Passenger Ship Website
-
www.simplonpc.co.uk
-
Simplon Postcards Home
-
Recent Updates
-
Search
-
Copyright Information
-
Contact Simplon
This website has no connection with any shipping company, cruise line, boat operator or other commercial organisation
Tor Line
DFDS Tor Line
Page 2A - Freight Ferries up to 2000
This page is devoted to postcards of the freight ferries of Tor Line, later DFDS Tor Line.
An alphabetical list of ships
covered on this page is shown below.
The Table
beneath gives links to complete postcard history pages on the individual ships. Below the table are official
postcards of the fleet
in date order.
Tor Line was founded by Trans Oil and Rex Shipping (hence Tor) to instigate a modern passenger, car and freight service across the North Sea from Sweden to the UK and Holland. The established operators in this area were the ELS consortium (ELS = Ellerman's Wilson Line, Swedish Lloyd and Stockholms Rederi "Svea"), who were initiating vehicle ferry services at the same time, with the ships
Spero
,
Svea
and
Saga
. Although new, these ships were very traditional in concept, and did not have full-height, through freight decks as designed. In contrast, the two new Tor ships
Tor Anglia
and
Tor Hollandia
followed the latest Scandinavian trends, with bright colours, full-height vehicle decks and high speeds (22 knots). The marketing was aimed a new, younger clientele, and the reduced crossing times appealed to freight customers. The Tor service followed a triangular route pattern serving Immingham in the UK, Amsterdam in Holland, and Göteborg in Sweden. Additional freight-only services with dedicated ro-ro ferries were also soon introduced (although not covered on this page). Competition was fierce, and the three ELS members each dropped out of passenger services in turn, Swedish Lloyd's Tilbury-Göteborg service being the last closure in 1977, following the arrival of the much larger, and even faster,
Tor Britannia
and
Tor Scandinavia
, and transfer of the UK terminal to Felixstowe in 1976. The control of Tor Line passed to the Salens group in the late 1970s.
Despite the successes in winning traffic, the levels of competition kept profits low. Tor Line entered into a partnership in 1980 with Sessan Line, who also sailed out of Göteborg, in competition with Stena Line. This partnership was short-lived since Stena Line acquired Sessan. On freight services, there was a brief partnership with former rivals Swedish Lloyd to form Tor Lloyd. Negotiations began to sell one of the large passenger ships to
DFDS Seaways
, but instead DFDS acquired the complete Tor Line passenger operation in 1981, followed by the freight operations in 1982. The two passenger ships received
DFDS Seaways
livery and, for a short period, the hull logo of DFDS Tor Line. The freight ships have continued to be marketed as DFDS-Tor Line
Ships on This Page 2A:-
Balduin
- 1978, 1981-1986 (charter from Fred Olsen Line)
Dana Futura
- DFDS: 1995-2001
Eva Oden
- 1982-1988, 1999-2000
Tor Anglia
- 1987-
Tor Belgia (3)
- 1999- - ex-
Tor Britannia (2)
Tor Belgia (2)
- 1988-1998
Tor Britannia (2)
- 1992-1999 - later
Tor Belgia (3)
Tor Caledonia
- 1977-1982, 1985-2001
Tor Dania (1)
- 1973-93 - later
Tor Hollandia
Tor Dania (2)
- 1992-
Tor Flandria
- 1998-
Tor Futura
- DFDS-TOR: 2001-
Tor Gothia
- 1971-
Tor Hollandia (2)
- 1973-93 - ex-
Tor Dania (1)
Tor Humbria
- Tor Line: 1999-
Tor Norvegia
- 1999-2001
Tor Scandia
- 1998-
Tor Selandia
- 1999-
Tor Suecia
- 1999-
Ships on
Page 2B
:-
Dana Gloria (5)
- 2002-2003 (carries DFDS TOR colours, but is covered on the main DFDS passenger ferry page)
Dana Sirena (2)
- 2003- (carries DFDS TOR colours, but is covered on the main DFDS passenger ferry page)
Palanga
- 2004- (owned by DFDS Group company Lisco Baltic)
Tor Baltika
- 2001-
Tor Magnolia
- 2003-
Tor Minerva
- 2001-
Tor Neringa
- 2001-
Tor Petunia
- 2004-
Tor Primula
- 2004-
DFDS Pages:-
DFDS
-
Header Page
DFDS
-
Passenger Ferries Pre-1945
- to be added!
