipelago Sea may only freeze for a few weeks in the future, which is not sufficient to carry the ringed seals through the breeding season.
The campaign can be found at oma.wwf.fi/tallink-eng. The smallest single donation sum is 5 euros. Everyone who makes a donation to this project is invited to digitally write their name on board of Tallink’s new vessel, Megastar. In the entrance lobby of Megastar, there will be a large screen welcoming everybody coming on board or saying good bye when they leave.
CEO of AS Tallink Grupp, Mr. Janek Stalmeister said, that the company is glad to express the support towards the environmentally responsible way of business also by engaging the general public. „Megastar is designed to be the most environmentally sound vessel on the Baltic Sea, making it the perfect ship to carry the message for supporting the nature. We hope, that our passengers as well as people, who are generally interested in helping this species to survive, will participate in that project. Me along with my family certainly will“, said Stalmeister.
Tallink Silja Oy and WWF Finland have been partners in protecting the Baltic Sea since the year 2001. With the new partnership with AS Tallink Grupp from March 2016 this work will be continued.
’WWF is happy to have one of the biggest brands operating in the Baltic Sea working with us to save the Baltic ringed seal and the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is one of the most vulnerable and polluted sea areas in the world, and we need frontrunners to show how we can help conserve it. Together we also aim to raise awareness of the importance to protect the Baltic Sea’, said Liisa Rohweder, the CEO of WWF Finland.
About Megastar
Megastar will be 212 meters long, can accommodate altogether 2800 passengers and will start operating on Tallinn-Helsinki route. She will be ready in the beginning of 2017. Megastar will use LNG as fuel, but will also be able to run on diesel. She will be a 49 000 GT ship with a service speed of 27 knots. Megastar will comply with the new and stricter emission regulations for the ECA areas including the Baltic Sea. On Tallinn-Helsinki route alone AS Tallink Grupp transports more than 4.7 million passengers a year. The company has a fleet of 15 vessels and operates on 6 different routes on the Baltic Sea connecting Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Latvia for more than 9 million passengers every year.
About WWF
WWF, the global conservation organization, is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
