Growth on all three lines to and from Ventspils / route from Rostock successfully on course

The German-Danish shipping company, Scandlines AG, is taking stock one year after the implementation of its new strategy for the Baltic States. “Our concept has worked out well. The concentration of three of our total of four ferry routes to the Baltic States on the Latvian port of Ventspils has enabled us to increase transport results again in traffic between Scandinavia/Continental Europe and the Baltic States for the first time since 2004,” reports Scandlines CFO, Uwe Bakosch.
Between October 2005 and the end of August 2006, the company carried a total of 78,679 passengers (+ 53%), 56,991 trucks and trailers (+ 61%) and 12,352 cars (+ 62%) on its services from Rostock, Nynäshamn and Karlshamn to Ventspils. “The development on the Rostock-Ventspils route has been particularly remarkable”, added Bakosch. “We have created a new trend here! Doubling capacity and departure frequencies has enabled us to steer accompanied transport to the Baltic States and Russia away from the overland route through Poland and towards sea transport on our ferry services again for the first time since EU enlargement.” Since the launch of the service on 1 October 2005, Scandlines was able to boost the conveyance of trucks and trailers by 103% or 22,707 units up to the end of August 2006, while growth in the passenger and car transport segments was as high as 132% (25,666 passengers) and 262% (3,757 cars) over the same period.

The Scandlines shipping company started the reorganisation of its ferry services to the Baltic States, which are dominated by cargo traffic, on 1 October 2005.
The aim was to achieve short-term consolidation of the marine transportation of goods between the Baltic States and both Germany and Sweden as well as long-term further growth in this transport market through concentrating three of the four Baltic State lines in the Latvian port of Ventspils.

The concentration of several routes on strategic transport hubs in the form of the ports of Rostock and Ventspils now enables Scandlines to offer its cargo and passenger customers integrated transport solutions for traffic to and from the Baltic States. “Establishing the Rostock-Ventspils route has provided our customers with additional positive bundling effects due to the fact that Scandlines also operates two other ferry services from Rostock, i.e. to Denmark and Sweden respectively”, concluded Uwe Bakosch.

The Scandlines Group, in which Deutsche Bahn AG (German Rail) and the Danish Ministry of Transport and Energy each have a 50% holding, presently operates 12 of its own ferry services between Germany, Denmark and Sweden, as well as to the Baltic States.

Rostock, 2 October 2006