The Mercandia VIII (above) has been added to the Puttgarden-Rødby service in order to increase the capacity whilst the damaged Prinsesse Benedikte is being repaired at the shipyard in Poland where the incident occurred in March.

The Helsingør- Helsingborg routes’ 4,296gt/1987 built Mercandia VIII, chartered from HH-Ferries, offered freight services from 15th April every Tuesday to Friday. At the same time, the 2,779gt/1976 built Holger Danske has had her schedule increased, thus taking pressure off the two car & passenger ferries. The Prinsesse Benedikte was expected back in service during late June.

The two new ferries Berlin and Copenhagen, at the Danish shipyard Fayard for a major rebuild to address their deadweight issues, left dry dock on 1st May 2015. The duo have retained their intended names despite all the problems of the last two years surrounding these ferries. They also now carry hybrid logos and exhaust scrubbers were installed among other work done.

Besides the major superstructure remodelling, a diesel engine has been removed from each ship to make way for Scandlines’ innovative battery-powered hybrid drive system. The two engines were subsequently installed in the ferries serving Puttgarden-Rødby. The Berlin will be ready for service on the Gedser-Rostock link during the second half of 2015, followed by her sister.