NORTHUMBERLAND

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Elbe ferry got back its former name

The 'Fanafjord' got back its original name on March 14. The ship has remained stationary in Haugesund since Dec 20, 2021. She has been put up for sale and was due to be moved to Molde on March 21.

Ferry ceased operating on the Elbe

The “Greenferry I”, servicing between Brunsbüttel and Cuxhaven has ceased operations on Dec 12. Applied for Corona hardship aid had not been approved. The ship is now to be brought back to Norway, only three quarters of a year after the start. At the end of November, the Elbferry company had filed for insolvency at the Cuxhaven district court due to impending insolvency. Previously, the corona hardship aid of 800,000 Euros applied for by the operators in June had been rejected. An objection had also been rejected by the hardship commission of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. There was no longer any hope that a continuation of the ferry operation was any longer economically justifiable. The chartered ferry will now be returned to the Norwegian owner. The Ministry of Economic Affairs in Kiel said there was no doubt that the hardship commission did not make the decision easy for itself. Overall, however, there were clearly too many economic and legal reasons against the use of tax money. Economics Minister Bernd Buchholz (FDP) had always emphasized that a ferry connection between Brunsbüttel and Cuxhaven was desirable, but had to be economically viable. For Cuxhaven's Lord Mayor Uwe Santjer (SPD) was concerned: "The suspension of the ferry line it is clear that the pandemic has made a significant contribution to the fact that the passenger and transport volume has not turned out as hoped. The "Greenferry I" started operating in early March, in the middle of a lockdown. It connected Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein and Cuxhaven in Lower Saxony every three hours. After filing for bankruptcy, managing director Ahlers said that the company had been planned at the end of 2020. At that time, it was not foreseeable that the ferry would not be fully utilized in spring 2021 due to the corona pandemic.

Ferry company filed bankruptcy

The Elbferry GmbH filed insolvency on Nov 23, 2021. The company wants to keep the 'Greenferry I' operating between Brunsbüttel and Cuxhaven as long as possible. The reasons for the bankruptcy were the five-fold increase in the price of LNG and the lower utilization of the ferries by trucks than initially assumed, said managing director Heinrich Ahlers. In addition, the company did not receive any corona aid. The Elbferry GmbH only started operations in March. In the past few years there have been several attempts by different companies to operate the route economically. So far all have failed.