Holland Norway Lines

Hi All,
just received from a Public Relation outfit in Hamburg the following:
NHL celebrates a Milestone, since the start in April they have carried 100.000 Passengers. They offer now a 3-day Minicruises Eeemshaven-Kristiansand-Eeemshaven starting at only 98€
 
This route is not anymore operating since the night from 2.march - 3.march.
There was announcements that the ferry-berth in Eemshaven is occupied - and the ferry stay in Kristiansand.
Trucks and other customers was sent to Hirtshals with Color Line.
But in Eemshaven the ferry-berth is free - no other ship there in the ferry-berth before yesterday, yesterday and today.

They have just opened the new terminal there only some weeks ago - now are newspapers in Emden (Germany) reporting that maybe temporary the Romantika could go there - to Emden (? !).

SPECULATION:
Bookings seem to be very few for this month - have checked it for 23.march - 40 Pax, 5 x 12m Caravan-car-groups and 10 x 4-bed-inside all free.
Also other ferries very empty actually - Rostock-Trelleborg some dep. last week was cancelled or TT and Stena has shared one ferry together.
MAYBE the money is tight just now ?
They have to pay now presumably
- the costs for the new terminal-building (?)
- the port-fees in both ports
- the annually charter-fee to Tallink
- maybe also much higher crew-wages ? In Germany most workers want 8 - 10% more money actually.
Maybe in Netherlands / Norway it is similar ?

Who knows something ???
 
Nobody from Sörlandet here ? Maybe some news there in local newspapers ? The ferry is still in port Kristiansand.

From "Ostfriesenzeitung" in Emden yesterday (10.march, Google translated from german to norwegian):
"Jeg kan avsløre det her. Vi er oss imellom. Jeg ga nylig kona mi en helgetur til Kristiansand i Norge. Du vet, en tur på «MS Romantika», som har kjørt jevnlig mellom Eemshaven og Kristiansand i snart ett år. Rederiet Holland Norway Lines (HNL) kan snart gå over til Emden. Fortøyninger er knappe i Eemshaven, så knappe at fergen ikke har kunnet starte noen ganger. Myndighetene bekrefter forhandlingene, for Emden ville det være en enorm oppgradering. Daniel Noglik gjorde undersøkelsen."

Complete text, the 3rd part is about the ferry to Emden:

Text with picture from 9.march:

So there are negotiations between authorities in Emden and the ferry-company actually... .

Maybe a dispute between Holland-Norway-Lines and the port of Eemshaven ?


Totally strange - now there should be no more place in the dutch port for the ferry suddenly ???
 
??? So they stay in Eemshaven and delete all departures in future when there the ferry-berth is not free ???
Or maybe they want to move to Emden - but the german administration are very slow ?
 
HNL has started sailing from Cuxhaven, Germany, to Kristiansand on April 21st, 2023. Per Holland Norway Lines Press Release, she will commence sailing from Emden on June 1st, 2023.

The Norwegian CEO of the line said, that they are hopeful to resolve the lack of space for the Romantika in Eemshaven, as they prefer to resume sailing between Norway and Holland. Repainting and renaming the line is too costly!

Rhenus HNL Cuxhaven3.jpg
 
Strange... - Emden is much much better for the most customers - many shoppingcenters in walking-distance, many Intercity-trains to far away regions in Germany, Autobahn very close to the ferry-terminal - i think the german market is much bigger than the Netherlands market.
And with car / truck it is very fast to the netherlands-border.

For the Netherland-customers an own connecting ferry-bus Emden-Amsterdam would be the perfect very cheap solution.
And all others will be very happy with Emden.

The actually company-name is generally not good - maybe they want to start in 5 or 10 years a 2nd route ?
So they could now change to a neutral "good-sound" 2 - vocals name (similar as Silja or Olau or Stena or Color).
Then they are flexible with ports and can open alltimes new routes without name-problems.
 
We don`t know the plans of the owners, if they only want in the next 100 years only operate 1 route - then the actually name is ok if they will move soon back again to Eemshaven.

