Danish ferry firm turns away people without ID

The checks were introduced following the announcement by the Swedish government at the beginning of November that it would be checking passenger ID on all forms of transport into the country, following its decision to restrict numbers of refugee arrivals.

Although the Swedish order will not be implemented across the board until the 4th of January, Stena Line made the decision to enforce ID control as early as November 12th.

“We have prepared in partnership with [Danish security firm] Securitas, who we agreed a deal with at the time of the announcement regarding ID control,” Thomas Christiansen, marketing director with Stena Line, told DR.

This has resulted in the rejection of 25 to 30 passengers at departure terminals.

“It is simply down to people forgetting their ID, which they go home to pick and then come back for the following departure. So there have been no problems so far,” Christiansen told DR.

“We regularly ask our customers when they come to our harbours, and it is not something they see as a problem,” he continued.

Stena Line is currently unable to confirm the cost of the ID checks, or whether this cost will be borne by the company or passed on to passengers.

On Monday, national rail operator DSB announced that its passengers would be liable to pay surcharges for services crossing the border to Sweden, with 34 ID gates to be set up in line with the Swedish ruling.