After the last crossing on September 4, the company focused on an additional share issue of SEK 30 million (EUR 3 million) to fund next year's traffic.

The company was successful in raising the number of overall ferry passengers with 100,000 or +11%. The Swedish island of Gotland never had so many summer visitors.

"We increased capacity by about 230,000 seats to and from Gotland from June to August," says Ralph Axelson, CEO of Gotlandsbåten.

Earlier, in an article published in our magazine Shippax CFI (October), Axelson said that if Gotland wants a better economy through a higher number of tourists, that some money should be invested in the seasonal ferry service.
Alas, no money was found.

Three fulltime employees and a number of employees of the shipping company HSC Nordic had to be made redundant.
Ralph Axelson continues as unpaid president to find possible solutions.

The high-speed ro-pax catamaran HSC EXPRESS is now fully available for the charter market. The 1998-built Incat fast ferry can take 220 cars and 836 passengers.

© Shippax / Mike Louagie