Molslinjen

Molslinjen

Company type	Aktieselskab
Founded	1964;61 years ago (1964)
Headquarters	Aarhus, Denmark
Area served	Denmark Sweden Germany
Key people	Carsten Jensen, CEO
Services	Passenger transportation, Freight transportation
Website	www.molslinjen.com

Molslinjen (previously Mols-Linien) is a Danish company that operates ferry services between Jutland and Zealand, and also services to Bornholm. In March 2017, the routes in the Kattegat were renamed to Molslinjen.

History

Molslinjen was formed by DFDS in 1964 sailings commenced on 18 May 1966. ^[1]

A downturn in traffic following the 1973 oil crisis led Molslinjen into a pooling agreement with rival Grenaa-Hundested Linien in 1979. ^[2]

In 1984 DFDS sold Molslinjen and Grenaa-Hundested Linien to J. Lauritzen A/S. The company was sold 4 years later to Danish investment company DIFKO.

In 1999 Molslinjen merged with Scandlines subsidiary Cat-Link.

Scandlines sold its holding to the Clipper Group in 2008.

In July 2011, Molslinjen announced it was to terminate the Kalundborg – Aarhus route and sell the two vessels operating the route. ^[3]

Molslinjen terminated the Aarhus – Kalundborg route on 15 September 2011. Thereafter the route was operated by Kattegatruten until October 2013 and then suspended.

In 2016 Molslinjen won a 10-year public tender to operate ferry services to Bornholm, and operations started in September 2018 under the name Bornholmslinjen.

In 2018, the ferry routes of Alslinjen, Langelandslinjen, Samsølinjen and Fanølinjen became part of Molslinjen with the acquisition of Danske Færger. ^{[4] [5]}

In January 2023, the Danish and Swedish competition regulators approved the sale of ForSea Ferries to Molslinjen for an undisclosed sum. ^[6]

In 2025, the company ordered two electric Incat catamarans for the Kattegat route in 2028. ^[7]

Fleet

Molslinjen

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	Express 2	2013	2013	10,503  GT
	Express 3	2017	2017	10,842  GT	Sailed from Incat shipyards in Tasmania, April 2017 [8]
	Express 4	2018	2018	10,500  GT	Built by Austal in Western Australia. [9] Austal ships do not have the centre bow that characterises the previous solely Incat built fleet.

Bornholms-linjen

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	Express 1	2009	2012	10,503  GT
	Hammershus	2018	2018	18,009  GT	Operates on Rønne–Køge and Rønne–Sassnitz routes
	Poul Anker	1978	2016	12.131  GT	Operates on Rønne–Køge and Rønne–Sassnitz routes
	Express 5	2022	2023	13,448 GT	Cost €83.7 million, Austal ship. Carries 1,610 passengers and 450 cars. [10]

Langelandslinjen

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	M/F Langeland	2012	2012	4.500
	M/F Lolland	2012	2012	4.500

Fanølinjen

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	M/F Menja	1998	1998	751	runs on HVO Diesel [11]
	M/F Fenja	1998	1998	751	runs on HVO Diesel [11]
	E/F Grotte	2021	2022	925	E-ferry [12]

Samsølinjen

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	M/F Fynshav	1998	2015	3.380	Operates Samsølinjen full time, until the arrivel of M/F Tyrfing
	M/F Tyrfing [13]	2025	2025	4.318 GT	E-Ferry [14] launched in October 2024 [15] [16]

Alslinjen

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	M/F Frigg Sydfyen	1984	2015	1.676	Full time service, until the arrivel of M/F Nerthus
	M/F Nerthus [13]	2025	2025	4.318 GT	E-Ferry [14] [17]

Øresundslinjen

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	M/F Tycho Brahe	1991	2018	11.148 GT	1250 passengers [18] [19]
	M/F Aurora af Helsingborg	1992	2018	11.148 GT	1250 passengers [20] [21]
	M/F Hamlet	1997		10.067 GT	1000 passengers [22] [23] [24]
	M/F Mercandia IV	1989		4.296 GT	400 passengers Replacement & Freight [25] [26] [27] [28]

Former Ships

Image	Name	Built	Enterered service	Gross Tonnage	Notes
	Max Mols	1998	1999	5,617  GT	sold in 2024 [29]
	M/F Samsø	2009	2014	4.630	Sold in 2025 [30]

Routes

Molslinjen routes

Molslinjen's routes to/from Bornholm since 1 September 2018.

