DFDS has announced an agreement to charter the vessel Ciudad de Valencia for Karlshamm-Klaipeda route.
The vessel will almost triple passenger capacity compared to the ship it replaces, while also providing additional freight space. This upgrade will enhance service reliability for customers and support DFDS’s continued growth in the Baltic Sea region.
Ciudad de Valencia was built in 2020 and can carry up to 950 passengers and 2.562 lane meters, including 250 cars and thus brings a large capacity increase. The vessel features 159 cabins, modern public areas with restaurants and bars, children’s play area and a designated walking area for pets. Designed to provide comfortable and enjoyable travels.
“With this vessel, we are significantly boosting our ability to serve both freight and passenger customers on one of our most important Baltic routes. We see strong growth potential on the route, and this is an important step in ensuring we can offer reliable, comfortable, and efficient services well into the future” says Per-Henrik Persson, Route Director, DFDS.
The vessel is expected to enter service from mid-September 2026 and will replace Optima Seaways.
DFDS operates two combined freight and passenger ferries (RoPax) on Karlshamn-Klaipeda and four other ferries on Baltic Sea routes connecting Germany and Sweden, Sweden and Estonia, and Denmark and Lithuania.
In 2025, DFDS entered into a space charter agreement with TT-Line, enabling the two operators to share capacity on all sailings between Klaipeda and Karlshamn, where both companies currently operate. The agreement also allows DFDS to offer capacity to its customers on TT-Line’s Klaipeda–Trelleborg route for both passengers and freight, as well as freight-only capacity on the Klaipeda–Travemünde service.