But for all other (future possible) expansion-plans a short neutral name is the best.
Norferry sounds also direction "north" or "Norway".
There are / was also too much other with similar "Nor" - names, Northlink, Nordölink etc. .

Maybe one day is a good chance to take over or start a new route in Baltic, to Ireland, Spain or in South-Europe.
Silja-Line, Stena Line, Olau, Anek or Color Line could from the name also operate well in all other countries.
So IF there are any expansions-options thinkable in the (longterm-) future - i would never choose a regional-branded name as f.ex. Irish Ferries, Finnlines, Corsica Ferries, Fjordline, Balearia, Polferries, Larvik Line etc. . Why with Irish Ferries from France to UK ? Why with Finnlines from Germany to Sweden ? Why with Balearia between Caribbean Islands and to Africa ? All this is possible and works - but not the optimal best name for to operate these routes.

Further option - but only 2nd choice - is with a (owner-) family-name:
Fred Olsen, Grimaldi, Strintzis Lines, Salamis Lines - but here why not better a wellknown "seafarer- / explorer- hero-name" ?
F.ex. Columbus-Lines or Cook-Lines ?
Would be look nice also with a picture / maskott of the person on each ferry - similar as Nils Holgersson etc. on the TT-ferries.
 
Why speculate at all? The business model of the Line was (is) to provide Norwegian Logistic (Import, Export Trade) a viable route to Northern Europe and onwards to the UK. Thus, Port of Eemshaven imperative for their success. The Name is irrelevant. Look at Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line for example.
 
From 1.june they move permanent to EMDEN.
So this ferry route is now EMDEN - KRISTIANSAND.
Traveltimes 17 hours - 18:30 hours, from Emden direction to Kristiansand is only attractive 17 hours, some hours more time f.ex. for travellers from South-Germany to reach the port than to Kiel (for Color Line Kiel-Oslo).

Have tried some big "fake-bookings" - f.ex. 15.7, 17.7., 21.7., 29.7. is already now full-booked.
And this with super expensive ticket-prices (for Germans) , ca. 2 month before the dep. dates and for an in Germany totally unknown ferry-company and route.
So there is a big potential in the next years for a 2nd ferry also.

And i am really wondering why f.ex. Fjordline is not interested in a route to Germany - the E39 is / will be much much better and faster than in the past, there is much more potential also for Fjordline with long routes to Germany, Netherlands or England also.
The port of Emden is now "away" - but there is still Wilhelmshaven, Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven and Hamburg possible.
Furthermore to England / Scotland London-Tilbury, Harwich, Felixtowe, Great Yarmouth, Hull, Immingham, Newcastle, Edingburgh, Rosyth etc.
is a market-gap. And also to East-Germany, f.ex. Langesund-Rostock would be a good route.
 

PRESS RELEASE​


August 30th, 2023


Holland Norway Lines applies for suspension of payments​


Holland Norway Lines BV (HNL) applied for a suspension of payments in court this morning. Business operations are under pressure, partly due to the financial losses incurred at the beginning of the year in connection with the troubled period at Eemshaven. Pending further developments, the MS Romantika is not sailing for the time being and ticket sales have been halted.


The cause of the pressure on the still young company’s operations lies mainly in the troubled period at the beginning of this year due to the forced departure from Eemshaven. A period with many cancellations and extra costs but also with a significant impact on future bookings. Nevertheless, after the restart in Cuxhaven, Germany, and then a successful start in Emden (1 June), HNL saw the future looking bright again. However, HNL needs more time to make up for the financial losses incurred early this year.


From start-up to full-fledged organisation
All employees in Groningen, Norway’s Kristiansand and on board the cruise ferry were informed today. Since its launch in 2022, nearly 400,000 passengers have sailed on the cruise ferry MS Romantika. The company grew in no time from a start-up to a full-fledged organisation, with almost 400 employees.

source: HNL
 
Back
Top