Since the Coronavirus Pandemic was declared March 2020, a variety of passenger ferry routes have seen suspensions. Sadly, many routes remain suspended or have had re-starts then been suspended again.
We have put together a list of Northern European passenger ferry routes that are currently suspended due to the implications of Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Please note;
- A large number of International and Domestic ferry routes that continue to operate are subject to Government travel restrictions, meaning that they are only open for essential travel or other conditions. Before making any travel plans, you are highly recommended to check the advice of all relevant Governments and with the relevant ferry company.
- We will do our best to keep this list updated but it is intended for guidance only and you are recommended to make your own enquiries as to whether or not a route is operating before relying upon this information.
Latest updates are in red.
Brittany Ferries
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Portsmouth – Le Havre | COTENTIN | Until further notice | Passenger service is suspended until further notice. |
| Portsmouth – Caen | NORMANDIE, MONT ST MICHEL | Reduced passenger service | Until 7 June 2021, NORMANDIE is freight only. |
| Portsmouth – St Malo | BRETAGNE | Until 7 June 2021 | |
| Portsmouth – Bilbao | CAP FINISTERE | Until 7 June 2021 | GALICIA is offering Portsmouth – Santander passenger service and MN PELICAN Poole – Bilbao freight service. |
| Poole – Cherbourg | BARFLEUR | Until 7 June 2021 | ARMORIQUE is offering a Saint Malo – Poole sailing once per week. Wednesday ex Saint Malo and Thursday ex Poole. |
| Plymouth – Roscoff | ARMORIQUE, PONT-AVEN | Until 7 June 2021 | PONT-AVEN is due to remain out of service until mid-May. ARMORIQUE remains on Ireland – France “Brexit-Busting” services from Cork, the Rosslare trip has been replaced by the above mentioned Poole – Saint Malo trip. |
| Plymouth – Santander | PONT-AVEN | Until 7 June 2021 |
Wightlink
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Portsmouth – Ryde | WIGHT RYDER I, WIGHT RYDER II | Resumed | |
| Lymington – Yarmouth | WIGHT SUN, WIGHT LIGHT, WIGHT SKY | Resumed |
Condor Ferries
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Poole – Guernsey and Jersey | CONDOR LIBERATION | Resumed | COMMODORE CLIPPER continues to provide a passenger service on the Portsmouth – Guernsey and Jersey route. |
| St Malo – Guernsey and Jersey | CONDOR RAPIDE | Resumed | COMMODORE CLIPPER provides a weekly passenger service from St Malo to Guernsey and Jersey. |
Irish Ferries
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Dublin – Holyhead | DUBLIN SWIFT | Until 18 June 2021 | Route continues to operate with ULYSSES and EPSILON. |
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Douglas – Liverpool, Belfast, Dublin | MANANNAN | Until 1 July 2021 | Fast craft season was due to begin on 25 March. MANANNAN will cover BEN-MY-CHREE drydock in Mid-April with ARROW. BEN-MY-CHREE continues to maintain a very restricted passenger service on the Douglas – Heysham route. |
DFDS
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Copenhagen – Frederikshavn – Oslo | PEARL SEAWAYS, CROWN SEAWAYS | Until 7 June 2021 |
Color Line
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Oslo – Kiel | COLOR MAGIC, COLOR FANTASY | Until 9 June 2021 | Over the past year the company has offered trips ex Norway only during some periods. COLOR CARRIER continues to offer a freight service on the Oslo – Kiel route. The company continues to operate Hirtshals – Larvik and Kristiansand with SUPERSPEED 1 and SUPERSPEED 2. Passenger travel on this route is currently only possible from Norway to Denmark. |
| Sandefjord – Strömstad | COLOR HYBRID, COLOR VIKING | Until 9 June 2021 | This route has been suspended since March 2020. |
Fjord Line
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Hirtshals – Stavanger – Bergen | STAVANGERFJORD, BERGENSFJORD | Until 1 June 2021 | The normal route is currently suspended. One ship is offering two weekly return trips from Hirtshals to Stavanger (currently STAVANGERFJORD) Freight service with both ships resumed on 1 May. |
