POLAND. Danish ferry and ro-ro operator DFDS has said it is interested in bidding for Polish operator Polferries (Polish Baltic Shipping Co) according to reports. The state-owned ferry operator is expected to be privatised within the foreseeable future.
Polferries operates three ferries providing services on the following four routes: Świnoujście-Copenhagen, Denmark; Świnoujście-Ystad, Sweden; Świnoujście-Ronne, Denmark and Gdańsk-Nynäshamn, Sweden. The routes are heavily dependent on travel shopping. In 2002 the operator had duty free sales of US$19 million – equivalent to US$57 per passenger – according to Generation DataBank. Therefore, as in the case with some other Nordic ferry lines there has been speculation about the viability of certain routes after 1 May and the inevitable consolidation in the market (in the intra-EU duty paid shopping regime).
The company claims discounts onboard of up to -75% on Swedish and Danish domestic prices. In the current spring promotion, passengers booking a travel offer for SEK/DKK300 are entitled to a shopping voucher for SEK/DKK 200.
Until 2001, Polferries had owned two ferry terminals in Poland, the Ferry Terminal in Gdańsk and the Ferry Terminal in Świnoujście. Today, the company runs the Ferry Terminal in Gdańsk. It also has its own network of seven Sea Travel travel agency offices located in the biggest Polish cities (Warsaw, Wrocław, Poznań, Szczecin, Gdynia, Świnoujście and Kołobrzeg).
