DFDS A/S - Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab

DFDS A/S - Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab

DFDS A/S, an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally The United Steamship Company, OMX: DFDS) is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. DFDS was formed in 1866 as a merger of various minor shipping companies under the leadership of industrialist Carl Frederik Tietgen. After the takeover of Thingvalla Line in 1898, the Scandinavian America Line was established.

During its history, DFDS has absorbed several other ferry operators, including Tor Line (purchased 1981) and Prinz Ferries (also purchased 1981). From 1982 to 1983 DFDS' passenger operations were branded as DFDS Danish Seaways (Esbjerg - Harwich/Newcastle/Torshavn, Copenhagen - Oslo, Newcastle - Oslo), DFDS Tor Line (Gothenburg - Harwich/Newcastle/Amsterdam) and DFDS Prins Ferries (Harwich - Hamburg/Bremerhaven). DFDS also operated the Fred. Olsen Bergen Line routes Newcastle - Stavanger/Bergen and Stavanger - Amsterdam.

Although DFDS have generally concentrated on freight and passenger traffic on the North Sea (and to a lesser extent the Baltic Sea), they operated a ferry service in the Mediterranean between 1971 and 1981, as well as a ferry service from New York to Freeport as well as Miami - Freeport in the early 1980s under the name Scandinavian World Cruises (which later developed into SeaEscape). Between 1988 and 1999 the company's passenger services were marketed under the name Scandinavian Seaways.

Today, passenger activities are operated by DFDS Seaways, whereas freight activities are operated by DFDS Tor Line, DFDS Lys Line and DFDS LISCO.

DFDS Seaways
DFDS Seaways is the passenger-carrying division of DFDS A/S. It operates five cruiseferries and one ro-pax ferry on routes connecting Denmark to Norway, and the United Kingdom to the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. The company has recently (2006) renewed their fleet, purchasing MS King of Scandinavia and MS Princess of Norway to replace the last ships dating from the 1970s still in service. The company has acquired a reputation as something of an expert in purchasing used ships, as the last time DFDS Seaways ordered a newbuild was in 1978 (although they have since taken over build contracts and taken delivery of newbuilds originally ordered by other companies). In 2006 DFDS Seaways stopped serving Sweden when MS Princess of Scandinavia was taken off service and the Copenhagen—Oslo service ships stopped calling at Helsingborg. In May 2008 DFDS made public their plan to close down the loss-making United Kingdom—Norway service on 1 September 2008. MS Queen of Scandinavia, the ship used in the service, will be either sold or chartered out to another operator.

Fleet

Ship	Built	Entered service	Route	Tonnage [1]
MS Crown of Scandinavia	1994	1994	Copenhagen - Oslo	35495 GT
MS Dana Sirena	2002	2003	Harwich - Esbjerg	22382 GT
MS King of Scandinavia	1987	2006	Newcastle - IJmuiden	31395 GT
MS Pearl of Scandinavia	1989	2001	Copenhagen - Oslo	40039 GT
MS Princess of Norway	1986	2006	Newcastle - IJmuiden	31356 GT

[1] May be specified in gross tonnage (GT) or gross register tons (GRT).

