Freight News

 

06 December 2021

 

"Holger Danske" is starting her last journey today

The ferry "Holger Danske" was built in 1976 at the Aalborg shipyard and used on the route Helsingør-Helsingborg (Denmark-Sweden). Here it was in operation until 1991. After that, it operated between Kalundborg and Samsø for several years, before "Holger Danske" started to carry dangerous goods trucks on the Puttgarden-Rødby route after a conversion in 1999. It ran on this route until April 2020 and was then taken out of service due to the corona pandemic.

Now it's time for the last journey. The Holger Danske leaves Rødby today towards Grenå or more specifically Fornæs Ship Recycling.

Fornæs has all the necessary permits for environmentally friendly ship dismantling and hazardous scrap handling. The condition of an environmentally friendly scrapping of the "Holger Danske" is stipulated in the contract with Fornæs.

It is with mixed feelings that we say goodbye to this always reliable ship from our fleet and already look forward to the comission our first zero emission ferry on the Puttgarde-Rodby route in 2024.

 

08 November 2021

 

Scandlines orders zero emission ferry for the Puttgarden-Rødby route

Scandlines has entered into a contract with Cemre Shipyard, Turkey, to build an emissionfree freight ferry for the Puttgarden-Rødby route.

The ferry will be inserted in 2024 and will launch the next generation of ferries on the route. It has a capacity of 66 freight units, which increases the current capacity by 23 percent.

With a crossing time of one hour, the ferry is emission free. It can also be operated as a hybrid ferry like the current passenger ferries on the Scandlines routes between Germany and Denmark. As a hybrid ferry, the crossing time is 45 minutes. Thus, the ferry can also be used as backup ferry if one the four double-ended ferries that are currently operating the Puttgarden-Rødby route, is in the yard.

As it is known from the ferries operating the Rostock-Gedser route, it will be possible to transport lorries on both the upper and lower decks. Therefore, berth 3 in Rødby and berth 1 in Puttgarden must be rebuilt to also load lorries on the upper deck. At the same time, a new lorry storage area will be established in the terminal of Puttgarden. Scandlines thus replaces the two oldest ships in the fleet, M/V Holger Danske and M/V
Kronprins Frederik.

“With the added capacity, we will be able to meet the increasing need from freight customers. In 2021, the number of freight units has already increased by 12 percent,” says Scandlines’ CEO Carsten Nørland.

With a zero emission ferry, Scandlines is taking a big step on the green journey. The ferry will initially exclusively charge in Rødby. Already in 2019, Scandlines invested in a 50 kV / 25 MW power cable to Færgevej in Rødbyhavn. This cable will now be extended to the ferry berths, where a transformer and charging station will be installed. In the longer run, the plan is to also be able to charge in Puttgarden when a good solution has been found for the purchase of green energy.

The modular construction of the vessel makes it possible to later adjust the vessel in order to also carry cars. Scandlines achieves maximum flexibility, both in terms of future technology and needs. ”Scandlines has for several years focused on the entire area of sustainability. The hybrid system was a quantum leap in green ferry operations. Scandlines not only operates the world’s largest fleet of hybrid ferries, the system is also being copied worldwide and has been a huge success. Now we are ready to take the next big step and insert the first zero emission ferry. The next generation of ferries is ready to take over on the Puttgarden-Rødby
route,” says Chairman of Scandlines’ Supervisory Board Vagn Sørensen.

“NABU welcomes this further major step by the shipping company Scandlines on the way to emission-free shipping. Scandlines not only significantly lowers its own emissions and proves that even larger ships can sail completely without greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions already today, but also paves the way for climate-neutral shipping with its pioneering role. We are thankful for this courageous step,” says Sönke Diesener shipping expert of NABU, the German Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union.

Data for zero emission Scandlines freight ferry for the Puttgarden-Rødby route

• length 147.4m / breadth 25.4m / design draft 5.30m
• freight capacity of 66 freight units / about 1,200 lane metres / pax capacity 140
• service speed 18 kn

 

13th October 2021

Scandlines repeats Rotor Sail order following successful, proven results on M/V Copenhagen

Following the successful installation of the Norsepower Rotor Sail on the hybrid ferry M/V Copenhagen in 2020, and a year of demonstrated results, Scandlines has prepared the sister ferry M/V Berlin for its own Rotor Sail installation. The hybrid ferry, M/V Berlin, also operates on the Rostock-Gedser route but, unlike M/V Copenhagen, is flagged by Germany.

When Scandlines decided to install a Rotor Sail on the hybrid ferry M/V Copenhagen in 2019, the decision was based on technical data from the provider Norsepower Oy Ltd, a few other shipping companies’ experiences as well as its own studies and calculations. The Norsepower Rotor Sail was then installed in May 2020. Now, Scandlines has had more than a year to collect data on how the Rotor Sail works on M/V Copenhagen, and what effect it has on the route between Rostock to the south and Gedser to the north.

Scandlines’ COO, Michael Guldmann Petersen, commented: “We expected the M/V Copenhagen Rotor Sail to provide a 4 - 5% CO2 reduction. That expectation has been met, so we have now taken the next step and prepared the sister ferry M/V Berlin for installation.”

The M/V Berlin operates the route between Rostock and Gedser. The route is perfectly located to meet the requirement that gives the greatest benefit of the Rotor Sail for propulsion, namely that the wind must be perpendicular to the sail. “Our route across the Baltic Sea is north/south bound, and the prevailing wind is from the west or east. In other words, our Rotor Sails have optimal conditions,” says the satisfied Chief Operating Officer.

Several of Scandlines’ other green initiatives on the way to emission-free ferries are not visible to the outside world, as they are below the water surface. A Rotor Sail that protrudes 30 metres into the air, on the other hand, is a very clear signal of a green vision. 

“There has generally been a lot of interest in the Rotor Sail – and in the beginning even wonder among the passengers about the ‘chimney.’ Most of the crew are now also masters of technical explanations that are easy to understand,” says Petersen.

The preparation for the Rotor Sail includes building a steel foundation on the ferry, on which the Rotor Sail will be fixed. The initial work took place when the M/V Berlin was on a planned yard stay at Remontowa in Poland at the end of May. The installation of the Rotor Sail itself is scheduled for 2022.

Get more details on the freight related CO2 emission, Scandlines' sustainability projects and our green agenda.