After months of stagnation, there is now movement again in the approval of the Ivy vessel, which is central to the work on the Fehmarn connection. Last week, several certificates were issued, but the most important one — the classification certificate — is still missing. Therefore, the vessel still cannot be put into use.
On 17 October, a temporary ILLC-IC (load line certificate) was issued, which determines the vessels' freeboard.
Femern A/S states that the ILLC-IC, among other things, concerns requirements for hull strength and watertightness, which are crucial for the ship's safety and stability during navigation. And that the certificate is issued temporarily so that the vessel can carry out a so-called load test, where the vessel is subjected to various loads.
The day before, an additional certificate related to the environment and working conditions was issued. It is not temporary.
These are the first new certificates since April and mark that the case — which has been at a standstill over the summer — is now moving again.
Crucial piece missing
It is the Danish Maritime Authority that must finally approve the vessels, but it is the Norwegian company DNV that is responsible for issuing the many certificates leading up to the final approval.
Even though several certificates are now in place, the vessel still lacks the CLCE (Classification Certificate). This is the certificate that DNV must issue to document that it meets technical standards for construction and safety.
The delay in the approval of the Ivy vessel is currently one of the keys to progressing with the construction work. The vessel must transport and place the 89 tunnel elements on the bottom of the Fehmarn Belt with millimetre precision, and as long as it is not approved, not a single tunnel element can be lowered. Thus, the entire work on the tunnel itself is at a standstill.
The project has already lost a year and a half of lowering work — partly because the Ivy vessel was delivered late, and partly because the approval has been delayed.
Preparations over several years
The vessel, which can be divided into two and is called Ivy 1 and Ivy 2, is specially built pontoons that will control and stabilise the tunnel elements when they are lowered into place on the bottom of the Fehmarn Belt. Because the vessels do not fit into the usual rules for ships, the process has taken a long time.
The first meetings about the vessels were held as early as 2021 between the Danish Maritime Authority, DNV, and Femern Link Contractors. Only when the vessels were delivered in the autumn of 2024 did the formal approval process begin. In the spring of 2025, central technical aspects — such as stability and freeboard — were approved, while other aspects such as ballast water and rescue equipment were resolved through exemptions.
Once Ivy is approved, the next issue awaits: the developer Femern A/S, owned by the Danish state, and the contractor consortium Femern Link Contractors (FLC) disagree on whether the tunnel trench can be used. FLC believes it requires major repairs and estimates that the first tunnel element can be lowered in May 2026 at the earliest. Femern A/S maintains that only minor adjustments are needed and that the first element can be lowered in 2025.
