New ferry - Eemshaven-Kristiansand

Could be interesting. I can’t get that link to load though.:nenau
 
Eemshaven in Groningen gets a permanent ferry connection with Norway

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From April next year, a ferry will sail three times a week between the Eemshaven in Groningen and Kristiansand in Norway. A quay and an office in the port are being built for this purpose. In time, according to initiator Holland Norway Lines (HNL), it would create about a hundred jobs.

The ferry service is operated by the MS Romantika, a vessel of almost 200 meters in length with space for 2500 passengers. Cars, caravans and trucks can also sail along, RTV Noord writes .

The journey between Eemshaven and Kristiansand takes 18 hours. The ship departs from the Netherlands at 3 p.m. and docks in Norway at 9 a.m. the next day.

According to HNL, there is a lot of interest from Norway in particular to visit the Netherlands by ship. The first sailing is on April 7, 2022.
 
It’s a potentially interesting idea, especially for those with reasonably easy access to Holland.
 
Them and the Belgians and (some of) the Germans. Those in Wales, needn’t bother, whilst the Jocks will just moan.

Sagginfrikkin*#&@£……

Nope. All good. Fingers crossed for a Newcastle/Aberdeen - Bergen route.
 
Mmm Newcastle to Ijmuden , wee hop up to Groningen , and I am in Kristiansand Norway for very little mileage !
 
Looking at the route by road, according to google maps it’s a 12 hr drive from Groningen to Kristiansand via the Hirtshel ferry in Denmark(14 if ferry time is not included in google maps timings)which is either 4 or 6 hrs less than the new ferry route.
I appreciate its overnight and obviously less time on the road through what might be a very boring bit of Denmark for all I know but it will most likely cost a fair bit, even taking into account boatmans post I am still wondering why, or am I missing something obvious, which is highly likely and I am prepared to be enlightened or shot down in flames!!

Al.
 
Eemshaven in Groningen gets a permanent ferry connection with Norway

b141f9ae8b9df14ad88aeb3dfceae5ed.jpg


From April next year, a ferry will sail three times a week between the Eemshaven in Groningen and Kristiansand in Norway. A quay and an office in the port are being built for this purpose. In time, according to initiator Holland Norway Lines (HNL), it would create about a hundred jobs.

The ferry service is operated by the MS Romantika, a vessel of almost 200 meters in length with space for 2500 passengers. Cars, caravans and trucks can also sail along, RTV Noord writes .

The journey between Eemshaven and Kristiansand takes 18 hours. The ship departs from the Netherlands at 3 p.m. and docks in Norway at 9 a.m. the next day.

According to HNL, there is a lot of interest from Norway in particular to visit the Netherlands by ship. The first sailing is on April 7, 2022.

Sounds perfect to me. Off the Harwich to Hook ferry in the morning ( which I’ve done literally hundreds of times before cos I worked there for 12 years ), casual little ride up to the new ferry and wake up in Norway the next morning fresh as a daisy. Just under 180 miles.
I’m in! :thumb2
 
Looking at the route by road, according to google maps it’s a 12 hr drive from Groningen to Kristiansand via the Hirtshel ferry in Denmark(14 if ferry time is not included in google maps timings)which is either 4 or 6 hrs less than the new ferry route.
I appreciate its overnight and obviously less time on the road through what might be a very boring bit of Denmark for all I know but it will most likely cost a fair bit, even taking into account boatmans post I am still wondering why, or am I missing something obvious, which is highly likely and I am prepared to be enlightened or shot down in flames!!

Al.

That is no different to bods saying it’s better to ride across France to get to Spain. Every method of transport and route has its merits and demerits. It’s usually best to be thankful of having at least a choice. Covid and a global pandemic (though the janitor denies that is what it is) shows the ultimate, “You have no choice but to…” so we all need to be thankful that some choices will still exist in 2022 and some might even be improved, as news of this new ferry shows.
 
