The MS Romantika will sail for the first time between Eemshaven and Kristiansand in Norway on April 7, 2022. The ship withstood severe storms, such as Hans recently who ravaged Scandinavia. But after Groningen, Emden is now also losing the boat to Norway.
Everyone seemed happy with the Holland Norway Line in 2021. Their ferry service with the MS Romantika between Eemshaven and Norway is considered a great asset to the tourism and transport world. They are oh entrepreneurs Bart Cunnen from The Hague and Patrick America from Amsterdam who will form the basis of Holland Norway Lines (HNL) in 2020.
The duo finds a group of investors/shareholders: five active (including both entrepreneurs themselves) and seven ‘silent’, wealthy shareholders. The latter are crazy about the world of cruise ships, pump money (they start with an equity capital of 6.5 million in the first year) into the plan and have no further role. They all wish to remain anonymous. Among them are a Taiwanese investor and friends of faith from America who have business connections in the transportation and construction industry.
Eemshaven is ideal, but…
They see Eemshaven as the ideal departure location. A problem, they can only use the public heavy loading quay there until October 2022. However, already in the first talks between HNL and Groningen Seaports (the manager of the Eemshaven), HNL knows that it must build its own quay, because it is expected that it will be very busy in the Eemshaven in the coming years.
The day the tickets go on sale, the HNL website flies out. On April 7, 2022, the MS Romantika will sail from Eemshaven to Kristiansand for the first time. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Cunnen and America to build their own quay. They want to start with that in the summer of 2022. But its own financing fails.
At the beginning of 2022, HNL also knocked on the door of the Northern Development Agency (NOM). The NOM was willing to look into that, but Cunnen and America ultimately failed to provide the required business case and background information about the shareholders.
America and Cunnen must go
In November 2022, America and Cunnen must leave. On November 11, the HNL Group BV is founded. Wilbert Boneschansker from Veendam and the Norwegian Morten Aggvin form the new management of this new BV that will take over Holland Norway Lines BV, the company of the first group of investors to lose millions of their investments in the ferry service in those months.
According to Boneschansker, Cunnen and America visited banks, shipping funds, investment funds in vain. The world had changed due to rising fuel costs and the war in Ukraine caused a lot of stress. It was increasingly difficult for startups such as the HNL to get financing from banks.
And yet, in the first year, 190,000 passengers sail on board the MS Romantika. Boneschansker speaks of a turnover of almost 50 million euros in the first year. But the money flow from ticket sales is not enough to get a loan for the construction of its own quay, which costs between 12 and 50 million euros, depending on the implementation.
Rain complaints after cancellations
And now they know at HNL that from the beginning of this year they regularly have to cancel sailings because the quay is occupied.
Boneschansker asks Seaports to help finance the wharf. Seaports, the province of Groningen and investment company NOM then commissioned an independent company to investigate HNL’s financial situation. According to Boneschansker, this shows that the prospects for the future are good. “Even better than expected.”
At that time, HNL increasingly had to cancel the trip to Norway, or vice versa. This leads to a lot of complaints and unrest among the Romantika passengers. They often get stuck in Norway completely unexpectedly. They then have to see how they get home, often later having to pick up the car from the parking lot in Eemshaven.
From Cuxhaven temporarily to Emden and then?
That is why HNL chooses to move temporarily at the end of March 2023. From April, the MS Romantika will sail from Cuxhaven for the first few months, from Emden from 1 June. “We have to be reliable, offer our travelers stability,” says Aggvin.
The collaboration with Emden was for an indefinite period. The plan was that the MS Romantika would depart from there for at least the entire coming season. HNL said this on March 23 at a press conference in Emden.
According to Aggvin, to be able to offer passengers a reliable ferry service again, HNL had to leave Eemshaven and find another solution. “Fortunately, we have now found them,” said Aggvin in March and also that HNL expected about 250,000 passengers this year. The Norwegian emphasized in Emden that HNL is committed to Eemshaven and the region of North Groningen. The head office of HNL will remain in Groningen. Aggvin also hoped that the ferry service could eventually return to Eemshaven.
Four months later on Wednesday, August 30, Holland Norway Lines BV reports that it is in need of money and has requested a suspension of payment from the court. The problems are partly due to the financial losses suffered at the beginning of this year in connection with the turbulent period in Eemshaven. And the MS Romantika? It is temporarily on the quay in Emden, ticket sales have been halted.