Following the sale of the passenger ship, m.s. ADMIRAL
OF SCANDINAVIA, which serviced the Cuxhaven-Harwich route
for the last time on 13 November 2002, DFDS Seaways has
entered a charter agreement with the Norwegian shipping
company BNR Fjordline for the passenger vessel, m.s.
BERGEN. The vessel will operate the route under the Danish
DIS flag on bareboat conditions for a period of about five
years. The first departure will take place from Cuxhaven on
11 April 2003. Built in 1993, m.s. BERGEN will be renamed m.s. DUCHESS
OF SCANDINAVIA before being put into service. The ship is a
combined passenger and freight vessel with capacity for 840
passengers, its 207 high standard cabins providing a total
of 690 berths and it has a dedicated space for 120
passenger vehicles. The trailer deck has a cargo capacity
of 650 lane metres. Other facilities include excellent
restaurant and bars, a discotheque, lounge, conference
rooms, and shopping centre. The ship will be generally
refurbished to DFDS Seaways’ standards before entering
service. In March 2002 the route was changed from Hamburg-Harwich
to Cuxhaven-Harwich. Cuxhaven is also an important freight
hub for DFDS Tor Line. The freight service
Cuxhaven-Immingham was upgraded in the autumn of 2002
and the addition of another ro-ro vessel
increased the sailing frequency to five weekly
roundtrips. The Cuxhaven-Harwich route will offer three to four
weekly departures in each direction throughout the year,
bringing the number of weekly freight departures on the two
DFDS routes between northern Germany and the UK up to eight
or nine. With a convenient location directly by the motorway
network, Cuxhaven offers easy connections to Hamburg,
Bremen, Hanover and the rest of Germany. The port is also
attractive for road and rail traffic from Switzerland,
Austria, Italy and Eastern Europe. When Germany introduces
a road tax in September 2003, DFDS’ direct routes from
northern Germany will become even more attractive for
freight customers, whose alternative is long-distance road
transport to ports in the Netherlands and Belgium or via
the Channel tunnel. DFDS has high expectations for the
potential freight volume on the routes, as Ole Frie,
Presiding Director of DFDS A/S, explains. DFDS Tor Line, which has offered a ro-ro/freight only
service on the route since mid-November 2002, will continue
to operate this service until m.s. BERGEN is put into
service and the continued passenger/freight route is
re-opened.
Facts about m.s. BERGEN
Built: 1993
Length: 134.40 m
Breadth: 24.30 m
Gross tonnage: 16,794 tonnes
Net tonnage: 6,366 tonnes
DWT: 3,070 tonnes Main engines: 2 Sulzer/Wärtsila, 5760 KW each
Service speed: 18.5 knots Sailing time: 18.5 hours
Departure/arrival times:
Departure Cuxhaven: 5.00 p.m.
Arrival Harwich 10.30 a.m. local time Departure Harwich: 4.00 p.m. local time
Arrival Cuxhaven: 11.30 a.m. For further information please contact Ole Frie,
telephone +45 3342 3400, e-mail:ole.frie@dfdstorline.comor Thor Johannesen, telephone +45 3342 3150,
e-mail:thor.johannesen@dfdsseaways.com. |