HAMMERSHUS is built for the islander’s freight corridor and as a cornerstone in the locale tourist industry.
It took Molslinjen 803 days from the contract was signed with the Danish State for the public funded ferry service of Bornholm on June 21, 2016, to the newbuilding HAMMERSHUS had its premiere on The Baltic Sea September 1 last year.
From that date, Molslinjen, under the new brand Bornholmslinjen, was the operator of a ten-year concession with options for two years extensions.
While Molslinjen could meet the contract’s requirements for high speed tonnage on the Rønne – Ystad-route route with two modified InCat catamarans from the operation on Kattegat, the company choose to bid with a newbuilding for the much more freight-oriented Rønne – Køge-route, where a conventional ro/pax-ferry was obligatory.
Ro/pax tonnage is often very specialized for a specific route, and in 2016 that type of ships were largely non-existent on the second-hand market, at least if it were to be a relatively modern ship.
Molslinjen had therefore beforehand secured a basic design and a building-slot at the Finnish shipyard RMC (Rauma Marine Constructions), which meant that the contracting could be made immediately after the final signature on the concession.
HAMMERSHUS is therefore in its outset highly specialized for the Rønne – Køge-route, which means that the ship is designed to meet several very specific requirements in the contract with the Danish State. The two main, minimum, capacity requirements are 1,500 lanemeters and 400 passengers.
As a result, HAMMERSHUS stand out from otherwise newly built or contracted ro/pax-ferries. Not least in relation to the comparatively small trailer capacity that is just necessarily met.
On the other hand, during the construction at RMC, Molslinjen choose to expand passenger capacity by as much as 80 per cent, so that HAMMERSHUS can accommodate 720 passengers.
A capacity that can rarely be utilized on the Køge-route, but which is crucial for Molslinjen to being able to act profitably all year on the purely commercial route between Rønne and Sassnitz in Germany. A route not included in the concession, but which the former operator Danske Færger has managed to establish and build up to great benefit for the island’s tourist industry, and which Molslinjen now will operate throughout the year.
Since the route has so far been largely a car and passenger route targeted at the German tourist market, some utilization of the 1,500 lanemeters on the car deck consequently also requires a passenger capacity of some size when the new ferry is mainly loaded with passenger cars in Sassnitz.
HAMMERSHUS is therefore partly a result of some minimum requirements in a contract – and partly a wish to incorporate extra capacity and flexibility into a purely commercial-based route.
In practice, HAMMERSHUS’s 24 hours-cycle starts in Køge Harbour with departure for Rønne every night at 0:30. The arrival at Rønne is at 6:00. Then most days there are departures to Sassnitz at 8:00 with arrival at 11:20.
The ferry only takes 30 minutes to turnaround in Germany before returning to Rønne with arrival at 15:10.
This then gives a window of 110 minutes until the 17:00 Køge departure, and not least to load outbound trailers as well as the limited number of passenger cars and passengers who choose the Køge-route over the main passenger corridor; the via-Sweden Rønne – Ystad-route. The 24-hour cycle then ends with arrival at Køge at 22:30.
Facts – HAMMERSHUS
- Call sign: OXPQ, Rønne
- Type: Ro/ro passenger ferry
- Owner: Molslinjen A/S, Aarhus
- Shipyard: RMC (Rauma Marine Constructions Oy), Finland
- Yard number: 6001
- Delivered: August 2018
- Design: RMC/Bluetech Finland/Deltamarin
- Classification: Bureau Veritas
- Notation: I Hull, Mach, Ro-ro passenger ship SRTP, Unrestricted navigation AUT-UMS, SYS-NEQ, COMF-NOICE 2, COMF-VIB 2, MON-SHAFT, CLEANSHIP, ICE CLASS 1C, INWATERSURVEY
- Length o.a.: 158 m
- Length b.p.: 149,9 m
- Beam mld.: 24,5 m
- Draught (design): 5,7 m
- Gross Tonnage: 18.009
- Netto tonnage: 5.402
- Deadweight: 4.400 t
- Passengers: 720
- Passenger cabins: 18
- Passenger berths: 72
- Trailer capacity: (maindeck) 805 lanemeter + (deck 5) 695 lanemeter
- Main machinery: Diesel mechanically, 2 X Wärtsilä 8V31 each 4.880 kW
- Service speed: 17,7 knot
- Contract price: 68,000,000 Euro
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