That is no different to bods saying it’s better to ride across France to get to Spain. Every method of transport and route has its merits and demerits. It’s usually best to be thankful of having at least a choice. Covid and a global pandemic (though the janitor denies that is what it is) shows the ultimate, “You have no choice but to…” so we all need to be thankful that some choices will still exist in 2022 and some might even be improved, as news of this new ferry shows.

Totally agree Wapping and if this route happens it will be great for brits for the reasons Boatman & Udders have highlighted, and as part of our plans for next year hopefully include joining a friends yacht somewhere yet to be determined in Norway we would be thinking to maybe take the van across via this route and extend our stay instead of flying, but I’m sure this route hasn’t been introduced just for UK visitors and I still struggle see how it fits in with the routes that exist already.

Al.
 
am I missing something obvious, which is highly likely and I am prepared to be enlightened or shot down in flames!!

As Wapping wrote above.
I'd happily cut a 12 hour boring day in the saddle if possible. Especially going up there, where there is a lot of miles to do.

My best bet is that the price will be comparable to one day driving + extra night + squaring up your tyres, etc.
 
As Wapping wrote above.
I'd happily cut a 12 hour boring day in the saddle if possible. Especially going up there, where there is a lot of miles to do.

My best bet is that the price will be comparable to one day driving + extra night + squaring up your tyres, etc.

I can get that on two wheels if it’s a long ride with no scenery or local culture to enjoy but bikes are a small percentage of ferry traffic, I’m thinking more general ferry traffic, cars, vans, freight etc.
 
I can get that on two wheels if it’s a long ride with no scenery or local culture to enjoy but bikes are a small percentage of ferry traffic, I’m thinking more general ferry traffic, cars, vans, freight etc.

You’ll have to ask Holland Norway Lines (HNL) that question. I can only assume that their research and business model supports their belief that the traffic (of all sorts) between Holland and Norway is sufficient to justify the investment.

A very quick Google search of the vessel, MS Romantika, reveals:

MS Romantika (Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian "Romantika" means "Romance" in English) is a cruiseferry owned and operated by the Estonian ferry company Tallink on a route connecting Stockholm, Sweden to Riga, Latvia. She was built in 2002 by Aker Finnyards, Rauma and she was the first ever newbuilding to be delivered to Tallink. Between 2002 and 2006 the Romantika was used on the Helsinki–Tallinn route, until she was replaced by the new MS Galaxy. After this she was transferred to the Tallinn–Stockholm route, sailing parallel with her sister MS Victoria I.

After the delivery of MS Baltic Queen the Romantika was transferred to the Stockholm–Riga route in May 2009.[2] Simultaneously with this she was changed from Estonian to Latvian registry. When the MS Silja Europa was chartered out from Tallink service in August 2014, the Romantika returned to the Tallinn–Mariehamn–Stockholm route.[1]

In December 2016, with the return of Silja Europa, Tallink reorganized the routes of their ferries and Romantika was transferred to the Stockholm - Riga route from December 12.[3]

On 13 October 2021, she arrived in Glasgow to provide accommodation for people attending the COP26 summit.[4]

Starting in April 2022 the Romantika will be operated Holland Norway Lines on a Kristiansand - Eemshaven routing on charter. This charter was announced on 1st November, 2021, and is due to last three years with two one-year extensions.

The last paragraph is maybe relevant, as it shows the contract period of the single vessel’s new lease onto the Holland > Norway > Holland route. As there is only one vessel serving the route, we can only hope it does not have a significant breakdown issue or suffer some other calamity.

A Google search on HNL, tells:

HNL was formed last year and says on its website it aims to become ‘Holland’s largest shipping line for international passenger, goods and freight between Holland and Norway and one of Europe’s leading short sea shipping lines.’ The project also has the backing of the provincial development fund and the regional port authority.

