Freight traffic volumes continued to grow in Q3 2018 on Scandlines Helsingborg-Helsingör, which accounted for the largest share of growth in freight traffic on Öresund this quarter as well. While the number of transported passengers and cars declined, due to the unusually warm summer among other things, the ferries’ precision and capacity utilisation remained high.

• The number of transported trucks increased 6% in Q3 to 109,000 (2017: 103,000), and transported goods increased to 1,124,000 tons (2017: 1,186,000 tons).
• The number of departures was 12,800 and unchanged compared to Q3 2017. Precision remained high, and capacity utilization on the car deck was almost on par with Q3 2017 despite an increase in total capacity of 3% following the expansion of Hamlet’s sail plan.
• Scandlines Helsingborg-Helsingör transported 439,000 cars in Q3 2018 (2017: 456,000), corresponding to a decline of almost 4%, and the total number of passengers decreased to around 2.3 million in Q3 2018 (2017: 2.47 million). These decreases fit the overall trend in leisure traffic on Öresund during the warm summer, which seemingly dampened travel activity.
• Bus traffic on the route amounted to 6,300 transported units in Q3 2018 (2017: 6,900).
• The use of AutoBizz Smart increased by more than 7% compared to the same period last year.

”Scandlines Helsingborg-Helsingör provides travelers with the floating bridge in the northern part of Öresund, and during the first nine months of the year we have taken a significantly larger share of the freight traffic growth than the competing connection south of our route. Our freight customers choose our ferries, which constitute a shorter, greener and faster route to their final destination. Very high stability and sufficient capacity at the right time are crucial to our freight customers,” says Johan Röstin, CEO at HH Ferries AB.

To further improve the offering to freight customers, HH Ferries Group intends to modernize and expand the check-in system for trucks this autumn to allow faster passage through the port.

Over the course of recent months, HH Ferries Group has completed the last adjustments and tests of the charging and battery installations, allowing Aurora and Tycho Brahe to be officially inaugurated as the world’s largest battery-powered passenger ferries at an event on 9 November.

“We are proud of the battery project, which makes it possible for Aurora and Tycho Brahe to sail on green power, which means that 60% of our company’s departures are now completed with no harmful emission. That makes it worth all the efforts, and we are looking forward to celebrating this with an official inauguration on 9 November and open ferries on 10 November where all foot passengers are invited onboard the two ferries for free between 10 am and 18 pm to enable as many people as possible to take part in the celebration with us,” says Johan Röstin.