{| {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = | Ship flag = | Ship name = *Europa (1993) Silja Europa (1993-present) | Ship namesake = | Ship owner = *1993–2003: Fährschiff Europa KB 2003–2006: Silja Line 2006 onwards: Tallink | Ship operator = *1993–2013: Silja Line 2013–14: Tallink 2014–2016: Bridgeman Services 2016–onwards: Tallink | Ship registry = *1993–2013: Mariehamn, 2013 onwards: Tallinn, | Ship route = Helsinki–Tallinn | Ship ordered = 6 October 1989 | Ship builder = Meyer Werft, Papenburg, West Germany | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = 627 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = 6 November 1991 | Ship launched = 23 January 1993 | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = 5 March 1993 | Ship completed = 6 March 1993 | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = 13 March 1993 | Ship in service = 1993–present | Ship out of service = | Ship refit = (2014) Bridgeman (2016) Tallink | Ship identification = *Call sign: ESUJ | Ship fate = | Ship status = In service | Ship notes = }} |} MS Silja Europa is a cruiseferry constructed at Meyer Werft Germany for the Swedish ferry operator Rederi AB Slite, a part of Viking Line. At 59,914 gross tonnage (GT), she is the largest ship commissioned for and to ever operate for Tallink Silja, and is the tenth-largest cruiseferry in the world. Just before she was due for delivery, Slite entered economic difficulties and could no longer afford the ship, so Meyer Werft kept her and she was soon chartered to Viking Line's rival, Silja Line. She was put on the Helsinki–Stockholm route, replacing MS Silja Serenade which was put to the Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route, but the two ships swapped routes with each other again in 1995. History MS Silja Europa was commissioned by Rederi AB Slite and launched on 23 January 1993. As a result of the 1990-1994 Swedish financial crisis, the Swedish krona was floated in 1992 and consequently lost value. The Europa became more expensive for Slite, whose bank, Nordbanken, had stopped guaranteeing loans. Combined with the construction of other ships, Slite was declared bankrupt in April 1993. She was christened the Silja Europa in Hamburg, Germany on 5 March 1993, then registered the next day to Fährschiff Europa KB. With a ten-year charter to Finnish cruisferry company