Destination Gotland is a Swedish ferry-line that runs state-subsidised domestic ferries from
Nynäshamn
Nynäshamn is a locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010.
While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid 19th Century, it was only with the opening of the ...
and
Oskarshamn
Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010.
History
Etymology
Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then chang ...
to
Visby
Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...
on the island of
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
. It is a wholly owned daughter company of Rederi AB Gotland. The fleet consists of four high-speed
Ro-Pax
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
ferries. The transport volumes to the island of
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
is more than 1.4 million passengers and 640,000
lane meter A lane meter (or lanes in meters) is a unit of deck area in roll-on/roll-off ships, cargo vessels where containers or other cargo, including ferried vehicles, can be rolled or driven on and off. A lane meter is defined as a strip of deck one mete ...
s of freight per year. During the high season the frequency is up to 16 departures per day to between the mainland of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and the island of
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
.
History
Destination Gotland was founded in 1998 and has since that served the routes
Visby
Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...
to
Nynäshamn
Nynäshamn is a locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010.
While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid 19th Century, it was only with the opening of the ...
and
Oskarshamn
Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010.
History
Etymology
Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then chang ...
. Originally 75% of the company was owned by Rederi AB Gotland and 25% by
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden.
The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is a subsidiary ...
. In January 1999
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden.
The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is a subsidiary ...
sold its share in the company to Rederi AB Gotland, who from then has been the sole owner of the company. At the same time Destination Gotland changed from using
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden.
The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is a subsidiary ...
s reservations system to the
BOOKIT reservations system, which is now used for all their ferry reservations and ticketing.
In the summer of 2007 Destination Gotland begun to run a service between the island of
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
and the island of
Öland
Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...
. This service ceased in 2009.
In August 2021 a new ferry company,
Hansa Destinations
Hansa Destinations is a Swedish ferry line that runs ferries from Nynäshamn and Visby in Sweden to Rostock in Germany. It is a wholly owned daughter company of Rederi AB Gotland. The fleet consists of one ferry.
Destinations
*Gotland,
*Nyn ...
, was launched as a sister company to Destination Gotland within the Rederi AB Gotland group. The new company operates between Nynäshamn and
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
in Germany, with some sailings stopping additionally in Visby. However, due to high fuel costs, Hansa Destinations have cancelled their services for 2023.
[https://hansadestinations.com/info/]
Fleet
Current fleet
*
*
*
*
HSC Gotlandia II (2006)
*
Past fleet
*
*
*
References
External links
Company websiteRederi AB Gotland, complete fleetlist (1865-)* at Fakta om Fartyg
at Fakta om Fartyg {{in lang, sv
Link to Guangzhou Shipyard, builders of M/S Visby and M/S Gotland
Ferry companies of Sweden
Companies based in Gotland County
Transport companies established in 1998