The Tor Line was a freight
shipping company
A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships.
Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo:
# Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...
. Together with its subsidiaries, the Tor Line operated a fleet of approximately 65
ro-ro
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 ...
,
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, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their o ...
and
lo-lo ships, primarily on the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
s.
It was ultimately purchased by Denmark-based
DFDS
DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literall ...
, which renamed it DFDS Tor Line, and it operated as a freight-carrying division of DFDS along with
DFDS Lisco
DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions (DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) i ...
,
DFDS Lys Line
DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literall ...
and
DFDS Container Line before retiring the brand.
Tor Line was founded as a joint venture between the Swedish
Trans Oil Shipping
Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of".
Used alone, trans may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
* ''Trans'' (fil ...
and
Rex Shipping
Rex may refer to:
* Rex (title) (Latin: king, ruler, monarch), a royal title
** King of Rome (Latin: Rex Romae), chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom
People
* Rex (given name), for people with the given name
* Rex (surname), for people with t ...
to operate car-passenger ferries between Sweden, England and the Netherlands. The company name was an abbreviation of the founding companies' names, Trains Oil and Rex Line.
Tor Line begun passenger operations in 1966 and freight operations in 1969.
In 1980 Tor Line formed a brief joint venture for passenger services,
Sessan Tor Line, with
Sessan Line. A similar joint venture was formed for freight services with
Swedish Lloyd
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
.
Both proved short-lived:
Stena Line acquired Sessan Line in 1981,
and during the same year Tor Line passenger services were sold to
DFDS
DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literall ...
. A year later DFDS also acquired Tor Line's freight services.
Initially both divisions were marketed as DFDS Tor Line, but the passenger ferries were later moved under the DFDS brand.
History
Passenger operations 1966–1981
Two Swedish shipping companies, Trans Oil Shipping and Rex Shipping, decided to form a new company for providing car/passenger ferry services between Sweden, England and the Netherlands. The new Tor Line (an abbreviation of Trans Oil and Rex) ordered the construction of two state-of-the-art ferries from
Lübecker Flender-Werke
Flender Werke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Lübeck. It was founded in 1917 as a branch of Brückenbau Flender AG of Benrath on the Rhine. In 1926 it was made a fully independent business and renamed Lübecker Flenderwerke AG. It ...
in West Germany. These entered service on the
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
—
Immingham—
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
route in 1966 and 1967 as and , respectively.
Meanwhile, Bratt-Götha and the Dutch KNSM (Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot-Maatschappij) joined as shareholders (25% each). Tor Line's main rivals on the Sweden—England route were
England-Sweden Line (ESL), a joint service operated by
Ellerman's Wilson Line,
Swedish Lloyd
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and
Rederi AB Svea
Stockholms Rederi AB Svea (originally Sveabolaget, later often referred to as Rederi AB Svea or simply Svea) was a Swedish shipping company founded in the 1870s. It operated a wide variety of ships carrying freight and passengers around the worl ...
.
The ESL partner companies had also brought new ships on the route in 1966, but these were slower than the Tor ships, had less modern furnishings and lacked full-height cardecks.
In 1975 Tor Line took delivery of the new, larger and faster for the Sweden—England—Netherlands service, followed in 1976 by , a second ship of the same design.
With the delivery of the new ships the ''Tor Anglia'' and ''Tor Hollandia'' were sold. Also in 1976 the English terminal of Tor Line's services was moved to
Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...
. The new ships were arguably the finest ferries of the time, and served as the final blow to the ESL service. Ellerman's Wilson Line and Rederi AB Svea had already dropped out of the joint service previously, and in 1977 Swedish Lloyd also ceased their passenger operations. Despite their dominant position in the Sweden-England service Tor Line's financial position was precarious.
There was not enough passenger demand for two large ships on the service during the winter months; due to this the ''Tor Scandinavia'' was chartered out as an expedition ship during the winter seasons from 1979 onwards.
To improve their financial position Tor line sought out partnerships with other shipping companies. In 1979 (the former ''Tor Anglia'') was chartered for a planned joint Gothenburg—
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...
—
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
with
Fred. Olsen
Fred. Olsen & Co. is a holding company based in Oslo, Norway. The company was founded as a shipping firm by Petter Olsen in 1848. Today the company manages the Olsen family's interests in a variety of sectors including logistics, energy and consum ...
, but Fred. Olsen pulled out before the service could commence. Instead the ''Espresso Olbia'' was laid up in Gothenburg.
In early 1980 a more successful joint service was formed with
Sessan Line, when
Sessan Tor Line was established. Logos of the new joint service were painted on Tor Line's ships.
Sessan Tor Line proved short-lived as Sessan's main competitors
Stena Line purchased Sessan in early 1981.
Subsequently, Tor Line entered negotiations to sell either the ''Tor Britannia'' or ''Tor Scandinavia'' to
DFDS
DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literall ...
. Instead of buying just one ship DFDS purchased the entire Tor Line passenger division in late 1981. Initially the Tor ships were marketed as DFDS Tor Line, but were subsequently absorbed into DFDS' passenger division
DFDS Seaways
DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions ( DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) ...
.
Despite this they kept their original Tor-prefixed names until 1990–1991.
Freight operations 1969 onwards
Tor Line first initiated freight services in 1969 with , and the company acquired a large fleet of freight-carrying vessels during the subsequent years.
In 1980, around the same time as the establishment of joint passenger services with Sessan Line, Tor Line established a joint freight service with their former competitors
Swedish Lloyd
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, marketed as
Tor Lloyd. During the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
at least one of the Tor Lloyd ships, , was chartered to the
United Kingdom Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
The MOD states that its principal objectives are to ...
for service as a supply vessel.
Like the joint Sessan Tor service, the joint Tor Lloyd service proved short-lived, and in 1982 DFDS acquired Tor Line's freight operations. Following the acquisition the former Tor Line ships were rebranded DFDS Tor Line,
and subsequently the Tor division developed into DFDS' main freight-carrying subsidiary.
Organisation changes 2010 onwards
In 2010 DFDS acquired
Norfolkline
Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English channel and Irish Sea; and l ...
from
Maersk
(), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...
. Following restructuring, the operations of DFDS Tor Line,
DFDS Lisco
DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions (DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) i ...
and
Norfolkline
Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English channel and Irish Sea; and l ...
were integrated into
DFDS Seaways
DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions ( DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) ...
. The merger led to changes and additions to freight destinations and an expansion in freight volumes. It is at this point that the historic Tor Line ceased to exist as a brand and entity, though its contributions to the legacy of North Sea and Baltic Sea maritime shipping remains.
Fleet
Former ships
Passenger ferries
Freighters
References
External links
DFDS Tor Line official website
{{DFDS
Shipping companies of Denmark
Shipping companies based in Copenhagen
Ferry companies of Sweden
Danish companies established in 1966
DFDS