On May, 30 the Wolin ferry will be moored at Wały Chrobrego to house a grand anniversary party. To commemorate the occasion, the inhabitants of Szczecin will also be invited to make a tour of the ship.  

 

Established in 1994, Unity Line began serving passengers in 1995 (hence this year’s anniversary). On June, 1 1995 Unity Line sent the ship Polonia on the maiden voyage from to Świnoujście to Ystad. At first the carrier was owned jointly by Polsteam and Euroafrika. 10 years ago Polsteam bought Euroafrika's shares, but Unity Line continues to cooperate with Euroafrika - three out of seven Unity Line ferries are the property of its former co-owner. 

 

At the beginning Unity Line’s fleet consisted of three ships: Polonia passenger ship and two train ferries - Mikołaj Kopernik and Jan Śniadecki. In 2005 Gryf, Galileusz, Wolin and Skania were added. In 2008, when the global financial crisis erupted, further investments were suspended.

 

The plans to purchase new ferries (it was rumoured that two ferries built in Tricity shipyards would be bought) have been frozen due to all the confusion associated with the privatisation of Polferries (Polska Żegluga Bałtycka) - the other Polish ferry operator.   The owner of Polferries in interested in buying Polsteam, but we do not know whether the Ministry of Treasury will allow it, since it only invited foreign companies, namely DFDS, Finnlines Oyj and TT-Line, to participate in the second stage of the privatisation process.

 

Unity Line has 65% interest in the cargo freight and 29% interest in passenger transportation market en route from Świnoujście to Sweden.

 

“We are able to transport 1150 trucks and 3200 passengers daily – our offer includes 700 passenger cabins and 1900 beds. Most likely, in August this year we will have the pleasure of transporting our five millionth passenger”, says Jarosław Kotarski, the President of Unity Line.  The company employs nearly 600 people (plus the crews of the ferries belonging to Euroafrika).

Thus, the business on Świnoujście - Ystad shipping route seems auspicious.

 

“Our traffic goes up by as much as 5-10 per cent per year, which is due to the development of the road infrastructure”, adds Jarosław Kotarski.

 

The representatives of the company’s management do not let anything dampen their spirits, not even the new directive based on which the ships sailing in the Baltic sea need to use more expensive fuel that has a lower sulphur content.   The switch to the more expensive fuel has converged with a drop in oil prices.  However, the eco fee paid by passenger has been increased.

 

mab