DFDS further increases capacity and frequency on Klaipeda routes

To meet rising demand for roro-space and offer flexibility on the Karlshamn-Klaipeda and Kiel-Klaipeda routes, DFDS has short-term chartered the 2,171-lanemetre or 160-trailer Mercandia Class MAESTRO UNIVERSE until shortly before Christmas when she will be replaced by FINLANDIA SEAWAYS.

Anders Refsgaard, DFDS's VP and Head of the Business Unit Baltic, said that a healthy economic development in the EU and growing trade have resulted in increasing cargo volumes on the routes from Klaipeda to Karlshamn and Kiel. "This is putting extraordinary pressure on capacity," Refsgaard said, "and we have long waiting lists on some peak departures."

The 1986-built MAESTRO UNIVERSE will join DFDS's Baltic fleet on 6 October. She will make one weekly roundtrip between Klaipeda and Kiel and one between Klaipeda and Karlshamn. This will increase the number of weekly departures to and from Kiel to nine and eleven for Karlshamn.

The charter of MAESTRO UNIVERSE will terminate shortly before Christmas when she will be replaced by DFDS's own 1,891-lanemetre FINLANDIA SEAWAYS. However, this is understood to be a stopgap solution as FINLANDIA SEAWAYS will operate a weekly Zeebrugge-Immingham-Brevik-Frederikstad-Halden-Brevik-Zeebrugge rotation starting in mid-February 2019.

(ShipPax News Bulletin 40)