Color Line flushed with success

Color Line Deutschland has reported a significant increase in the number of passengers on its Kiel-Oslo route, writes Bülent Erdogan in Cologne.

The number of German passengers increased by 50% from 226,000 in 2004 to 339,000 last year, while other nationalities went up by 40% from 605,000 to 846,000 passengers.

The company, owned by Norwegian ferry operator Color Line, saw turnover rise 33% from Eur 32m ($42m) to Eur 43m. For 2006, managing director Stefan Mathias expects further growth of around 5%.

The development was driven by boosting passenger numbers on short cruises aboard the company's new flagship, the 73,500 gt Color Fantasy , and the 31,914 gt Kronprins Harald, with a rise of 186% to 150,000 passengers last year. The Color Fantasy took up service in December 2004.

The number of German passengers on all six Color Line routes increased by 26% to 610,000 during the year.

This meant that about one out of seven passengers carried by Color Line was German.

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