- We are very pleased with the easing that the government is now making with regard to the covid restrictions that were introduced in December. The Norwegian entry restrictions in particular have in practice led to a closure of large parts of our business, says CEO Trond Kleivdal.

On the Oslo-Kiel route, COLOR MAGIC will be put into operation from 12 February and COLOR FANTASY from 25 February. On the Sandefjord-Strømstad route, COLOR HYBRID will be put into operation from 9 February and COLOR VIKING is planned to be put into operation from 28 February.

- Color Line has been at the forefront of the pandemic for almost two years, and the entire tourism industry has been affected by the fact that we have not been able to operate our daily, year-round passenger routes between Norway, Sweden and Germany. Several of our employees have now experienced being laid off for the third time due to the level of measures, and it is therefore particularly gratifying to be able to welcome our colleagues back, says Kleivdal.

Today 2 February, Color Lines SUPERSPEED 1 and SUPERSPEED 2 sail as normal between Kristiansand and Larvik and Hirtshals. Both ships have experienced strong demand in the socially critical freight transport and are now also experiencing marked growth among Danish winter tourists.

On the Oslo-Kiel route, the freight transport ship COLOR CARRIER sails with increased frequency to take care of Color Line's logistics customers, and Color Line's freight capacity on this route will increase significantly when COLOR FANTASY and COLOR MAGIC are put into operation. At the same time, Color Line is experiencing a strong influx of German summer tourists, and expects that further relief in Norway and in the destination countries will contribute to increasing demand growth also among Norwegian travelers.

In a normal year, Color Line carries close to four million passengers and 200,000 freight units between Norway and Denmark, Sweden and Germany, divided into four year-round routes and seven ships. The booking rate for 2022 is already in line with or over the same time in 2019.