The coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on Swdish ferry company Stena Line, who announced Monday that it will cut 950 jobs due to a sharp decline in passenger travel bookings as a result of the outbreak.
Stena Line said the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and subsequent travel restrictions imposed by several countries have weighed heavily on bookings, with passenger traffic to Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Germany and Latvia mostly halted. On Saturday, the company completely stopped operating its Oslo - Frederikshavn route until further notice.
The company expects passenger operations will not recover before the peak season in summer.
Stena Line said it will therefore take drastic measures to adapt the reduce costs of the new business situation and to secure the continuity of its freight business, announcing planned job redundancies that will affect 950 people employed by Stena Line Scandinavia AB. The planned reductions concern positions onboard and offshore, on nine Swedish flagged vessels, as well as positions in the two sister companies Stena Line Travel Group and Retail & Food Services.
“Due to the current situation we are facing, we have no choice but to adjust our operations and our costs to limit the drop in demand and secure the continuity of our freight operations,” said Niclas Mårtensson, CEO of Stena Line.
Stena Line is currently evaluating its overall operations in all regions and does not rule out that there will be further reductions or series of changes to its timetables and/or the route network.