As Afloat reported in July, the ferry giant DFDS had entered an agreement with Lucey Transport Logistics, Ltd to acquire the company, strengthening DFDS’ logistics offerings in Ireland. On 30 September, the companies completed the acquisition.

“We are excited about the integration of Lucey Transport Logistics into DFDS and to welcome our new colleagues into the DFDS Group,” says Niklas Andersson, EVP and Head of DFDS Logistics.

“The strategic fit between DFDS and Lucey means we will be the leading asset-based logistics provider on the Island of Ireland. With the acquisition, we are creating a full platform of services for customers and connecting them to the expansive DFDS network spanning 21 countries in Europe and Turkey.”

The acquisition is part of DFDS’ growth strategy to develop and expand its network and continue to offer improved solutions to customers.

By combining Lucey’s domestic offering with DFDS’ European route network, the Danish ferry and logistics company will be able to offer Lucey’s existing customers from the FMCG and packaging sectors access to international transport services in an increasingly competitive transportation and logistics market.

Danish shipping and logistics operator DFDS has entered into an agreement to acquire Dublin-based Lucey Transport Logistics.

DFDS is continuing to invest in the Irish market by acquiring 100% of the share capital of Lucey Transport Logistics Limited. This follows DFDS’ opening in early 2021 of the ro-ro (by-pass Brexit) freight ferry route between Rosslare Europort and Dunkirk, France.

The operator will benefit from Lucey’s Irish transport and logistics network, which will strengthen its customer offering in the region. This further strengthens DFDS’ logistics offering and allows DFDS to offer more comprehensive domestic and international solutions.

In addition, by combining Lucey’s domestic offering with DFDS’ European route network, the Danish ferry and logistics company will be able to offer Lucey’s existing customers from the FMCG and packaging sectors access to international transport services.

Executive Vice President and Head of Logistics Division, Niklas Andersson says: "The acquisition of Lucey Transport Logistics Ltd greatly enhances our Irish domestic offerings and complements our existing international solutions. We now offer more comprehensive supply chain solutions in the region underpinned by a network covering the entire island of Ireland."

Kevin Lucey, CEO Lucey Transport Logistics Ltd adds "We are delighted DFDS recognises that Lucey transport Logistics is a highly successful business and a leading provider of logistics services on the Island of Ireland. We are proud of the company’s great family history and our loyal customers and dedicated employees. It gives me great satisfaction to know DFDS will continue to grow and expand the business, providing exciting opportunities for our colleagues, in one of the largest logistics companies in Northern Europe."

Under the terms of the agreement, DFDS will now operate a distribution centre in Dublin and regional depots in key locations across Ireland. In addition, DFDS will take over Lucey Transport Logistics’s substantial trucking operations and their 400 trailers.

The transaction is subject to competition clearance.

DFDS and Upteko have after a year-long collaboration resulted in the ferry and logistics giant being the first in the world to introduce a drone system as part of equipment on commercial ships.

The contract has been signed with the Copenhagen based DFDS which is now implementing the new drone system on freight-ferry Selandia Seaways which Afloat adds operates the North Sea route between Immingham, UK and Cuxhaven (see photo) in Germany. 

”Operating our vessels in a safe and efficient manner is crucial in our line of business. With our new drone decision support system, we are pushing the boundaries for how technology can add value in terms of safety and optimisation of operations,” says Rune Keldsen, EVP and Chief Technology Officer.

Eyes in the sky

The drone system is connected to advanced navigation and includes a charging station, lidars, a thermographic sensor and a high definition RGB camera. The drone is flying 120 meters up in the air, live streaming in real-time to the captain on the bridge, using a neural network to post-process the streamed video and calculating the distance between objects around the vessel. The drone will accurately provide the captain with important input acting as the captain's eye in the sky on departure and arrival in the ports and narrow waters.

Today, decisions are based on human observations and GPS, but the drone will in the future function as a decision-support system. The drone system will help optimize operations onboard the ships with its supportive function to the vital human perspective.

Safety is vital

Looking into the future, the drone system will also be able to act as an extra set of hands when a person is in distress or if a fire breaks out onboard the ship. If a person falls overboard, the drone can fly back and locate the person using thermal and ordinary cameras.

Mads Bentzen Billesø, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at DFDS, said “Using drone technology to support operations onboard our ships have been an area we have been investigating with great interest. We are proud of this collaboration which will push large-scale utilization of drones to solve a number of tasks. This will in time result in improved efficiency and, more importantly, improved safety onboard our ferries.”

The development of this new technology has been supported by Danish Maritime Fund and ShippingLab/Innovation Fund Denmark.

Danish operator DFDS has confirmed that a third freight ferry last week joined its Rosslare Europort – Dunkerque fleet as Afloat previously referred, with the first departure from the northern France port on Wednesday 11th May.

The Rosslare – Dunkerque route was inaugurated in 2021 and has been well received by Irish hauliers seeking alternative routes to Europe.

