DFDS reduces sailings on Denmark – Norway
COVID-19: One of the two ships serving DFDS’ passenger routes on Copenhagen – Oslo, and Frederikshavn – Oslo will be temporarily laid up due to tighter travel restrictions. Unfortunately, 20 waiters will be affected, whilst other colleagues will maintain their jobs as a result of a trade union agreement, relocation to other ships, etc.
Increasing infection rates and stricter travel restrictions have reduced further the number of passengers on DFDS’ passenger ferry routes on Copenhagen – Oslo and Frederikshavn – Oslo in recent weeks.
“With the worsening situation, there are simply too few passengers on board to maintain a full sailing schedule, and therefore we are unfortunately forced to reduce the service to one ship until mid-February,” says Kasper Moos, Vice President and Head of DFDS’ passenger business.
“This means that from 2 November, there will in principle be departures every other day from each port instead of every day. We will now inform customers about this via e-mails, social media and DFDS website.
“With the reduced sailing schedule, Pearl Seaways will be DFDS’ only passenger ship operating between Denmark and Norway, while Crown Seaways will be docked in Copenhagen until mid-February.”
Winning time
The laying-up of Crown Seaways will unfortunately have consequences for the number of employees on board.
“It means that we have to say goodbye to 20 waiters working on Crown. It is very unfortunate as they are all colleagues who have worked hard to help ensure continued operation,” says Anne-Christine Ahrenkiel, DFDS’ Chief People Officer.
“The other crew members in service functions on board are covered by an agreement on shorter turns and a pay reduction with the trade union Metal Maritime, and the ship’s technical operating crew can use accumulated overtime or be transferred to other ships. This means that we gain time until the start of the new year and so far can keep most of our very experienced employees, so we can quickly restart the route if the COVID-19 situation improves within a few months,” says Anne-Christine Ahrenkiel.
More information:
Gert Jakobsen, +45 24 40 00 43, or gert.jakobsen@dfds.com