The past year 2004 was once again a successful year for traffic development in the Scandlines shipping line’s route network. “The excellent results of 2003 were surpassed once more in all important transport segments”, summed up CFO Uwe Bakosch. “The German-Danish shipping group based in Rostock carried a total of more than 20 million passengers, 4.2 million cars, almost 1 million trucks and trailers, as well as over 85,000 buses/coaches and 110,000 railcars on its routes in the triangle between Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as well as to the Baltic States and Finland.”
The shipping line achieved its strongest growth rates in traffic between Germany and Denmark.
Cargo transport on the two Scandlines services between Germany and Sweden likewise rose substantially with an increase of over 15%.
The upward trend on the Øresund link between Helsingør (Denmark) and Helsingborg (Sweden) also continued, with 6.7% more cars, 6.1% more trucks and 1.8% more passengers carried.
"We expect further growth rates in our core market, i.e. the routes in the triangle between Germany, Denmark and Sweden, over the coming year", Bakosch added.
Transport results for all lines in 2004
| 2004 | 2004 compared with 2003 |
Passagiere | 20.325.905 | + 365.850 (+ 1,8%) |
PKW | 4.256.740 | +254.458 (+ 6,4%) |
LKW | 985.258 | + 68.963 (+ 7,5%) |
Busse | 85.696 | -5.254 (-5,8%) |
Eisenbahnwaggons | 110.473 | +3.057 (+ 2,8%) |
Germany – Denmark services
In 2004, 3.6% more passengers, 8.5% more cars, 6.9% more trucks and 1.1% more buses/coaches were transported on the routes between Germany and Denmark. The strongest growth in the passenger segment was achieved on the Puttgarden-Rödby VogelflugLine thanks to the fitting of additional car decks to the four double-ended ferries as well as an increase in shopping tourism to Germany.
The slight decline in passenger traffic on the Rostock-Gedser service can be explained by the modernisation programme initiated on this route in August 2004. Only 2 out of 3 vessels were in operation on this service during the last 4 months of the year because of the refitting work being carried out on the ships and port installations.
Passengers
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Puttgarden - Rødby | 6.421.490 | 6.744.144 | + 322.654 | +5,0 |
Rostock – Gedser | 1.297.307 | 1.264.041 | - 33.266 | - 2,6 |
Sassnitz - Rønne | 129.790 | 121.755 | - 6.035 | - 4,7 |
Total | 7.848.587 | 8.129.940 | +283.353 | + 3,6 |
Cars
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Puttgarden - Rødby | 1.574.369 | 1.734.676 | +160.307 | +10,2 |
Rostock – Gedser | 215.482 | 212.490 | -2.992 | -1,4 |
Sassnitz - Rønne | 34.264 | 32.003 | -2.261 | - 6,6 |
Total | 1.824.115 | 1.979.169 | +155.054 | +8,5 |
Buses/coaches
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Puttgarden - Rødby | 33.038 | 34.224 | +1.186 | +3,6 |
Rostock – Gedser | 15.937 | 15.282 | -655 | -4,1 |
Sassnitz - Rønne | 402 | 419 | +17 | +4,2 |
Total | 49.377 | 49.925 | +548 | 1,1 |
Trucks
Dienste | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Puttgarden - Rødby | 278.482 | 295.834 | + 17.352 | +6,2 |
Rostock – Gedser | 64.578 | 70.952 | + 6.374 | +9,9 |
Sassnitz - Rønne | 355 | 449 | +94 | +26,5 |
Total | 343.415 | 367.235 | + 23.820 | +6,9 |
Germany-Sweden
In 2004, Scandlines carried around 16% more trucks and trailers and 1% more rail units on its routes between Germany and Sweden. Traffic developments were more diverse in the passenger segment. From January - December 2004, around 6.4% more passengers and 1% more cars were transported on the Rostock-Trelleborg line. In contrast, the double-digit growth rates of 2003 were not reached on the Sassnitz-Trelleborg service due to a huge fall in shopping tourists from Sweden, with 10.5% fewer passengers and 2.6% fewer cars conveyed.
