New ferry line in the Baltic opened by Rederi AB Gotland connects Nynäshamn and Rostock

Hansa Destinations, a new subsidiary of Swedish shipowner Rederi AB Gotland, has launched a ‘motorway of the sea’ service Nynäshamn – Rostock with one ship and three departures a week from Germany and Sweden. The first sailing from Nynäshamn to Rostock took place on 30-31 August.

Hansa Destinations has received an environmental subsidy (so-called ecobonus) from the Swedish government worth around €7.8 million to move freight traffic from Swedish roads, and in particular from a heavily trafficked road in southern Sweden’s Mälardalen region, to the sea.

According to Rederi AB Gotland, the new route will enable up to 75,000 trucks to be moved from land to sea, with exhaust emissions reduced by at least 20 per cent through a ‘modal shift’.

For the time being, the new service is operated by a single vessel, the ro-pax ferry Drotten, with a ro-ro cargo line length of 1800 m and space available for 1,500 passengers (some in 119 cabins), The vessel (IMO No. 9223796; built in 2003; gross tonnage 29,746, deadweight 4,730 t; length 195.80 m) has so far been operated by Gotlandslinjen, part of Rederi AB Gotland.

The cruises, which take about 18 hours, start in Nynäshamn on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and the return, from Rostock, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Departures take place in the evening and arrivals at the destination port in the early afternoon of the following day.

Selected sailings will include a call at Visby on the island of Gotland, and if the new ferry service proves successful, a second vessel will be introduced to allow daily departures in both directions.

The venture has been launched in partnership with Sartori & Berger, a port and liner agent based in Germany, which is acting as commercial agent for freight on the new line.

Map: Rederi AB Gotland