The Fanø ferry between Esbjerg and Nordby
The Fanø ferry runs across the Grådyb channel between Esbjerg harbour and Nordby on Fanø. The crossing takes roughly twelve minutes, and it is the only fixed link to the island — everything and everyone arriving on Fanø comes across this stretch of water.
- Route
- Esbjerg ⇄ Fanø
- Crossing time
- about 12 minutes
- Positions from
- AIS, live
- Operated by
- Fanølinjen
How FerryLive follows the ferries
Every vessel broadcasts its position over AIS, the maritime transponder system ships use to see one another. FerryLive reads that feed and redraws the map every few seconds, so the marker you see is where the ferry actually is rather than where a schedule says it should be. Each vessel also reports whether she is under way, boarding at the ramp, or lying alongside, which is the difference between a ferry you can still catch and one that has just left.
The vessels on the route
Three ferries work the crossing: Fenja, Menja and Grotte. Two normally run in rotation while the third lies at her berth as reserve, which is why you will often see one ferry sitting still in Esbjerg or Nordby while the other two shuttle back and forth. Each carries cars, cyclists and foot passengers.
Departure times
Sailings run throughout the day, more frequently in summer and around holidays than on a winter weekday. FerryLive does not publish the official schedule — for booking and exact departure times, use the operator. What FerryLive adds is the part a timetable cannot tell you: where the ferry is right now, and whether she is running to time.
Official timetable at FanølinjenIndependent tracker
FerryLive is built by Grumsen Development ApS and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the ferry company. Positions come from public AIS data. Always check the operator for booking, fares and service changes.