OREANDA-NEWS. October 06, 2014. The CEO of the Port of Tallinn, Ain Kaljurand, said the state-owned company will compete for the tender to service domestic ferry routes for the next decade, and already have offers for the required ferries.

The company said they have reached agreements with ship builders in Finland, Poland and Turkey to construct four ferries by the fall of 2016, as required by the procurement.

Kaljurand said he is very happy with the agreements, adding that they now offer a very real alternative to Vainamere Liinid, the privately-owned ferry operator, which has serviced the main domestic lines since 1994.

The initial procurement to find a new service provider for the routes between the main land and the two largest islands only collected one bidder, Vainamere Liinid, but which was disqualified and the Ministry of Economic Affairs began direct negotiations with both companies.

The ministry has asked both companies to submit new offers by 17:00 today, and both said they will comply.

Minister Urve Palo said the initial results could be unveiled by the end of the week.