HADAG

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). 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.

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. 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. Until 1983, the HADAG owned the cruise ship MS Astor.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.