| Hirtshals – Langesund | STAVANGERFJORD, BERGENSFJORD | Until 1 June 2021 | A six-days per week Hirtshals – Kristiansand service is being offered to cater primarily for freight. Freight service with both ships resumed on 1 May. |
| Sandefjord – Strömstad | OSLOFJORD | Until 1 July 2021 | This route has been suspended since March 2020. |
Tallink Silja
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Helsinki – Tallinn | MEGASTAR, STAR, SILJA EUROPA | Until 4 June 2021 | SILJA EUROPA 21.5 hour mini-cruise suspended. STAR and MEGASTAR operating normally. SEAWIND is also sailing normally on the Muuga – Vuosaari route, though not currently available to tourist traffic. SILJA SERENADE due to start Helsinki – Tallinn mini-cruises 4 June to 22 June. SILJA EUROPA takes over on 23 June after a charter at Falmouth for the G7. |
| Stockholm – Mariehamn – Helsinki | SILJA SERENADE, SILJA SYMPHONY | Until 1 August 2021 | Stockholm – Mariehamn/Långnäs – Turku service with GALAXY and BALTIC PRINCESS continues to operate as normal. SILJA SERENADE will operate the Helsinki – Tallinn – Åland route from 14 June 2021 to 31 July 2021. In July SILJA SYMPHONY will operate Stockholm – Visby and Stockholm – Ystad – Visby cruises. |
| Stockholm – Riga | ROMANTIKA, ISABELLE | Until further notice | ROMANTIKA is due to operate Helsinki – Riga 1/7/21 to 30/8/21. ISABELLE was previously indicated to be operating these sailings. |
| Stockholm – Mariehamn – Tallinn | BALTIC QUEEN, VICTORIA I | Until 1 July 2021 | Previously scheduled VICTORIA I cruises have now been removed. The REGAL STAR and SAILOR are offering a passenger service on the Kapellskär – Paldiski route. |
Viking Line
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Stockholm – Mariehamn (21-hour cruise) | CINDERELLA | Until 3 June 2021 | CINDERELLA is due to operate 26 “special cruises” in Summer 2021. These are from Stockholm to Härnösand, Visby, Rønne and Gdańsk. |
| Stockholm – Mariehamn – Helsinki | GABRIELLA | Until 12 June 2021 | MARIELLA has been sold and the timetable shows GABRIELLA operating the route alone until further notice. 12 – 30 June GABRIELLA offers a non-landing, alternative timetable before the normal service resumes on 1 July. She will also offer 12 cruises throughout the summer from Helsinki to Visby, Riga, Mariehamn, Turku. Kotka and Hanko. Stockholm – Mariehamn/Långnäs – Turku service with AMORELLA and VIKING GRACE continues to operate as normal. |
Moby St. Peter Line
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| St. Petersburg -Tallinn – Stockholm -Helsinki. | PRINCESS ANASTASIA | Until 1 August 2021 | PRINCESS ANASTASIA is currently being used as an accommodation ship at Murmansk. Company is not currently accepting bookings for 2021 due to uncertainty. |
Bornholmslinjen
| Route | Ship(s) | Current Suspension | Comment |
| Rønne – Sassnitz | HAMMERSHUS | Until 3 June 2021 |
Northern European Ferries Permanently Withdrawn From Service Due to Pandemic
| Ship | Company | Route | Comment |
| PRIDE OF BRUGES | P&O Ferries | Hull – Zeebrugge | RoPax route closed – Container service continues. Ship sold to GNV as GNV ANTARES. |
| PRIDE OF YORK | P&O Ferries | Hull – Zeebrugge | RoPax route closed – Container service continues. Ship sold to GNV as GNV ARIES. |
| PRIDE OF BURGUNDY | P&O Ferries | Dover – Calais | Capacity reduction on route. Returning to service in June 2021 |
| EUROPEAN SEAWAY | P&O Ferries | Dover – Calais | Capacity reduction on route. |
| STENA SAGA | Stena Line | Oslo – Frederikshavn | Route closed. |
| SASSNITZ | Stena Line | Sassnitz to Trelleborg | Route closed. |
| BIRKA STOCKHOLM | Birka Cruises/Eckerö Group | Stockholm – Mariehamn | Route closed. |
| MARIELLA | Viking Line | Stockholm – Mariehamn – Helsinki | Sold to Corsica Ferries to become MEGA REGINA. |
The above information is believed to be correct at the time of publication but is not guaranteed.