Molslinjen operates various routes around Denmark and surrounding countries, under a multitude of brand names.

• Molslinjen ^[31]
  • Odden – Ebeltoft (55 mins)
  • Odden – Aarhus (1 hr 20 mins)
• Bornholmslinjen ^[32]
  • Rønne – Ystad (1 hr 20 mins)
  • Rønne – Sassnitz (3 hr 20 mins)
  • Rønne – Køge (5 hr 30 mins)
• Samsølinjen ^[33]
  • Kalundborg – Ballen (Samsø) (1 hr 30 mins)
• Alslinjen ^[34]
  • Bøjden (Funen) – Fynshav (Als) (50 mins)
• Langelandslinjen ^[35]
  • Spodsbjerg – Tårs (Lolland Municipality) (45 mins)
• Fanølinjen ^[36]
  • Esbjerg – Nordby (12 mins)
• Øresundslinjen
  • Helsingør - Helsingborg (20min)

References

1. Skjøtt, Heino. "st ark" . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
2. "Mols Line Ferry Postcards" . Retrieved 15 February 2017.
3. "2358059 - Profile". Archived from the original on 19 February 2012.
4. "Om FANØLINJEN". FANØLINJEN (in Danish). Retrieved 21 January 2023.
5. Ferry Shipping News. Molslinjen Buys Danske Færger. Retrieved 22 January 2023
6. Sjöfartstidningen. Molslinjen får grönt ljus för köpet av ForSea. Retrieved 19 January 2023
7. Bosworth, Alan (22 July 2025). "Molslinjen orders two electric catamaran ferries for Kattegat route". Baird Maritime / Work Boat World.
8. "Incat Heralds New Generation Fast Ferry". Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
9. "Austal Commences Construction of 109 Metre High Speed Ferry for Molslinjen of Denmark". 26 April 2017.
10. "Austal to build new catamaran for Molslinjen".
11. "Gamle Fanø-færger først med fossilfri biodiesel". September 2021.
12. "El-færgen Grotte".
13. "Nye elfærger har fået navne".
14. "Molslinjen har valgt værfter til byggeriet af nye elfærger - Maritime Direct". 29 August 2022.
15. "Molslinjen: die dänische Fährreederei Samsølinjens feiert den Stapellauf der neuen Elektrofähre". www.seereisenportal.de (in German). 22 October 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
16. MOLSLINJEN (21 October 2024). Søsætning af Samsølinjens elfærge, Tyrfing . Retrieved 14 November 2024– via YouTube.
17. https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/photos/of/ships/shipid:9144648/shipname:NERTHUS?order=date_uploaded
18. "M/F Tycho Brahe". ferry-site.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
19. "Tycho Brahe" (in Danish). faergelejet.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
20. "M/F Aurora af Helsingborg". ferry-site.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
21. "Aurora af Helsingborg" (in Danish). faergelejet.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
22. "M/F Hamlet". ferry-site.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
23. "Hamlet" (in Danish). faergelejet.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
24. Koefoed-Hansen, Michael (28 July 2024). "Molslinjen sætter klimamål". Færgenyt (in Danish). Retrieved 14 November 2024.
25. "M/F Mercandia IV". ferry-site.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
26. "Mercandia IV" (in Danish). faergelejet.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
27. "M/S Mercandia IV" (in Danish). skip-siden.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
28. ""Mercandia IV"" (in Danish). faergejournalen.dk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
29. Koefoed-Hansen, Michael (30 April 2024). "Molslinjen sælger MAX". Færgenyt (in Danish). Retrieved 14 November 2024.
30. https://www.faergenyt.dk/samsoe-solgt-til-blu-navy/https://www.faergenyt.dk/samsoe-solgt-til-blu-navy/
31. "Time table". MOLSLINJEN. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
32. "BORNHOLMSLINJENs timetable". BORNHOLMSLINJEN. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
33. "SAMSØLINJENs fartplan". SAMSØLINJEN (in Danish). Retrieved 5 February 2023.
34. "ALSLINJENs fartplan". ALSLINJEN (in Danish). Retrieved 5 February 2023.
35. "Se LANGELANDSLINJENs fartplan her". LANGELAND (in Danish). Retrieved 5 February 2023.
36. "FANØLINJENs fartplan". FANØLINJEN (in Danish). Retrieved 5 February 2023.

External links

• Official website