The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Transport has entered into an open conflict with those building the Fehmarn Belt connection. In a written exchange with Sébastien Bliaut, the managing director of the main contractor Fehmarn Link Contractors, permanent secretary Jacob Heinsen questions whether the contractor is the right one to complete the 67 billion DKK connection to Germany.
This is shown by an access to documents obtained by FemernBusiness from the Ministry of Transport. It provides insight into the extensive dispute between the state client and the main contractor Fehmarn Link Contractors (FLC). The disagreement concerns both the reasons for the delays in the immersion phase and the bill. In addition, FLC has filed a claim against Femern A/S for 14.5 billion DKK, and there is also an international arbitration case regarding corona-related delays.
Approaches via LinkedIn
The correspondence begins informally and outside the usual channels. On 19 November 2025, Sébastien Bliaut writes to permanent secretary Jacob Heinsen via LinkedIn.
Who's who?
The Ministry of Transport owns Sund & Bælt Holding A/S. Sund & Bælt Holding A/S owns Femern A/S, which is the client for the Fehmarn Belt connection. Femern A/S has contracted with the main contractor Femern Link Contractors (FLC). FLC is an international consortium including VINCI Construction, Per Aarsleff, Wayss & Freytag, Max Bögl, CFE, Solétanche-Bachy, and BAM companies.
In the LinkedIn message, Sébastien Bliaut states that he has not previously had the opportunity to greet the permanent secretary and refers to the possibility that they may have been in the same circle in connection with the metro construction in Copenhagen in 2019. He further informs that he spoke with the French attaché the same day, who mentioned that there are “major concerns about our vessel” in the system.
The vessel is called Ivy and still lacks the final approvals before it can be put into use. Without these permits, none of the tunnel elements, which are currently piling up in and around the construction site in Rødbyhavn, can be lowered.
20 months delayed
Sébastien Bliaut offers to meet. The purpose, according to the message, is to strengthen confidence that Femern Link Contractors have control over the process.
On 5 December, the department head responds to the inquiry. However, not on LinkedIn. In an email, he acknowledges the inquiry: “Thank you for your message to me on LinkedIn regarding the current challenges with the vessel you have requisitioned for the lowering of tunnel elements on the Fehmarn Belt connection.”
The department head makes it clear that the Ministry of Transport is not a party to the contracts on the construction work, and that it is therefore a matter between the contractor and Femern A/S.
In the letter, the department head writes that the Ministry of Transport, as the owner of Sund & Bælt Holding A/S and Femern A/S, is continuously informed about the status of the construction work, and that the ministry has been informed about “significant challenges in preparing and obtaining authority approval for the lowering vessel”, and that there is “currently a delay of approximately 20 months on the lowering work”.
Can you complete the project?
On this basis, the permanent secretary concludes: “It is our assessment that the problems with the vessel and thus the submersion work constitute the most significant risk for the project. The major delays have therefore raised concerns about whether the consortium is capable of completing the project.”
Jacob Heinsen also makes it clear that it is not sufficient to document the vessel's capabilities on paper. The ministry wants to see that Femern Link Contractors can actually carry out the submersion in practice by lowering and placing a tunnel element correctly.
As he writes in the letter: “not through theoretical calculations, but by actually placing the tunnel elements in the tunnel trench.”
The letter also addresses the disagreement about what is delaying the work. The permanent secretary writes that the ministry has noted that FLC “regularly raises the issue of the quality of the tunnel trench in the media, most recently with the publication of a status report.”
Dispute over the tunnel trench
The dispute between the client and the main contractor on the Fehmarn Belt project has been extensive for some time and fought on several fronts simultaneously. It concerns both what is really delaying the work in the phase where the tunnel elements are to be lowered and the financial consequences of the delays and changes, which the parties each believe the other is responsible for.
The parties have painted different pictures of what the central bottleneck is and what can be resolved if only the work gets underway. It is in the already deadlocked conflict that the head of the Ministry of Transport's department now steps in with a direct assessment of both the risk scenario and the contractor's ability to execute.
Regarding the tunnel trench, the department head writes that the ministry understands that Femern A/S has acknowledged that the trench has been dug too deep and that the issue needs to be addressed, including financially.
He adds that the ministry has understood that there is no separate technical difficulty in handling the issue: “It is simply a matter of getting started.”
The department head concludes this part with the assessment: “It thus appears that FLC is seeking to use the issue of the tunnel trench as a cover for the problems with the immersion vessel.”
Professor: On highest alert
Frederik Waage, professor of administrative law at the University of Southern Denmark, has read the correspondence and says that the response is harsher than one would normally expect from a neutral civil service.
- When a department head responds in this way, it emphasises that the ministry is on highest alert regarding the matter, he says.
He points out that such statements can be problematic if the legal aspects are not in order.
- The answers are sharp, and one must assume that they are coordinated with the lawyers handling the cases, otherwise it is a problem. As a permanent secretary, you speak directly on behalf of the ministry and the state, and these are statements that can have implications for the lawsuit and arbitration case, assesses Frederik Waage.
The Ministry of Transport has no further comments on the matter, and Femern Link Contractors has not responded to FemernBusiness' inquiry.
