New plan in the works for ferry between Groningen and Norway

Groningen is in talks about a new ferry service between Eemshaven and Norway, deputy Henk Emmens (BBB) said in response to questions from GroenLinks in the Provincial Council. The province is in talks with the Groningen Seaports company and an entrepreneur who wants to restart the ferry service, Emmens said, RTV Noord reports.

He did not say which entrepreneur was involved. He also couldn’t say if the ferry would again sail between Eemshaven and Kristiansand, Norway, as the Holland Norway Lines’ ferry service did before it went bankrupt in September last year. “At this stage, we cannot make any additional statements about which port and which company. We can say that we are having the conversations because the connection with Norway offers opportunities for trade and tourism,” Emmens said.

The BBB deputy added that the province has learned lessons from the previous ferry service. The parties involved now know that the mooring must be better organized and that the future ferry must be able to moor without tugboats, even in strong winds. They’re also looking to moor the ferries in an area with more space. “Where they can moor more easily and load and unload faster. So that less time is needed on the quay and you can work more effectively. There also needs to be more space for freight traffic.”

The province also wants to pay more attention to attracting Norwegian tourists to the Netherlands.