The Supervisory Board of Scandlines AG decided at its meeting of December 22, 2003 to appoint Erik Østergaard (44) as temporary Managing Director. Furthermore, Andreas Lübs (37) was appointed temporary Chief Financial Officer. Both assume their positions with effect from January 1, 2004.

In addition to booking their next holiday or business trip easily and conveniently from their home or office via the Internet , customers of the Scandlines shipping line can, as from now, also pay directly by credit card at www.scandlines.de.
This service applies to all Scandlines routes between Germany and Denmark, Germany and Sweden as well as the combined Sweden tickets offered in Germany, including the Helsingør-Helsingborg ferry line and the Øresund Bridge Combi-Ticket. At present, Scandlines will accept Mastercard or Visa card payment for payment via the Internet.

After Puttgarden, Scandlines is opening its second Border Shop at the Sassnitz ferry terminal on 8 December 2003.

At 12 noon on Monday, 8 December 2003, the doors will be opened at the Sassnitz ferry terminal (Isle of Rügen) to the second Border Shop operated in Germany by the Scandlines shipping line

MS “Aurora” in operation on the Rostock-Helsinki route from 10 January 2004

In 2004, the Scandlines shipping company will further expand its Finland service launched in the summer of 2003. The commissioning of the MS “Aurora”, chartered from a Norwegian shipping company, on 10 January 2004 will double the frequency of the service on the Rostock-Helsinki route to 4 departures per week in each direction

Since time immemorial the development of shipping has been an important requirement and driving force for the opening up of new transport and trading routes in the Baltic region, thus making a crucial contribution to the emergence of today’s economic centres in the countries bordering on the Baltic Sea.
The shipping line Scandlines AG, based in Rostock, is one of the biggest ferry companies in the Baltic. The modern ferries operating on Scandlines’ extensive route network travel between 25 ports in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the three Baltic States.

At approximately 7.30 p.m. on 2 September 2003, the main control panel in the engine room of the ferry ship, the “Petersburg”, caught fire causing a power failure on board the vessel.  At the time of the incident, the “Petersburg”, a ship chartered by Scandlines, was around three nautical miles off the coast of Karlshamn, travelling from Karlshamn to Liepaja.

In the first half of 2003, the German-Danish ferry company Scandlines was able to maintain its market position in the Baltic Sea ferry traffic sector and expand its share in a number of segments. In the first six months of this year, the Scandlines AG lines carried a total of 445,077 trucks (+1.1 %), 1,668,698 cars (+/-0 %), 8,487,758 passengers (-3.0%), 42,757 buses/coaches (+1.6 %) and 53,700 railcars (-1.7 %).

Scandlines now operating 19 routes in the Baltic 

On 24 July 2003, Scandlines is launching a new cargo route between Nynäshamn (Sweden) and Ventspils (Latvia). With this new service, Scandlines is continuing the strategic expansion of its route network towards Eastern and Northern Europe in a consistent manner.

Scandlines takes over T&E ESCO RORO Line AS – renamed Scandlines Estonia AS

Following approval by the cartel authorities in Germany and Estonia, the Scandlines Group took over the entire operations of T&E ESCO RORO Line AS from Estonian Shipping Company Ltd (ESCO) on 26 June 2003.
At the same time, the name of the Tallinn-based T&E ESCO RORO Line AS is being changed to Scandlines Estonia AS. There will also be appointed a new Supervisory Board and new Management Board.

In March this year, the shareholders of Scandlines AG, Deutsche Bahn AG and Danish Ministry of Transport, reached agreement to continue to run the Scandlines Group as one company. Following the resolution adopted by the shareholders, the Supervisory Board of Scandlines AG made a large number of important decisions at its meeting held on 2 June 2003, thus setting the course for further successful economic development of the Scandlines Group.

Scandlines AG achieved sales of € 450 million and a profit of € 63 million, the best result since the company was founded in 1998.

In 2002, the German-Danish ferry company, Scandlines, improved its transport results on the routes between Germany and Sweden as well as between Germany and Denmark. Scandlines was also able to reverse the trend on the Øresund line between Helsingør and Helsingborg. Transport numbers in almost all segments increased compared with 2001, the first rise since the opening of the Øresund Bridge in summer 2000. The 16 lines operated by Scandlines AG carried a total of 19,921,055 passengers, 4,155,618 cars, 90,036 buses/coaches, 875,464 trucks and 109,978 railcars. This volume further strengthens the shipping line’s leading position in the Baltic Sea ferry sector.

In order to further optimise the Baltic State lines, Scandlines und LISCO AB “LISCO BALTIC SERVICE”, which together operate the “Kiel-Klaipeda Express”, will introduce a 2-ship system on the Kiel-Klaipeda route by summer this year.

The ferry vessel, the “Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”, will resume operation on the Rostock – Trelleborg line on 10 March 2003. With 25% more cargo capacity and more extensive services for passengers and truck drivers, the “Mecklenburg-Vorpommern” will be even better able to meet the requirements of modern ferry transport in the future.

On 1 March 2003, the Scandlines shipping company is launching its new Internet website in Germany. At the already well-known address of www.scandlines.de, Scandlines Deutschland GmbH will be offering more services, information and an improved booking function at the site developed by IT provider PC-Ware AG.

Check-in facilities with separate lanes for cars and trucks: shorter waiting times and higher capacity utilisation of ferries.

Scandlines Shipping Company has, together with Intercontainer-Interfrigo (ICF), been successful in setting up a new combined transport link between Italy and Scandinavia via the Sea Port of Rostock. The first Intercontainer-Interfrigo (ICF) combi-train will leave Verona for Rostock on 1 March 2003.

The ferry vessel “Rügen” with up to two departures daily in the high season

The Danish sunshine island of Bornholm can be reached directly from Germany with the Scandlines shipping line from 30 March to 2 November 2003.

Those planning their summer holiday or next short break with destinations in Scandinavia or the Baltic States in mind can now find the necessary information in Scandlines’ new schedule of current timetables and fares for 2003.