Investor News
No.: 25/2008
Copenhagen, 30 October 2008
DFDS and Polferries to collaborate on Swinoujscie-Ystad
DFDS will charter the ship operating on the route, and Polferries will continue
to operate the ship and the route. The collaboration gives DFDS access to the
important Polish market and extends the route network. Polferries achieves a
more solid platform for further development.
DFDS and Polferries are joining forces on Poland-Sweden. On 1 November 2008,
DFDS will charter the combined passenger/freight vessel, WAWEL, from
Polferries/PZB. At the same time, the two companies have entered into a
management agreement which means that the ship will remain on its current route
between Swinoujscie in Poland and Ystad in Sweden: The ship will also continue
to be operated by Polferries with the current crew, timetables and under the
Polferries brand.
WAWEL accommodates 1,000 passengers, has cabins for overnight crossings and
1,490 lane metre freight capacity. There are departures every day from
Swinousjscie at 14:00 and from Ystad at 22:30.
“DFDS has an extensive route network in the Baltic, but no routes to Poland. We
are therefore delighted to enter into this collaboration agreement with an
experienced Polish operator, which gives us contact with the large and important
Polish transport market,” says Peder Gellert Pedersen, Executive Vice President,
DFDS A/S.
“We are very satisfied with the collaboration agreement with DFDS as it provides
us with a solid platform for further development. Also, due to its strong
transport network in and around the Baltic, it gives us the necessary boost
within the market. We are also delighted that our experienced and loyal crew
members have been an important argument in the negotiations with DFDS. DFDS
already employs Polish crew members on other routes,” says Jan Warchol, chairman
of the board, Polferries.
Polferries/PZB has its head office in Kolobrzeg in Poland and runs a total of
four ships on the routes Swinoujscie-Ystad, Gdansk-Nynäshamn (near Stockholm in
Sweden) and Swinoujscie-Copenhagen, where the ship is handled at the DFDS
Terminal.
DFDS, with its head office in Copenhagen, operates 60 freight and passenger
vessels in the Baltic, North Sea and Irish Sea. In the Baltic DFDS operates the
routes Karlshamn- Klaipeda, Kiel-Klaipeda, Lübeck-Riga,
Fredericia-Copenhagen-Klaipeda, Sassnitz-Baltijsk/Klaipeda and Kiel-St.
Petersburg.
Further information:
Communications Manager Gert Jakobsen +45 24 40 00 43.
DFDS - a leading sea-based transport network in northern Europe. DFDS has around
4,400 employees and employs a fleet of around 60 ships. DFDS was founded in 1866
and is listed on OMX The Nordic Stock Exchange Copenhagen.
