Two northern states in Germany will restart their ferry connection from March 2021

"Greenferry I" is the new connection on the river Elbe between Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein

Two northern states in Germany, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, are connected by water as of 1 March 2021. At the mouth of the river Elbe there are two cities, Cuxhaven and Brunsbüttel, whose residents will be able to facilitate their transport options by using the restart of the ferry line.

The “Greenferry I” first set off on Monday at 5 am. Heinrich Ahlers, the managing director of Elbferry, the company that provides the service, shared the good news: "There is no longer anything separating Brunsbüttel and Cuxhaven."

By running the 32-kilometer route between the two cities in less than an hour, “Greenferry I” will enable traveling between the federal states and save people time. The ferry will commute every three hours throughout the day.

Two companies have previously tried to link the two states but failed to do so for economic reasons. The first service continued between 1999 and 2001, and the second one’s last ferry trip was in 2017.

The ferry has space for 600 people and 150 cars

According to Ahlers, his company will provide more space for passengers and vehicles. This includes 150 cars, 28 trucks and 600 people.

The ferry is focusing on being ecologically friendly using liquefied natural gas instead of diesel and being faster than its previous models. Still, the main business of the 130-meter-long ferry is going to be truck transportation.  

"Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein will be connected even better. It's a great signal when entrepreneurs can successfully implement such projects despite the corona times. The new ferry connection also sends out an important signal for the environment: with LNG as a low-CO2 fuel, we can also actively promote climate protection in shipping. The ferry connection will contribute to a noticeable relief on the roads. Not only the haulage companies and tourism benefit from this, but also the residents along the busy rural routes," said Dr. Bernd Althusmann, the minister of transport of Lower Saxony .

For future plans, the managing director also hopes to attract more tourists during the season, especially those travellers going to Denmark.