OTD - 28th September 2014 - end of Harwich - Esbjerg Ferry

[whole diary]

[grahame]

https://www.harwichesbjerg.co.uk/harwich-to-esbjerg-ferry-closed/

Harwich to Esbjerg Ferry Closed

The UK^▸ (United Kingdom)’s last ferry connection to Scandinavia closed for good today (28th September 2014), marking the the end of an era. The ferry connection had been in place for almost 140 years.

The route between Harwich, Essex and Esbjerg in Denmark had been run by DFDS Seaways, but the company said the route has been struggling for a long time and would not be able to take on costs associated with a new environmental law. The route is of particular historical significance to DFDS so it’s a very sad day for us all. Our regrets go to our many passengers who must now see the last passenger ferry route between the UK and Scandinavia close.

Passengers wishing to travel by ferry from the UK to Denmark or any other Scandinavian destination will now need travel via Holland, Belgium or France. The ferry was the last remaining connection to Scandinavia and followed similar fate to the ferry connections to Norway, Sweden and Germany.

The port at Harwich now only has one passenger ferry route, that going to the Hook of Holland, which is about 1 hours drive from Amsterdam, but 8 hours drive to Esbjerg.

I am posting this news, from 8 years ago, in "Looking Forward". 

Is there an irony on this closure being made on "environmental grounds", pushing people perhaps towards air travel which is such less good for the environment?   Could this turn out to be a hiatus in UK -> Scandanavia water based travel, with there being some sense in a new service running across the North Sea - perhaps Hull to Esbjerg or even Aberdeen to Stavanger and/or Bergen?

Interesting also to note that although the route was closed because of "environmental associated costs" m.s. Dana Sirena - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Sirena_Seaways - is still in service elsewhere.

[GBM]

Slight topic deviation.
DFDS always reminds me of the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) series "Triangle"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_(1981_TV_series)

[eightonedee]

For those of us who used the DFDS services to Scandanavia, it brings back happy memories of past trips - in my case three trips to Esbjerg or Gothenburg between 1979 and 1988.

Would be nice to see them back - little or no chance I expect

[grahame]

For those of us who used the DFDS services to Scandanavia, it brings back happy memories of past trips - in my case three trips to Esbjerg or Gothenburg between 1979 and 1988.

Would be nice to see them back - little or no chance I expect

Indeed ... in reading back, here is a previous old article from the linked site

With the closure of the Newcastle to Bergen ferry in 2006, the Harwich to Esbjerg ferry operated by DFDS Seaways became the last remaining ferry route between the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and Scandinavia.

Departing every other day from Harwich in the UK the m.s. DANA SIRENA sails the 20 hour journey overnight to Esbjerg on the west coast of Denmark. It then turns around and make the return journey back to the UK.

This makes the m.s. DANA SIRENA the last passenger ferry to Scandinavia for anyone living in Great Britain.

Get a Quote More InfoBook Online
Whatever your reason for wanting to sail to Scandinavia, the Esbjerg ferry is now the primary gateway to all of Scandinavia for Brits traveling with a car. As well as being the last ferry to Scandinavia it may also be the best ferry for those traveling to Germany, with no direct ferries to Germany available.

From Esbjerg you you can reach Northern Germany and Sweden with ease, through road and ferry links. You can also easily reach Copenhagen, the ca

I remember catching that Newcastle to Norway boat with Color line ... full of returning Norwegians across in the UK of a booze crooze.

[stuving]

I remember catching that Newcastle to Norway boat with Color line ... full of returning Norwegians across in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) of a booze crooze.

I came back from Bergen on that route in 1970 (then run by Bergenske Dampskibsselskab), as the last leg of an all-too-epic trip starting out as seven students in a VW Microbus going to Russia, with an involuntary pause in Olomouc, and another outside Vyazma. We continued with said VW being towed by a hire car 200 km to Moscow, and making its own way home (courtesy of AA five star insurance) while we went by train to Leningrad and then Helsinki, and hitched via Stockholm and Oslo to Bergen to catch the ferry.

And I went to Denmark and Norway using DFDS via Esbjerg too, in 1966 (just in time to travel on MV Skagerrak in its last month afloat).