Passengers
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Rostock - Trelleborg | 293.618 | 312.513 | +18.895 | +6,4 |
Sassnitz - Trelleborg | 787.955 | 707.744 | -80.211 | -10,2 |
Total | 1.081.573 | 1.020.257 | -61.316 | -5,7 |
Cars
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Rostock - Trelleborg | 50.356 | 50.876 | +520 | +1,0 |
Sassnitz - Trelleborg | 166.171 | 162.327 | -3.844 | -2,3 |
Total | 216.527 | 213.203 | -3.324 | -1,5 |
Buses/coaches
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Rostock - Trelleborg | 1.345 | 1.363 | +18 | +1,3 |
Sassnitz - Trelleborg | 4.103 | 3.320 | -783 | -19,1 |
Total | 5.448 | 4.683 | -765 | -14,0 |
Trucks
Dienste | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Rostock - Trelleborg | 102.878 | 117.655 | + 14.77 | + 14,4 |
Sassnitz - Trelleborg | 29.269 | 35.538 | +6.269 | +21,4 |
Total | 132.147 | 153.193 | + 21.046 | + 15,9 |
Rail units
Dienste | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Rostock - Trelleborg | 28.357 | 26.802 | -1.555 | -5,5 |
Sassnitz - Trelleborg | 64.853 | 67.353 | +2.500 | +3,9 |
Total | 93.210 | 94.155 | + 945 | +1,0 |
Baltic State lines
The results were also up slightly on the 6 ferry services to the Baltic States, which are predominantly characterised by cargo traffic. In 2004, 1% more trucks and trailers plus 7.9% more passengers were transported on these routes. Despite this positive overall result, Scandlines has observed a strong shift of cargo away from its services between Germany and the Baltic States in favour of the overland route through Poland since the EU was enlarged on 1 Mai 2004. This has led since May 2004 to a substantial decline of up to 40% in accompanied truck traffic on the routes between Germany and the Baltic States.
In Scandlines’ view, this development can be attributed to the driving time controls for truck drivers not yet being fully enforced in the new EU Member States as well as to the increased importation of untaxed and, therefore, cheaper diesel fuel into the countries of the EU. Scandlines hopes, however, that this distortion of competition in favour of road transport will be removed through the introduction of comprehensive controls in the new EU Member States.
Trucks and trailers
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Karlshamn – Liepaja | 14.798 | 14.415 | -383 | -2,6 |
Århus/Åbenrå-Klaipeda | 12.896 | 15.014 | +2.118 | + 16,4 |
Sassnitz - Klaipeda | 8.825 | 5.286 | -3.539 | -40,1 |
Kiel - Klaipeda | 58.422 | 56.192 | - 2.230 | -3,8 |
Rostock - Liepaja | 16.496 | 13.165 | -3.331 | -20,2 |
Nynäshamn-Ventspils | 3.603 | 12.162 | +8.559 | +237,6 |
Total | 115.040 | 116.234 | +1.194 | +1,0 |
Passengers
Services | 2003 | 2004 | Absolut | % |
Karlshamn – Liepaja | 18.002 | 21.780 | + 3.778 | + 21,0 |
Århus/Åbenrå-Klaipeda | 2.071 | 1.763 | -308 | +-14,9 |
Sassnitz - Klaipeda | 6.964 | 3.454 | -3.510 | -50,4 |
Kiel - Klaipeda | 52.546 | 50.903 | -1.643 | -3,1 |
Rostock - Liepaja | 18.266 | 13.681 | -4.585 | -25,1 |
Nynäshamn-Ventspils | 6.260 | 20.763 | +14.503 | +231,7 |
Total | 104.109 | 112.344 | +8.235 | +7,9 |
Finland transport
In 2004, Scandlines carried 33,895 cargo units (+ 25.2 %) and 5,207 passengers on this service.
The German-Danish shipping line Scandlines AG currently operates 14 lines in the triangle between Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as well as to the Baltic States. In 2003, the company generated sales of € 447 million, with a post-tax profit of € 64.5 million. Scandlines presently employs a workforce of around 2,600.
Rostock, 24th January 2005
Passenger 
