Status on the Danish Standard Ferry project

Please note that the language of the event is Danish.

The Danish “Standard Ferry” project, initiated by the Danish Ferry Secretariat (Færgesekretariatet), has been underway for several years, and the re-tendering process is expected to be launched in the summer of 2026.

As the average age of Denmark’s domestic ferry fleet continues to increase, and as the green transition places growing financial and political pressure on operators that continue to rely on fossil fuels, the need to replace ageing vessels with new and more sustainable ferries is becoming increasingly urgent.

Nete Herskind will introduce the Danish Ferry Secretariat and outline the challenges municipalities face in ensuring reliable ferry services to Denmark’s small islands. She will also provide insight into some of the responsibilities associated with operating ferry services as part of a municipality’s broader public service obligations. The Danish Ferry Secretariat represents 18 municipalities, five of which participate directly in the Standard Ferry project.

We will also hear from Søren Bach-Hansen, Chairman of the Steering Committee of both the Danish Ferry Secretariat and the Standard Ferry project. Drawing on his role as Head of Business Development (Erhvervschef) at Svendborg Municipality, he will explain the broad political support behind the Danish Ferry Secretariat and the Standard Ferry project. Despite significant challenges during the development of the Standard Ferry project, including the cancellation of the first tender process, the project continues to move forward. Søren Bach-Hansen will provide the latest status update and share key lessons learned from the initial tender round.

OMT will then present a general update on the vessel designs as they stand today and explain the considerations behind them. While the concept is reflected in the name “Standard Ferry”, local requirements, route characteristics, weather conditions and operational needs necessitate different solutions from one ferry service to another.

The Danish Ferry Secretariat was established in 2015 as a result of a political agreement between the Danish Government and Local Government Denmark (Kommunernes Landsforening – KL). Today, it has 18 member municipalities and supports ferry services to 26 Danish islands. Its primary purpose is to assist municipalities with ferry operations—an area that typically falls outside their core responsibilities. In addition to initiating and managing the Standard Ferry project, the Secretariat supports its members through recruitment, education and training, procurement, knowledge sharing and collaboration between municipalities. The organization is headed by Nete Herskind, Head of Secretariat, and is guided by a Steering Committee composed of representatives from several of the member municipalities.

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The event is in collaboration with Danish Society for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

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