Ellen

After six years of operation, the 'Ellen's battery pack is now so worn out that operator Ærøfærgerne has decided to replace all the batteries. The project is now being put out to tender.estimates have been at 20 million Danish crowns. Regarding the need to completely replace all the batteries, several of them have also been running during the test period. The municipality will be able to sell the batteries that have been replaced recently, There is political agreement that the replacement must be financed. The 'Ellen' has had ongoing issues with the ferry’s battery pack, and after a fire in the battery room in July 2023, has sailed with reduced capacity for long periods.

it rmained uncertain whether the battery situation on the 'Ellen', which sails between Als and Ærø, would be full capacity during the peak season, the shipping company Ærøfærgernes' reported. They were cutting a daily sailing with the electric ferry from five to four. It has not been more than three weeks since 'Ellen' returned to normal operation with five daily sailings.The ferry is sailing with fewer batteries due to battery problems which occurred in autumn 2024, and the shipping company had tried a changed sailing plan and charging procedure, but have to hold on until they get more batteries on board, which depends on the supplier,

The 'Ellen had to cancels the departures from Søby at 12:00 p.m. and the return route from Fynshav at 1:15 p.m. on Feb 18, 2025, and on Feb 19. The ferry already had to cancel two return trips on Feb 17. The first cancellations were due to problems with the bridge flap on the ferry, while a problem with the batteries was the reason for the cancellations on Feb 18 and Feb 19.

Come 11 November, Denmark’s first full-battery ferry, the 59.5m long and 12.8m beam ELLEN, completed at Søby Værft for Ærøfærgerne, will be out of service for three weeks for optimizations and replacement of 168 of its 840 battery modules.