The arrival of Optima Seaways which launched the route in January last year reinforces DFDS’ commitment to this important link between Ireland and France.

Optima Seaways joins Regina Seaways and the (chartered) Visborg on the route.

Optima Seaways has capacity for 2,200 lane metres of freight and will start with one round-trip a week, from Dunkerque on Wednesday at 20:00 hrs and from Rosslare on Saturday at 14:00 hrs.

DFDS the operator of the Rosslare Europort-Dunkirk freight ferry route, has announced that they are introducing a new rail freight service from Calais to Séte which starts today.

The new rail service connects London with Yalova in Turkey, will shorten transport time between London and Istanbul. 

The new line means that DFDS will be able to offer a full complement of rail and sea transport between London and Istanbul, with a transit time of just 7 days, making it the fastest route there is between the UK and Turkey.

The new route expands DFDS’s existing network of services between the UK and Europe and comes in response to growing demand.

Lars Hoffmann, Head of DFDS’s Mediterranean Business Unit said: “We’re delighted to be adding a new rail line service to improve connections and shorten transport time between the UK and Turkey.

“It aligns with our business strategy to grow and expand the extensive route network that DFDS already offers, helping our customers, communities – and our own business of course – to grow.

“By combining our ferry activities in the Mediterranean and the UK with a new rail service, we’re able to offer by far the fastest connection between London and Istanbul. It’s a sign of confidence in the popularity of our offerings and a strong indication of our commitment to our customers.”

The service will run twice a week, with two weekly departures in each direction between Calais and Séte.

This is the latest in a series of investments that DFDS is making to improve its service; as an unaccompanied freight service from Sheerness to Calais was opened last year. The route can carry over 100 trailers or containers per sailing.

Since the launch of the UK-France route, Afloat adds London Medway port reported a record month in trading unccompanied trailer-units.  

Danish shipping operator DFDS which operates the Rosslare-Dunkirk 'Brexit-Bypass' ferry route has entered into sale and lease-back agreements for two container/sideport loading ships, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The deal took place last month between DFDS and the Finnish shipping firm Godby Shipping A.B. based in Mariehamnm, the capital of the Åland Islands located in the Baltic Sea.

The two ships involved are the Norwegian flagged pair Lysvik Seaways (1997) and Lysbris Seaways (1998) which will continue to be deployed on routes between the Nordic state, the UK and the European continent mainly carrying containers and industrial paper products.

The agreement also includes options to extend the charters beyond 2024.

Lysvik/ Lysbris Seaways main characteristics:

Loa 129 m
Beam 18 m
Dwt 7.500 ton
Speed 16 knots
Wärtsilä 46C 6.300 kW main engine
DNV +1A1 E0 Ice(C) TMON

Afloat tracked the Lysvik Seaways which had been in Ijmuiden and is currently at the Port of Amsterdam. While off Norway, Lysbris Seaways (see Dutch port related 'sail' story) is en-route from Bergen and the UK port of Sheerness in Kent.

Also tracked by Afloat back in 2019 was Lysvik Seaways which was due to Belfast Harbour when operating between Norway and the UK.

A year later Godby Shipping A.B. also had links with the Irish Sea as they had chartered the ro-ro freighter Misida to P&O Ferries route of Dublin-Liverpool.

Regina Seaways is the latest freight-only ferry to serve DFDS Rosslare Europort-Dunkirk 'Brexit-buster' route, having this month begun service on the direct link to the continental mainland, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The debut of Regina Seaways further increases capacity to 30% on the Ireland-France route which is operated by the Danish shipping and logistics company. 

In addition with the introduction of Regina Seaways, having replaced Kerry, brings a new timetable where the ropax along with the chartered-in Visby, which also has a higher speed, will reduce passage times.

The changed DFDS timetable means that instead of three vessels running simultaneously, this is now reduced to these two freight-ferries.  

Since the Ireland-EU route started more than 9 months ago, the route has employed several vessels to bypass post-Brexit Britain, thus enabling lorry drivers to avoid customs paperwork, restrictions and potential delays. Freight on the route also includes provision for un-accompanied trailers. 

The DFDS owned Optima Seaways which launched the inaugural sailing on 2nd January, also saw another fleetmate, Ark Dania employed on the route, though both vessels have move on. The former Afloat tracked with a return to the Baltic Sea while the latter vessel is in Greek waters.

Regina Seaways marks the seventh ship so far to serve the route, whereas with exception of the DFDS pair, the rest of the vessels were all chartered-in.

The charters involved Drotten (sister of Visby) which came from Swedish operator, Destination Gotland, Kerry from Stena RoRo and Pelagos from French operator Méridionale.

In the UK, the Peel Ports Group through its London Medway area of operations has welcomed DFDS new England-France freight-only ferry route connecting Sheerness and Calais that is to begin service this month.

