**Samsø fears explosion in diesel prices:** More expensive tickets and fewer departures are at stake
Samsø Rederi could soon be left with a hole in its budget of 650,000 kroner per month.
The high-speed ferry Lilleøre sails several times daily between Samsø and Aarhus. 32 minutes ago.
The westerly wind whips saltwater over the parked cars at the harbor in Sælvig, where the high-speed ferry Lilleøre will soon dock after an hour-long trip from Aarhus.
Ole Kjær Pedersen sits in his minibus and waits to see if any of the passengers need transport around the island.
> It's a choice between the plague and cholera. It's a really annoying situation.
But he fears there could be fewer of them. Samsø Rederi, which is owned by the municipality, will soon be short of money.
Several of the shipping company's fixed-price agreements, which have secured cheap diesel for the ferries for a number of years, will soon expire. This risks creating a hole in the budget of up to 650,000 kroner per month.
- I'm not happy about it, because we live off tourists and the like. And if prices become more expensive - that's not good. It's not good, says Ole Kjær Pedersen.
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Mayor: It's a choice between plague and cholera
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Shortly after, Mayor Per Urban Olsen (Conservative) arrives at the harbor with a worried expression.
He says that more expensive tickets - but also fewer departures and extended sailing times - are on the table.
- A solution must be found, because the shipping company cannot face a budget year with a deficit of 7.2 million kroner. We can't do that, says the mayor.
More than 300,000 tourists visit Samsø every year. (Photo: © Mads Claus Rasmussen, Ritzau Scanpix)
He sees four levers that can be adjusted: state support, slower sailing, increased ticket prices, and removal of departures.
- I don't like the last two. It's a choice between plague and cholera. It's a really annoying situation, says Per Urban Olsen.
We have heard for a long time about high diesel prices, while you have known that Samsø Rederi's fixed-price agreements would soon expire. Has the municipality done enough to avoid this potential million-kroner bill?
- The price was locked in far into the future, and it was very good at the time. The former mayor and the municipal director showed due diligence when they entered into those agreements. Without it, we would have been hit harder, says the mayor.
According to the Small Islands' Ferry Company, Samsø is far from the only place in the country where high diesel prices are currently squeezing municipal budgets, and where fixed-price agreements are expiring.
Hear Samsø's mayor explain what the consequences could be:
When summer holidaymakers drove aboard the Jyllandsfærgen towards Samsø, the ticket was significantly more expensive than it has been before.
The shipping company had to find nearly two million kroner due to new VAT rules.
- We could immediately see it in the occupancy rate. Customers disappeared, so we really don't want to have to raise the fares, says the mayor, who sends an appeal to the government:
- They have to find some funds to support ferry traffic. They simply have to. This is our lifeline, says Per Urban Olsen.
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More expensive vegetables?
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About 15 kilometers further north, Søren Peter Kjeldahl is waiting.
He is the director of one of Samsø's largest workplaces with over 100 employees and sends potatoes, onions, and red cabbage to the mainland's supermarkets every day.
4,500 truck trailers cross the southern Kattegat each year.
- We risk being dropped as a supplier if the price becomes too high. It would be a very serious situation if ticket prices are raised, says Søren Peter Kjeldahl.
Here the director explains more about what higher ticket prices will mean:
He is part of a market that, according to him, is ruthless.
- We all know that if you say no to the market, the market is gone. Then it's taken over by someone else, and then it becomes even more expensive to get back. So you really have to think carefully when these decisions are to be made, says Søren Peter Kjeldahl.
According to the Ministry of Urban, Rural and Transport Affairs, work is currently underway on a compensation scheme for the municipal ferry companies to mitigate the worst consequences.
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.