Former ships This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Ship	In service	Gross Register Tonnage	Status as of 2009
MS Skipper Clement	1964-1976	2,964 GRT	Since 1998 MS Europa I with Skenderbeg Lines
MS Akershus	1965-1973	5,012 GRT	Burnt and sunk 1989
MS Winston Churchill	1967-1996	8,657 GRT	Scrapped 2004
MS Kong Olav V	1968-1984	7,965 GRT	Burnt 1993, later scrapped
MS Prinsesse Margrethe	1968-1983	7,965 GRT	Scrapped 2005
MS Aalborgshus	1969-1971		Scrapped in China, 2000
MS Dana Sirena	1971-1978	7,697 GRT	Scrapped in China, 2000
MS Dana Corona	1978-1985	7,988 GRT	Scrapped in China, 2000
MS Trekroner	1970-1971
MS Dana Corona	1971-1979	7,692 GRT	Sunk 1994
MS Dana Sirena	1979-1983
MS Dana Regina	1974-1990	10,002 GRT	Since 1998 MS Vana Tallinn with Tallink
MS Dana Anglia	1978-2002	14,399 GRT
MS Duke of Scandinavia	2002-2006	15,589 GRT	Laid up at Saint Nazaire, France since 2008 as MS Pont L'Abbé
MS Dana Gloria	1981-1984, 1986-1989	12,348 GRT
MS King of Scandinavia	1989-1994	20,581 GRT	Since 2006 MS Jupiter for Royal Group Ltd
MS Tor Scandinavia	1981-1991	15,673 GRT
MS Princess of Scandinavia	1991-2006	21,545 GRT	Since 2006 MS Moby Otta with Moby Lines
MS Scandinavia	1982-1985	26,747 GRT	Since 2002 MS Island Escape with Island Cruises
MS Tor Britannia	1982-1990	14,905 GRT
MS Prince of Scandinavia	1990-2003	21,545 GRT	Since 2003 MS Moby Drea with Moby Lines
MS Hamburg	1987-1997	12,752 GRT
MS Admiral of Scandinavia	1997-2002	19,292 GRT	Since 2002 MS Caribbean Express with Access Ferries
MS Queen of Scandinavia	1990—2008	33,575 GRT	Since 2008 laid up at Korsør, awaiting buyer.
MS Duchess of Scandinavia	2003-2005	16,794 GRT	Since 2008 MS Bergensfjord with Fjord Line

DFDS Tor Line
DFDS Tor Line is the main freight-carrying division of DFDS. It operates a large number of RO-RO freighters on the North Sea as well as the Baltic Sea. It was formed as merger of DFDS' and Tor Line's freight operations after DFDS bought the latter in 1982 (until 1988 the passenger service between Sweden and the United Kingdom was also marketed as DFDS Tor Line).

DFDS LISCO
AB DFDS LISCO is a Lithuanian subsidiary of DFDS. It operates 5 lines with 7 ferries for passengers and freight connecting Germany to Lithuania, Latvia and Russia as well as Germany to Sweden. AB DFDS LISCO has subsidiaries in Germany (DFDS LISCO GmbH), Sweden (DFDS Tor Line AB), Latvia (DFDS Tor Line SIA) and Russia (OOO DFDS LISCO).

Fleet

Ship	Built	Entered service	Route	Tonnage [1]
MS Envoy	1979	2007	Travemünde - Riga	14,077 GT
MS Lisco Gloria	2002	2003	Kiel - Klaipeda	20,140 GRT
MS Lisco Optima	1999	2006	Kiel - Klaipeda	25,206 GT
MS Lisco Patria	1992	2004	Karlshamn - Klaipeda	18,332 GT
MS Kaunas	1989	1989	Karlshamn - Klaipeda	25,606 GRT
MS Mermaid II	1972	2003	Travemünde - Riga	13,730 GRT
MS Vilnius	1987	1987	Sassnitz - Klaipeda / Baltijsk	22,341 GRT

[1] May be specified in gross tonnage (GT) or gross register tons (GRT).

DFDS Lys Line
DFDS Lys Line transports freight from Norway, Sweden and Denmark to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy, offering door-to-door transportation. The company was originally founded in 1970.

Fleet
* MS Lysvik
* MS Lysblink
* MS Lysbris
* MS Lysfoss
* MS Lystind
* MS Lysskog
* MS Lyshav
* MS Lys Point
* MS Odertal
* MS Isertal

DFDS Container Line

DFDS Container Line transports containers between Ireland and the Netherlands. On October 2nd 2006 the acquisition of Norfolkline Containers by DFDS A/S was completed.

Established in August 1997 Norfolkline Containers was set up to offer Direct Port-to-Port services between Ireland and Europe.

Fleet
* MS Dana Gothia
* MS Dana Hollandia
* MS Angela
* MS Vanquish
* MS Vanguard

Web References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DFDS