Øresundslinjen () is a ferry company serving the route between

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

, Sweden and

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

, Denmark. Until 2018 the company was called HH-Ferries Group, and the trading name

Scandlines Scandlines is a ferry company that operates the Rødby– Puttgarden and Gedser–Rostock ferry routes between Denmark and Germany. Scandlines owns seven ferries, six of which are hybrid ferries, making Scandlines the owner of the world's large ...

was used. From 2018 to 2023 the name "ForSea Ferries" was used. The

Helsingør–Helsingborg ferry route The Helsingør–Helsingborg ferry route ("HH route") is a shipping route connecting Helsingør (Elsinore), Denmark and Helsingborg, Sweden across the northern, and narrowest part of the Øresund. Due to the short distance, which is less tha ...

crosses the narrowest part of the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

, taking about 20 minutes to traverse the strait. The company owns five vessels, including the sister ships , ''Aurora af Helsingborg'', and ''Hamlet'', each of which has capacity for 240 cars and 1,250 passengers.Helsingborgs Dagblad. ''"Vi tog mer ström än hela Helsingör på en enda laddning – så mycket kraft handlar det om''.
Retrieved 10 February 2021.

History

Øresundslinjen was originally established in 1996 under the name "Sundbroen" ("The Sound Bridge") by the Danish shipowner Per Henriksen. It was sold in 1997 and changed its name to HH-Ferries. In 2001 the company was sold again, this time to the Swedish business group Stena, operating under the

brand. After further cooperation deals, the company was suddenly owned by the same cooperation as former competitors

. In 2011 the competition on the

HH Ferry route HH may refer to: Organizations * HH Electronics, a British amplifier manufacturer * Happy Hippie Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Miley Cyrus * Hartmann House Preparatory School, an independent preparatory school in Harare, Zi ...

finished with the larger eating the smaller, with the two ''Mercandias'', ''IV'' and ''VIII'' being added to the Scandlines-HH Ferries fleet. In 2018 HH-Ferries rebranded as ForSea Ferries as ''Aurora'' and ''Tycho Brahe'' were reintroduced into service as battery-electric vessels. Around the same time as the rebranding took place, ForSea decided to ditch the Scandlines branding in favour of creating a new, independent brand image that sought to distinguish ForSea as a cleaner and greener service compared to Scandlines. In 2018 the ferries Tycho Brahe and Aurora af Helsingborg were converted to battery power. They are completely emission-free when in battery mode, reducing their total CO₂ emissions by as much as 65%. In 2020 Øresundslinjen experienced a reduction of 80% in passenger numbers due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The number of departures was reduced and seventy staff were made redundant. In January 2023, the Danish and Swedish

competition regulator A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of markets. It identifies and corrects practices causing market impediments and distortions through competition law (also known as antitrust law). In general it is a governm ...

s approved the sale of ForSea to the Danish ferry operator

Molslinjen (previously ) is a Danish company that operates ferry services between Jutland and Zealand, and also services to Bornholm. In March 2017, the routes in the Kattegat were renamed to Molslinjen. History Molslinjen was formed by DFDS in 1964 sail ...

. In September 2023 ForSea Ferries was rebranded as "Øresundslinjen".Faergenyt.dk. ''ForSea Ferries bliver til Øresundslinjen.''
Retrieved 15 October 2023.

Fleet

As of 5 October 2024, Øresundslinjen owns 4 vessels: Former ships

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website

Det Maritime Danmark - HH-Ferries A/S

"About us", hhferries.dk
Companies based in Helsingborg Ferry companies of Sweden Ferry companies of Denmark