Rederij Doeksen is also suffering from the rising prices and is forced to have the sailings of the two newest LNG ferries largely replaced by the ms Friesland. The shipping company is doing this because of the ‘exorbitant price increase of LNG’.
The ms Willem Barentsz and the ms Willem de Vlamingh sail on that fuel and ensure that the costs of maintaining the ferry connections with Terschelling and Vlieland are “extremely high”, according to Doeksen.
“Measures are unavoidable and that is harsh, because we recently invested in sustainable new ferries that run on LNG,” says Dirk Spoor, general manager of Rederij Doeksen. “But the extremely high fuel prices hit our company hard. Compared to January 1, 2021, the price of gas oil has risen by about 200 percent and that of LNG even by 900 percent.”
Extra sailings on busy days
The ms Friesland will be used in the main service on the Terschelling line, largely instead of the LNG ships, which will continue to provide extra sailings on busy days. If the LNG ships sail, it will take them longer, with a view to saving fuel.
The ms Friesland is in principle less sustainable and is therefore being converted to biodiesel. In this way, according to Doeksen, the extra emissions resulting from the use of the ship are limited as much as possible.
Fuel Surcharge
Rederij Doeksen wants to continue this cost-saving package until the end of next year. The number of sailings that will be canceled must be limited, “so that the personnel consequences within our organization are not too great and that we continue to have sufficient, qualified employees even after this fuel crisis,” says Spoor.
Doeksen also wants to introduce a fuel surcharge of approximately 4.75 euros per person per ferry return. The shipping company is still in consultation with the government about this.