Olau Line
| Olau Line | |
|---|---|
| legal form | |
| founding | 1956 |
| Seat | |
The Olau Line was a shipping company founded in 1956 by the Danish shipowner Ole Lauritzen. The shipping company owned tankers and cargo ships that were chartered out. In 1973, Olau Line started a ferry connection between Vlissingen and Ramsgate , mainly used to import vehicles to Great Britain . A year later the route Vlissingen - Sheerness was opened.
In 1977 Olau Line got into economic difficulties and a year later 50% of the shares were bought by the German shipping company TT-Linie . In 1979, the TT line also took over the remaining shares from Ole Lauritzen and thus became 100 percent owner.
In 1981 and 1982, Olau Line concentrated its activities on the Vlissingen - Sheerness route and bought the Olau Hollandia and Olau Britannia ferries from AG Weser Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven , which were replaced by two larger ferries of the same name in 1989 and 1990 . The new Olau Hollandia and the new Olau Britannia were the largest and most luxurious ferries in the English Channel at the time.
The end of the Olau Line
At the turn of the year 1993/94 there were more and more disputes between the owner TT-Line and the trade union ÖTV and the sea works council . While the TT-Line was planning a strategic realignment, the union and the maritime works council did not want to lose their influence on the ships registered in Germany up to now.
The TT-Line was planning to flag out the two ships or to swap ships (and the associated swap of crews) with the ships Peter Pan and Nils Holgersson operating on the Baltic Sea . The Olau Hollandia team went on strike in front of Vlissingen.
In order not to become a pawn for the trade unions, TT-Line decided in March 1994 to close the connection between Vlissingen and Sheerness on May 15, 1994. The ships were chartered out to P&O Ferries ( P&O ). The so-called “Olau-Twins” have now been sold and operate as GNV Cristal and GNV Atlas for Grandi Navi Veloci in the Mediterranean .
Individual evidence
- ^ M / S Olau Hollandia. Retrieved August 17, 2018 .
- ^ M / S Olau Britannia. Retrieved August 17, 2018 .