[5][6] In May 1989, ESCO formed a new subsidiary, joint venture (Estonian: ühisettevõte) Tallink, together with the Finnish Palkkiyhtymä Oy.

At the same time ESCO still operated the Georg Ots in the same route, essentially competing with its own daughter company.

[8] At this time, other companies were establishing themselves on the lucrative Helsinki–Tallinn traffic, including the Estonian New Line, owned by the Tallinn-based Inreko.

[11][12] ESCO was the dominant partner in Hansatee, controlling 45% of the shares, whereas Inreko owned only 12.75% (the remaining 42.25% belonging to Eesti Ühispank, Estonia).

[11] At the same time Inreko sold the Tallink Express hydrofoils to Linda Line, Estonia, and begun operating the Vana Tallinn on Helsinki–Tallinn traffic under the name TH Ferries.

[11][14] In 1997, a second large ferry was brought to Tallink's traffic when the company chartered MS Normandy from Stena Line.

[8] In October, the original MS Tallink, which no longer conformed modern safety regulations, was sold.

[23] Two months later Hansatee purchased their first fast ferry capable of carrying cars, HSC Tallink AutoExpress.

[8][25] A few months earlier, in August 2000, Hansatee had ordered their first newbuild the 2,500-passenger cruiseferry MS Romantika from the Finnish Aker Finnyards.

In 2002, AS Hansatee changed its name to AS Tallink Grupp,[12] and in May of the same year, the company took delivery of the MS Romantika, which was placed on Helsinki–Tallinn traffic.

[39] In April 2009, Tallink took delivery of its last newbuilding (as of 2010), when MS Baltic Queen was delivered STX Europe (the former Aker Yards).

The banks took a more controlling role in the company: it could no longer pay dividends, make investments, or sign new contracts without its creditors' approval.

Tallink also had to pick up the pace in debt repayments if conditions were to improve, and had to look for options to sell or rent some of its ships.

In February 2015, the company signed a building contract for the construction of its first liquefied natural gas-fueled ship, the MS Megastar which began from January 2017, providing a six-times-a-day Tallinn–Helsinki–Tallinn service.

[1] In 2019, Tallink reached a franchise agreement with a global fast-food company, Burger King to open restaurants in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and according to the agreement, Tallink will have exclusive rights for running Burger King eateries in the Baltic states for 20 years.

[47] In late 2018 Tallink ordered its second liquefied natural gas-fueled ship the MS MyStar, it was supposed to be completed by the end of 2019, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tallink later accepted no responsibility for the accident, emphasizing that none of the passengers confirmed actually seeing the man falling overboard or in the water.