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) into the previously passenger-only operation of DFDS Seaways.

DFDS Seaways renewed its fleet in 2006, purchasing MS King of Scandinavia and MS Princess of Norway to replace the last ships still in service that dated from the 1970s. The company has acquired a reputation for purchasing used ships, as well as for taking over the build contracts or taking delivery of newbuilds originally ordered by other companies. The last time DFDS Seaways ordered a newbuild of its own was in 1978. DFDS Seaways stopped serving Sweden in 2006, when MS Princess of Scandinavia was taken out of service, and the Copenhagen–Oslo service stopped calling at Helsingborg. In May 2008, DFDS made public its plan to close down the loss-making United Kingdom–Norway service on 1 September 2008. MS Queen of Scandinavia, the ship that was used in the service, has since been chartered to St Peter Line.

In July 2010, DFDS acquired Norfolkline from Maersk. The Norfolkline routes and vessels were integrated into DFDS Seaways. DFDS Seaways now had the Dover–Dunkirk route, and launched the new Dover–Calais route in February 2012.

DFDS announced in 2015 that it had unveiled a new logo, which saw 'DFDS' in a new font, and the logo with the white Maltese cross losing its outer circle; it announced furthermore that the DFDS Seaways subsidiary would be shortened to just 'DFDS' carrying a dark blue hull in the same font instead of the traditional light blue hull, and a Maltese cross with a circle. The first vessels to receive the new livery—and the new name scheme that would eventually be rolled out throughout the whole fleet—were the former MyFerryLink ferries Rodin (now Côte des Dunes) and the Berlioz (now Côte des Flandres).

In 2018, DFDS ordered three RoPax newbuild vessels - one was an E-Flexer on charter from Stena RoRo, which entered service as the Côte d'Opale in August 2021, and two RoPaxes for Baltic Sea operations. The first of the Baltic twins, named Aura Seaways, was launched in late 2020, and had an inclination test in 2021. The sea trials took place in the middle of 2021.

In September 2019, DFDS announced that it would add two new ships, the MS Moby Wonder and MS Moby Aki, to the Newcastle–IJmuiden route in early 2020. The former ships, the MS King Seaways and MS Princess Seaways, would in turn have been sold to Moby Lines. This plan was later abandoned in October 2019 due to Moby Lines being unable to commit to the delivery of the ships with ongoing financial issues over vessel mortgages.

On 10 June 2024, DFDS announced the sale of one of its oldest lines, the mostly passenger-focused Copenhagen–Frederikshavn–Oslo, to the Swedish company Gotlandsbolaget, citing a strategic focus on transport and logistics services. The sale is expected to be completed in October 2024.

On 3 December 2024, it was announced that DFDS was awarded the contract to operate lifeline ferry services for Jersey from spring 2025, taking over from the pan-Channel Island operator Condor Ferries. This followed the collapse of a joint ferry tender process with Guernsey, who had chosen the majority stake-holder owner of Condor, Brittany Ferries in late October. A 20-year contract was signed on 31 December 2024 for passenger and freight services to Poole, Portsmouth and St Malo.