Scotland

In 2019 Scottish marine services company TEC Offshore said it planned to launch a ferry service between Eemshaven and Rosyth near Edinburgh, focusing on freight traffic, although passengers and cars would also be carried. However, the plan was dropped in July 2020. Travellers to Scotland now use the overnight service between IJmuiden and Newcastle while freight companies drive to the south.

If the report is accurate, it appears that there was to have been a two-company / three-legged operation: Scotland > Holland > Norway, but the Scottish leg never got off the ground. Whether that leg might now reappear, connecting Scotland directly to Holland, remains to be seen.

A search on TEC Offshore, reveals this from 2020 (note the year):

Proposals for a direct ferry link between Scotland and the Netherlands have been cancelled following months of silence around the project, Dutch media are reporting.

Such a route would have been the first continental Europe route from Rosyth since the failed Zeebrugge route which shut down in 2018.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic and speaking to Dutch TV station RTV, TEC Offshore director Gordon Leighton said the plans had been shelved and blamed a “lack of support for the project”.

It is understood the Scottish Government received several approached from businesses proposing new ferry routes, but that securing commercial funding for any proposals has been challenging.

TEC Offshore had been told in July 2019, prior to the plans becoming public knowledge, that funding would have to be found from somewhere other than the substantial amount of money they had requested from the Scottish Government.

The reports in the Dutch media said David Kellas, who was leading the development of the project, has left TEC Offshore to attempt the project with a different company, a move that also failed.

However, future plans for such a route have not been ruled out by the government.

In August, Mr Kellas said: “We are looking at the end of October as a launch date but that is really quite ambitious because of some of the items that we have got to get in place, but in business you have to aim for a target and hopefully you can achieve that. We are ambitious and are saying around the end of October."

Last year, the Evening News understood that the company was in discussions with the Scottish Government over securing a loan of £35-40 million, but the initial October launch date had been described as “not too realistic” by one well-placed source. Discussions had been ongoing but had hit obstacles with the government keen to stress the need for the ferry service to be delivered without public funding.

Following the announcement of the delay until April, a further deadline which has since been missed, one of the project’s directors Gerrit Faber said: “A first departure in October was just a bit too ambitious. A few things still need to be built. "We just don't have a ready-made terminal here like in Rosyth. That is why we have moved everything to the new date of April next year. This has no consequences for the project itself. So we have to take a step ahead when it comes to planning.”

The Scottish Government, when asked about the failure of the plans, said any plans must be delivered on a commercial basis.

A government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government is supportive of new direct ferry services linking Scotland to Europe, but they need to be delivered on a commercial basis.”

In October, Transport Scotland said: “We have provided the company with information and assistance on potential funding mechanisms, including expert advice from colleagues in the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB).”

One year on in October 2021, it would appear that there is still no good business case for the Scotland > Holland route to be introduced and no appetite within the Scottish parliament (nor, I assume, Westminster) to underwrite the costs involved. Clearly, “If you build it, they will come” does not always apply. That might change of course if Scotland were to become independent and / or rejoin the EU, but that’s another matter entirely and some way away. A similar plan to link Scotland directly to the Nordic countries, also came to nothing.
 
I can get that on two wheels if it’s a long ride with no scenery or local culture to enjoy but bikes are a small percentage of ferry traffic, I’m thinking more general ferry traffic, cars, vans, freight etc.

What you are asking makes sense.

I cannot say about freight traffic, but for cars and vans (general use/tourism) still a decent amount of people would ferry instead of driving one full day.
I routinely do my 12 hours days driving the car (up and down from Italy to here) but I'm used to it and I like driving. Most people wouldn't have the patience (and "stamina") to drive that long and will look for alternatives. Again, a leg that long will include an overnight stop for most. And you still have a ferry at the end. Easier to just jump on the ferry overnight from nearby and call it a day, no?

I've seen it multiple times with my uncle coming to Rome from Barcellona by car: ferry. (Route I'd drive)
We have similar ferries traveling south alongside Italy (Genova to Sicily and such).
 


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