HADAG

The HADAG (full name HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG, literally "HADAG Sea-tourism and Ferry service") is a local public transport company in Hamburg, Germany. It owns and operates passengers ferries across the Elbe River, overseen by and integrated into the network of Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV). In 2013, 10.6 million passenger journeys were made on the HADAG network.

HADAG
Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG

Company type	AG
Industry	Inland passenger water transport water transport
Founded	1888
Headquarters	Hamburg , Germany
Area served	Hamburg
Services	Public transport
Net income	€ 1.5 m
Owner	Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (100%)
Number of employees	75 +15 trainees
Parent	Hamburger Hochbahn AG
Subsidiaries	HADAG Verkehrsdienste
Website	www.hadag.de

In the 1950s the company operated ferries from Hamburg to England, and in the 1980s, the cruise ship MS Astor.

History

HADAG passengers on board a 'Große Hafenrundfahrt'^[1] (21 August 1938)

The Hafen-Dampfschifffahrt AG (HADAG) was founded on 8 August 1888, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg granted the concession to operate ferries in the Port of Hamburg. In 1897, the HADAG owned 47 ferries and took over the smaller Jollenführer Dampfer GmbH. With opening of the Elbe tunnel in 1911, the HADAG line Landungsbrücken — Steinwerder lost 259,000 passengers p.a..

In 1918, with the end of the concession, the HADAG wanted to rise the fare price. The city of Hamburg refused and the company was in danger of liquidation. On 23 October 1918, the city of Hamburg acquired the HADAG. Later it became a subsidiary for the Hamburger Hochbahn (HHA).^[2] In 1928 the HHA and HADAG established a shared fare for the trains, trams, and buses of the HHA and the ferries of the HADAG.^[3]

In the 1950s, the HADAG operated a ferry to England and to the islands Heligoland and Sylt. In 1966, the last steam ferries were taken out of service.^[2] In 1982, HADAG closed the ferry line from Landungsbrücken to the Heligoland island, and started a line from Cuxhaven, with a combined fare with Deutsche Bundesbahn, in 1983.^[4] Until 1983, the HADAG owned the cruise ship MS Astor.^[2]

Operations

HADAG
Seetouristik und Fährdienst

Locale	Hamburg, Germany
Waterway	Elbe
System length	26.3 km[5]
No. of lines	8[5]
No. of vessels	23 ferries with diesel drive[5]
No. of terminals	21 landing bridges[5]
Daily ridership	10.6 mio. passengers p. a. (2013)[5]
Website	www.hadag.de

The HADAG runs public transport ferries and pleasure boats on the rivers Elbe and Alster. The public transport is supervised by the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund.^[6]

Ferry Tollerort: one of the typical flat-iron-shaped ferries (May 2022)

Scheduled harbour ferries

Line	Route
61	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken (Brücke 2) – Altona (Fischmarkt) – Dockland [de] – Waltershof – Neuhof [de] (mo. to fr.)
62	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken (Brücke 3) – Altona (Fischmarkt) – Dockland [de] – Neumühlen [de] / Övelgönne [de] – (Bubendey-Ufer) – Finkenwerder
64	Finkenwerder – Rüschpark – Teufelsbrück
68	Teufelsbrück – Airbus Hamburg (mo. to fr., sometimes from St. Pauli Landungsbrücken)
72	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken (Brücke 1) – (Arningstraße) – Elbphilharmonie
73	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken (Brücke 1) – Theater im Hafen [de] – Norderelbstraße – Argentinienbrücke – Ernst-August-Schleuse (Wilhelmsburg) (mo. to fr.)
75	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken (Brücke 1) – Steinwerder (mo. to fr.)
HBL	Blankenese – Neuenfelde, Este-Sperrwerk – Cranz (currently suspended[7])

Lines of HADAG ferries in the Port of Hamburg

Non-scheduled harbour cruises

Line	Route
	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken (Brücke 1) – Theater im Hafen [de] (only at theater shows, not in HVV)
	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken – (HafenCity – Köhlbrand – Waltershofer Hafen (Container Terminal Burchardkai)) (Harbour tour with no stops, not in HVV)
EH	St. Pauli Landungsbrücken – Neumühlen – Teufelsbrück – Blankenese – Willkomm-Höft (Wedel) – Blankenese – Teufelsbrück – Elbphilharmonie – St. Pauli Landungsbrücken ("EH" for Elb-Hüpfer or Elbe Hopper, weekends and bank holidays only, not in HVV)

Accidents and Incidents

• On the 19 April 2012, a group of 8 Kurdistan Workers' Party supporters briefly hijacked the ferry Elbmeile on the Elbe river with 60 passengers onboard before being arrested by police. There were no injuries.^[8]
• On the 9 February 2019, the container ship Ever Given brushed against the ferry Finkenwerder which was moored at the pier in Blankenese. The much smaller ferry, at the time without passengers onboard, was seriously damaged.^[9]
• On the 17 February 2022, during a storm, a large wave burst one of the passenger deck windows onboard the ferry Tollerort. Three people were injured.^[10]
• On the early morning of 20 January 2025, the ferry Övelgönne collided with a barge and tugboat in fog. The accident tore open a side of the passenger deck. 12 people were injured, one of them seriously.^[11]

See also

• Hamburg portal

• Transport in Hamburg
• List of rivers of Hamburg