A beautiful postcard of the ferry Stena Saga, from the Frederikshavn-Oslo link 'killed' by the coronavirus pandemic a while ago, reminds us of former cases of closed services and laid up ferries.

Doing justice to the recent outbreak, more often than not, ferry services and their ships are made away with by bridges and tunnels, especially if they're free of charge, or the most deadly of 'em all - aeroplanes (though kind enough to leave ro-ro connections in peace).

Politics put their two cents in as well, for good or ill, like when imposing inhospitable regulations, opening borders, or abolishing customs taxes (remember the year 1999?).

Yet, never say never! For instance, the service between Świnoujście and Trelleborg was closed in 1953 but eventually resumed in 2007.

Earlier this year, the Trelleborg-Sassnitz 'King's Line,' running since April 1897, was closed, only to be re-launched a couple of months later between the German seaport and Ystad - and by whom! The one and only FRS who disappeared, with its Aarhus-Kalundborg service, from the Baltic in 2013.

Photo: Conny Wickberg