 | |
| Founded | 1956 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 1994 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | Sheerness, United Kingdom |
Area served | United Kingdom, Netherlands |
| Services | Passenger transportation, Freight transportation |
| Parent | TT-Line |
Olau Line was a shipping company that existed from 1956 to 1994. It operated a ferry service from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands from 1974 until 1994. Originally based in Denmark, the company passed under the ownership of the German TT-Line in 1980.
Olau Line was founded in 1956 by the Danish businessman Ole Lauritzen. Originally the company concentrated in chartering tankers and cargo ships to other shipping companies, but in 1974 Olau Line started a car/passenger ferry services from Sheerness in the United Kingdom to Vlissingen in the Netherlands and from Copenhagen (Denmark) to Aalborg (Denmark). The latter line was closed after merely a month of service. [1] Between 1974 and 1976 the consistence of Olau's fleet varied greatly, until in 1976 the company acquired M/S Apollo from Rederi AB Slite and renamed her M/S Olau Kent and chartered M/S Finnpartner from Finnlines, renaming her M/S Olau Finn . These two ships formed the Olau fleet for the next four years.
In 1977 Olau attempted to start a service from Sheerness to Dunkirk, France, but this was not successful. By the end of the 1970s the company was in heavy debt, and in 1979 Ole Lauritzen was forced to sell 50% of Olau Line to the West Germany-based TT-Line. The following year Lauritzen sold his remaining shares of the company to TT-Line. At this time the TT-Line logo was adopted as the new logo for Olau Line, but with red and blue colours instead of TT-Line's yellow and blue. TT-Line decided to invest in new, large state-of-the-art cruiseferries for Olau services. These were delivered in 1981 and 1982 as M/S Olau Hollandia and M/S Olau Britannia , respectively. Unlike Olau's earlier ships, most of which were registered in the United Kingdom, the new ships were registered in TT's homeland Germany.
In the late 1980s TT-Line decided to replace the Olau Hollandia and Olau Britannia with new ships. In 1986 and 1987 the company had taken delivery of two cruise ferries for their route between Germany and Sweden, and it was decided that two additional sisters of the same type would be built for Olau Line. These were delivered in 1989 and 1990, and like their predecessors were also named M/S Olau Hollandia and M/S Olau Britannia .
The new Olau Hollandia and Olau Britannia were more than twice the size of the old ships, and they soon proved to be too large for the route they were built for unless working practices could change. [2] Due to high operating costs the ships were taken out of the German ship registry (which required expensive German crewing) and registered in Luxembourg in January 1993, but action by the German Seamen's Union, whose members crewed the vessels, forced the ships to be re-registered in Germany just a month later. In 1994 TT-Line made plans to move the ships under Bahamian flag, but when the German Seamen's Union protested again, TT-Line decided to close down Olau Line in May 1994. [2] [3] [4] At the time P&O Ferries were looking for new tonnage for their Portsmouth to Le Havre route and had identified the two Olau ships as suitable, while TT-Line (which had also been having financial issues) did not want the distraction of continuing labour issues at its UK subsidiary. [2]
Following the closure of Olau Line the second Olau Hollandia and Olau Britannia were chartered to P&O Ferries, who used them successfully for many years on the Portsmouth—Le Havre service.
Not a complete list.
Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operated from the Åland Islands.
Color Line AS is the largest cruiseferry line operating on routes to and from Norway. The company is also one of the leading operators in Europe. Color Line provides transportation for people and cargo, hotel accommodation, shopping, restaurants and entertainment. The company currently employs 3500 people in four countries.
Tallink is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden, Latvia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It owns Silja Line and a part of SeaRail. Tallink Hotels runs four hotels in Tallinn and one in Riga. It is also the co-owner of a taxi company Tallink Takso.
MS Bluefort is an accommodation vessel owned by the Canadian-based company Bridgemans Services Group LP. She was built in 1979 as a car/passenger ferry by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany as Diana II av Slite for Rederi AB Slite for use in Viking Line's traffic. She has also sailed under the names Diana II, Vironia, Mare Balticum, Meloodia and ARV 1.
Moby Zazà is a ferry operated by Moby Lines between Nice and Bastia. Until 2015 she was MS Wind Perfection, an accommodation ship owned and operated by C-bed. She was built in 1982 as MS Olau Britannia by Weser Seebeckswerft in Bremerhaven for Olau Line, who used her on Sheerness—Vlissingen service. In 1990 she was sold to Fred. Olsen Lines and renamed MS Bayard for services between Norway and Denmark. In 1991 Fred. Olsen Lines was sold to Color Line and the Bayard passed under their ownership under the name MS Christian IV. In 2008, she was sold to Stella Lines and renamed MS Julia for service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. This was a failure and after just two months the Julia was laid up. In 2009, she was sold to Fastnet Line and entered service on their Swansea—Cork route in 2010, retaining her earlier name.
MS King Seaways is a cruiseferry operated and owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways on a route connecting North Shields, effectively the port of Newcastle upon Tyne,, England to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. She was built in 1987 as MS Nils Holgersson by Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, West Germany for TT-Line. Between 1993 and 2006 the ship was named MV Val de Loire, owned by Brittany Ferries and used on traffic across the English Channel. A DFDS vessel since 2006, she was originally named MS King of Scandinavia, before being given her current name in 2011.
MS Princess Seaways is a cruiseferry operated and owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways on a route connecting North Shields, England, to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. She was built in 1986 as Peter Pan by Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line. Between 1993 and 2002, the ship was operated by TT-Line Company of Tasmania under the name Spirit of Tasmania a service across the Bass Strait. In 2002, the ship was sold to Fjord Line and renamed Fjord Norway for service from Denmark. In 2006, she was sold to DFDS Seaways and sailed as Princess of Norway before being given her current name in 2011.
