The island of Læsø, located in the Kattegat between Frederikshavn and Sweden, currently owns and operates the two ferries ANE LÆSØ (built in 1995) and MARGRETE LÆSØ (built in 1997) through its municipal ferry company Læsø Færgen. Both vessels are therefore nearing 30 years of service, and during peak season they often lack sufficient capacity.

For this reason, Læsø Municipality wishes to build a new and larger ferry, which should also be electrically powered in order to meet future CO2-reduction targets. After several years of exploring the possibility of contracting a newbuild on its own, the municipality earlier this year chose to tender the Læsø-Frederikshavn route - including a newly built electric ferry - on a concession basis.

Molslinjen, which together with Norway’s Torghatten is owned by Nordic Ferry Infrastructure, subsequently submitted a bid. The group has a stated goal of securing concessions for publicly tendered ferry routes across the Nordic countries. Their bid reportedly involves a newbuilding similar to NERTHUS and TYRFING, which Molslinjen ordered from Cemre in Turkey in 2022 for the likewise concession-based routes Alslinjen and Samsølinjen.

But like many other small Danish municipalities, Læsø lacks the necessary funds. Therefore, the municipality’s mayor, Tobias Birch Johansen, has proposed to the regional Danish media outlet TV2 Nord that the state should be involved as part of a national preparedness setup. “It’s a good solution for both parties, and the fact is that we cannot raise the money for a new ferry on our own,” Tobias Birch Johansen told TV2 Nord.

“Then it can be included in crisis preparedness together with the Samsø ferry and the ferry on the Fynshav route. I actually think that’s a win-win situation,” he further explained. In connection with the establishment of the Great Belt Bridge back in the 1980s, Danish law introduced a requirement that both a southern and a northern ferry route must exist alongside the fixed link. These two routes - today the Spodsbjerg-Taars route and the Aarhus-Sjællands Odde route - are operated by Molslinjen, the former under a publicly supported concession and the latter on a purely commercial basis. As a result of growing crisis awareness in the country, the Danish state has also floated plans to establish ferry berths on both sides of the Great Belt.

© Shippax