DSDF rocks the boat
By Maria Kowalewska
Competition is heating up on the high seas with the recent launch of ferry services by Danish operator DSDF, which has already stolen a 22% share of the lucrative Baltic ferry market and forced competing companies to beef up their services to stave off further market share losses.
DSDF recently said that 75,000 passengers have used its connection between Gdańsk and Trelleborg, Sweden, and the Danish capital Copenhagen since the link was launched last October. DSDF captured its almost quarter share of the market after only three months of operation.
Meanwhile, the remaining operators that are already established on the market - the state-owned Polska Żegluga Bałtycka (Polferries), domestic operator Unity Line and Stena Line of Sweden - are expanding and diversifying their operations in order to stand a better chance against DSDF.
Competition among the prosperous ferry operators has been increasingly prompted by the fact that with the country's European Union accession the operators will likely lose up to 30% of their profits as duty-free shops on board the Baltic ferries are scrapped in compliance with Union regulations.
Until DSDF's appearance last year, the market for Polish-Scandinavian ferry connections was divided between the two Polish operators and the Swedish company. But with an annual average of 700,000 passengers and 200,000 vehicles using Baltic ferry connections, it was hardly a surprise that DSDF, one of the largest international players among the Baltic ferry operators, finally decided to claim a share of the overnight cruise market.
According to DSDF country representatives, the company's operational results were much better than initially anticipated, despite launching in the winter, and the company now expects to increase its client base to 170,000 this year.
Joanna Cieślik, sales and marketing manager at DSDF's local office, said that 65% of the company's clients hail from Denmark, thanks to the company's high brand awareness of nearly 90% in that country.
"Right now we have marked our presence on the market and we will continue to work on the products we offer," she said.
As competition increases, operators such as Polferries, which has been a virtual monopolist on the market since the company's inception in 1976, are now offering regular connections with Sweden and Denmark. For Polferries, which has recently recovered from a slump caused by mismanagement in the mid-1990s, this means four regular connections as well as summertime cruises to the most popular destinations.
In defending its market share, Szczecin-based Unity Line has diversified its operations by offering cargo and train transport services on top of its passenger links. Last year the operator transported 210,510 passengers on the line it runs between Świnoujście and the Swedish city of Ystad, along with nearly 80,000 trucks and more than 40,000 passenger cars.