The Tor Line was a freight shipping company. Together with its subsidiaries, the Tor Line operated a fleet of approximately 65 ro-ro, ro-pax and lo-lo ships, primarily on the North and Baltic Seas. It was ultimately purchased by Denmark-based DFDS, which renamed it DFDS Tor Line, and it operated as a freight-carrying division of DFDS along with DFDS Lisco, DFDS Lys Line and DFDS Container Line before retiring the brand.
MS Rahal was a car-passenger ferry owned by Bayway Shipping Co and sailing on the Red Sea. She was built in 1972 by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany as Diana for Rederi AB Slite and was previously named Alandia and Jamaa II.
MS Arberia was a cruiseferry owned by Chryses Finance Co. and operated by Ilion Lines on their Trieste–Durres–Bari service. She was built in 1975 by Dubegion-Normandie, Nantes, France as Bore Star for Steamship Company Bore, which used her in Silja Line services on the Baltic Sea. During the northern hemisphere winter months she was chartered to Finnlines for cruise services on the African west coast. In 1980 she was sold to Finland Steamship Company and renamed Silja Star but retained in Silja Line service. Between 1986 and 1992 she was used in different cruise and ferry services around the world for various operators under the names Orient Express, Club Sea, Eurosun and Orient Sun. In 1992 her ownership passed to Wasa Line and she was renamed Wasa Queen for Baltic Sea ferry service. In 1993 Wasa Line was merged into Silja Line and Wasa Queen returned to the Silja Line fleet. In 2001 she was sold to Star Cruises for use in Far Eastern ferry services and later casino cruising with its daughter company Cruise Ferries without a change in name. In 2008 Wasa Queen was withdrawn from service and in 2009 sold to her current owners.
Finnlines Plc is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Baltic and the North Sea. Finnlines’ passenger-freight vessels offer services from Finland to Germany and via the Åland Islands to Sweden as well as from Sweden to Germany. The Company has subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. In addition to sea transportation, the Company provides port services in Finland in Helsinki and Turku.
The Hansa class is a class of four ro-pax ferries originally built by Stocznia Gdańska, Poland for Finncarriers-Poseidon service. Following a merger of Finncarriers and Poseidon to Finnlines, all ships of this class came to be owned by Finnlines. As of 2009, three ships are operated on Finnlines' routes connecting Finland and Sweden to Germany, while one ship sails with Grimaldi Ferries on their Genoa–Catania–Malta service.
MS Almariya is a cruiseferry owned by the shipping company Trasmediterránea on their route connecting Almería, Spain, to Nador, Morocco. She was built in 1981 by AG Weser Seebeckswerft, Bremerhaven, West Germany for Olau Line as MS Olau Hollandia. Between 1989 and 1997 she sailed as MS Nord Gotlandia for Gotlandslinjen, between 1998 and 2013 as MS Nordlandia for Finnish shipping company Eckerö Line and was initially named MS Isabella 1 in Isabella Cruises service.
The Belorussiya-class cruiseferries were built by Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Finland in 1975–1976 for the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union. The five ships in the class were originally used in ferry service around the Black Sea. During the 1980s all ships in the class were rebuilt into cruise ships. During the end of the 1990s all ships in the class were sold to other operators. As of 2008, at least four ships in this class were in service. The effects of the new SOLAS regulations that came into effect in 2010 remain unknown.
MS GNV Cristal is a cruiseferry owned by the Italy-based SNAV and operated by their Grandi Navi Veloci brand. She was built in 1989 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, West Germany as MS Olau Hollandia for Olau Line. From 1994 to 2005 she sailed as MS Pride of Le Havre for P&O ferries. From 2005 to 2017 she operated as the SNAV Sardegna between Civitavecchia, Palermo and Olbia.
Mega Express Four is a fast roll-on/roll-off ferry owned by Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries and operated on their routes from Nice and Toulon to Ile Rousse. She was built in 1995 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, Germany for Superfast Ferries as Superfast II. Between 2003 and 2006 she sailed for TT-Line as Spirit of Tasmania III.
MS Lady of Mann (II) was a side-loading car ferry built in 1976 for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and operated on the Douglas–Liverpool crossing. She served the company for 29 years. In 2005, she was converted to a Roll-on/roll-off ferry and was operated by SAOS Ferries in Greece under the name MS Panagia Soumela until she was scrapped in August 2011.
MV Ancona was a car-passenger ferry owned by Blue Line International and operated on their service linking Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia. She was built in 1966 by Lindholmens varv in Gothenburg, Sweden for Rederi AB Svea as MS Svea. As Svea she was used on the joint Sweden–United Kingdom service operated by Ellerman's Wilson Line, Swedish Lloyd and Rederi AB Svea. In 1969 Svea was sold to Swedish Lloyd and renamed MS Hispania. In 1972 she was renamed MS Saga. In 1978 she was sold to Minoan Lines following the closure of Swedish Lloyd's passenger services and renamed MS Knossos. In 1998 she passed to Diler Lines, becoming their MS Captain Zaman II. In 2003 she was sold to Blue Line and was renamed Ancona. She was sold for scrap in October 2010 and breaking up was commenced on 15 December 2010.
The GNV Atlas is a Peter Pan-class cruiseferry currently owned and operated by the Italian shipping company SNAV. She was launched on 28 October 1989 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, West Germany as Olau Britannia for Olau Line.
MV Apollo was a vehicle/passenger ferry that previously serviced the route between St. Barbe, Newfoundland and Labrador and Blanc-Sablon, Quebec, Canada.
Unless otherwise noted, all data is from Olau Line at Simplon Postcard, retrieved 20 May 2007.