The new freight route offers one daily sailing in each direction between the two ports using the ro-ro Maxine, which can carry up to 165 unaccompanied freight units - which are trailers or containers without drivers.

This latest development expands DFDS’ existing network of services between the UK and Europe and comes in response to growing demand for unaccompanied freight services from cargo owners, hauliers and shipping lines alike.

Most of the unaccompanied freight carried today by DFDS on the two Dover Strait routes – Dover-Calais and Dover-Dunkirk – is expected to be transferred to the new route.

(Noting Afloat adds in January, DFDS launched a direct Ireland-France service connecting Rosslare Europort and Dunkirk, to provide freight hauliers an alternative to a post-Brexit UK landbridge to mainland Europe).

As for the Port of Sheerness located in north Kent, the port offers excellent into and around the UK. It operates 24 hours a day and is fully open and accessible seven days a week, offering congestion free access to drop and collect trailers.

Owner Peel Ports has invested heavily into enhancing its facilities and services, making it the perfect port to accommodate this new service.

The combination of challenges posed by Brexit and Covid-19, has exposed drivers and haulage companies to vulnerabilities in supply chains worldwide.

This has resulted in many cargo owners and carriers re-assessing their transport plans and choosing different ports, different shipping methods and switching transport modes to future proof supply chains.

The partnership between DFDS and Peel Ports will create up to 100 new jobs in the region, with recruitment already underway for many of these roles.

Maxine's sailing roster will involve a daily arrival into Sheerness at 05.00 and from where it will be unloaded and reloaded to make its return journey back to Calais at 11.00.

Ferry operator of the Rosslare-Dunkirk link, DFDS has reported monthly volumes for freight and passengers so to provide additional insight into the development of trends in the Danish company’s European route network.

Freight-ferry: Total volumes in May 2021 were 31.2% above 2020. Net adjustments for structural route changes reduced growth 3.2 ppt to 28.0%.

The extraordinary volume growth in May 2021 vs 2020 reflected a recovery from the significant volume reductions in May 2020 caused by Covid-19 related lockdowns. Volumes in May 2021 were 7.4% above May 2019 adjusted for structural route changes.

Volumes were above May 2019 in each of the four business units mainly carrying freight, i.e. North Sea, Baltic Sea, Channel and Mediterranean. Trading between the EU and the UK continued to be robust.

Passenger Ferry: The total number of passengers in May 2021 was 27.3% below 2020 reflecting the continued tight travel restrictions.

The June volume report is expected to be published on 12 July 2021.

Following Irish Ferries two-month charter in February of a Meditteranean ferry, DFDS, operator of the new Rosslare Europort-Dunkirk freight route is to introduce a ferry from Marseille next week, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Pelagos, will become the fifth ferry so far involved since DFDS launched the direct Ireland-mainland Europe service in early January. This to bypass Brexit, benefitting freight hauliers by avoiding the British land-bridge and potential delays associated in UK-EU customs paperwork.

The debut of Pelagos is to replace a ferry, the Drotten that only entered service in late January.

Afloat confirmed with DFDS as to when the Pelagos starts serving hauliers on the direct Ireland-France route. The link that transits the entire English Channel and into the Celtic Sea takes almost 24 hours to connect continental Europe.

The operator stated that Pelagos will take over from Drotten, which is scheduled to make a final outbound sailing from Rosslare on Monday night. On the next day, Pelagos will then be slotting into service also from Rosslare by taking up a sailing bound for Dunkirk.

As of other ropax's that have come and gone on the route, Pelagos is a product of the popular Visentini shipyard built class ropax, which had been in the Mediterranean. A repositioning voyage took five days as the ferry arrived to the northern France port on Thursday.

The 114-freight trailer unit ferry has been chartered back to its previous owner DFDS which as their Liverpool Seaways served DFDS Dublin-Birkenhead (Liverpool) route more than a decade ago.

As Afloat reported then the Liffey-Mersey link (incl. 'foot' passengers) was DFDS final presence on the Irish Sea when it closed in January, 2011. The Danish operator having in July 2010, for the first time entered the Irish Sea market. Albeit, merely 'months' later their other Irish Sea routes and vessels were sold to Stena Line.

Returning to Rosslare where Drotten, it is understood whose operator Destination Gotland AB, require the vessel back in the Baltic Sea to serve between the Swedish island and the mainland.

Drotten, had only entered service in late January, having replaced DFDS Optima Seaways, which launched the new route by making a maiden sailing, two days post-Brexit on 2nd January.

Earlier this month, DFDS announced it was to introduce their Ark Dania, as the route's fourth vessel next month. A maiden call in Dunkirk is scheduled on 1st April.

With this fast-changing ferry scene, Afloat take a recap on the current three-strong fleet, prior to the pending departure of Drotten to Scandinavia.

The ferries involved are Visby, same class of the Drotten, and also chartered from the Swedish operator. In addition the Visentini ropax Kerry on charter from Stena RoRo.