DFDS
-
Passenger Ferries 1945-74
DFDS
-
Passenger/RoRo Ferries 1974-
DFDS Tor Line
-
Freight Ferries - 2A
- up to 2000
- this page!
DFDS Tor Line
-
Freight Ferries - 2B
- after 2000
Tor Line
-
Passenger Ferries 1966-1981
Scandinavian World Cruises
- DFDS Caribbean Venture
www.dfdsseaways.co.uk
- DFDS Official Website
Associated Pages:-
Fred Olsen
Ferry Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
References:-
Search This Website:-
powered by
FreeFind
Table of Ship Histories
Name
Other names
Built
Tor Anglia
Sardinia Nova
1966
Tor Hollandia (1)
Ariadne
1967
Tor Britannia (1)
Prince of Scandinavia
1976
Tor Scandinavia
Princess of Scandinavia
1976
DFDS TOR Line Fleet List
Tor Dania (1)
(DFDS Tor Line: 1973-1993)
Tor Hollandia (2)
(DFDS Tor Line: 1993- )
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, 29th May 2004.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, 29th May 2004.
Tor Caledonia
(DFDS Tor Line: 1977-82, 1985-2001)
Photographic postcard of
Tor Caledonia
in Tor Lloyd colours on charter to the UK for Falklands Islands service.
Photo: © Mike Lennon.
Strada Gigante
(ex-
Tor Caledonia
).
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, Dordrecht, 16th May 2004.
Strada Gigante
(ex-
Tor Caledonia
).
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, Dordrecht, 16th May 2004.
Tor Gothia
(Tor Line: 1971 - )
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, 17-01-2004, Immingham Dock.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, 17-01-2004, Immingham Dock.
Eva Oden
(DFDS Tor Line: 1982-1988, 1999-2000)
Tor Belgia (2)
(DFDS Tor Line: 1988-1998)
Eva Oden
was built in 1979 for the Oden Lines service between Sweden and England. She was chartered to Tor Line in 1982, and rebuilt with extra capacity in 1987. In 1988 she
Eva Oden
renamed
Tor Belgia (2)
. The charter ended in 1998, and she reverted to the name
Eva Oden
. Tor Line chartered her again from 1999-2000 under this name. In 2000
Eva Oden
was chartered to
Cobelfret
, followed by sale in 2003.
Photograph of
Eva Oden
in Oden Line service.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photograph of
Eva Oden
in Tor Line service.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photograph of
Tor Belgia
in Tor Line service, after rebuilding.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photograph of
Tor Belgia
in Tor Line service.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photograph of
Tor Belgia
in Tor Line service, with DFDS funnel.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photograph of
Eva Oden
in Cobelfret service.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photograph of
Eva Oden
in B&N service.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photograph of
Eva Oden
in B&N service.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Tor Anglia
(DFDS Tor Line: 1987- )
Tor Anglia
was built as Merzario Gallia in 1977. She later served as
Nordic Wasa
and
African Gateway,
and was chartered to DFDS-TOR Line in 1987, being purcgased the following year. In 2004 she was chartered to Cobelfret for use on their Rotterdam-Purfleet route.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photo: © Cees de Bijl
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, June 27th 2005.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, June 27th 2005.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, June 27th 2005.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, June 27th 2005.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, June 27th 2005.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, June 27th 2005.
Tor Dania
(DFDS Tor Line: 1992- )
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, Terneuzen, 16-04-2004.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, Maasvlakte DFDS TOR Terminal, 18th May 2004.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, Terneuzen, 16-04-2004.
Photo: © Cees de Bijl, Terneuzen, 16-04-2004.