DFDS-Moby ferry swap

The companies have entered into an agreement, according to which DFDS will acquire Moby Wonder and Moby Aki, while Moby will take over King Seaways and Princess Seaways.

The agreement is expected to be completed in the second half of October 2019. DFDS will subsequently bareboat-charter King Seaways and Princess Seaways, currently serving the Amsterdam-Newcastle route, until January and February 2020, respectively.

DFDS plans to deploy the refurbished Moby Wonder and Moby Aki on the Amsterdam-Newcastle service in the course of 2020's first quarter.

Thanks to the swap, the full-year freight and passenger car capacities will increase by around 40% and 5%, respectively, between Amsterdam and Newcastle.

"The new ferries are ideally suited for our Amsterdam-Newcastle route. Their modern on-board facilities and higher car-deck capacity will allow us to grow revenue by fulfilling the growing demand from high-yield car passengers. To freight customers, we will be able to offer increased capacity that can remain constant throughout the year," Peder Gellert Pedersen, EVP and Head of DFDS' Ferry Division, said.

Last year, more than 600k passengers, 122k pax vehicles, and 350k lane metres of freight were carried across the Amsterdam-Newcastle stretch.

Photo: DFDS