A number of shipping lines from across the region has put in place restrictions, first and foremost regarding passenger traffic, however, some services have been suspended altogether to limit the spread of the virus.

First, the companies have reported booking cancellations, e.g., Tallink around 20k for the February-April period, mostly of them being passengers from China. Stena Line has noted a drop in group travel bookings from China as regards the company's traffic in the Irish Sea (Chinese clients account for about 50k-100k travellers out of over 7m/year).

Yet, as countries have started to close their borders, ferry lines have acted accordingly. Stena Line's three services - Frederikshavn-Gothenburg, Grenaa-Halmstad, and Gdynia-Karlskrona - are now open to freight traffic only, whereas Frederikshavn-Oslo has been closed for the time being.

Tallink has shut down its Stockholm-Mariehamn-Tallinn cruise traffic. On 14 March, Baltic Queen left the Swedish seaport with Tallinn-staying passengers on-board, where the cruise ferry will be docked, while Victoria I sailed in the opposite direction and will return to the Estonian capital with travellers with single or return tickets; hereafter the ship will remain in Tallinn.

Next, the company brought to a halt its Stockholm-Riga service; the ferries Romantika and Isabelle will be moored in the Latvian seaport.

At the same time Tallink's ro-pax Regal Star will continue transporting goods between Kapellskär and Paldiski.

Birka Cruises also suspended its cruise traffic, mainly between Stockholm and Mariehamn, till 7 April. Viking Line has done the same with its cruise ferry Viking Cinderella; the vessel is out of traffic between Stockholm and Mariehamn till 16 April.

The Strömstad-Sandefjord route has been also brought to a standstill, both by Color Line and Fjord Line; the former's Color Hybrid and Color Viking, and the latter's Oslofjord are anchored in the Norwegian port.

Color Line has also closed passenger traffic between Kiel and Oslo, but the ro-ro vessel Color Carrier continues to ply between the two.

The company's Hirtshals-Kristiansand service has been suspended; cargo is carried on-board the ferry SuperSpeed 2 across the Hirtshals-Larvik stretch, including passengers who are coming back to their homelands.

Fjord Line continues to transport freight between Hirtshals and two ports in Norway - Kristiansand and Stavanger; passengers are allowed as well, but only under certain restrictions.

DFDS has closed its Copenhagen-Oslo ferry service at least until 1 April.

Eckerö Line's service Eckerö-Grisslehamn is closed till 15 April.

Scandlines continues to operate across its Puttgarden-Rødby and Gedser-Rostock routes, carrying both freight and passengers (the Danish ban on entry into the country doesn't cover its citizens, commuters with employment in Denmark, and people "with strongly justified purpose").

Photo: NASA