Key figures for 2023 and the outlook for 2024 have already been published on 9 February 2024. See Ferry Shipping News.
Download the annual report by clicking on the cover.
Flensburg-based FRS acquires L’Express des Îles, a company operating in the Caribbean Sea. This move is part of FRS’s strategic realignment, following the successful sale of FRS Iberia, with a focus on diversifying the range of offered routes.
For the past 37 years, Guadeloupe-based L’Express des Îles has been synonymous with outstanding and reliable service.
Headquartered at the Bergevin ferry terminal in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, the company, initially known as “Antilles Trans Express (ATE)” began by offering fast ferry services between the islands of Guadeloupe, Les Saintes, and Marie Galante—all French overseas territories.
In 1989, it expanded services to Martinique and Dominica, followed by St. Lucia in 1994.
Today, the company operates three high-speed catamarans in collaboration with its subsidiary, “Jeans for Freedom,” serving multiple national and international routes.
Austal and Gotlandsbolaget have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a construction contract for the ‘Gotland Horizon X’ catamaran concept, first announced in April 2023.
‘Gotland Horizon X’ is a high-speed aluminium catamaran that will utilise gas turbines in a combined cycle to transport up to 1,450 passengers, cargo and vehicles between the Swedish mainland and the island of Gotland.
Under the terms of the MOU and proposed construction contract, the high-speed catamaran will be designed by Austal and constructed at the Austal Philippines shipyard.
RoRo vessel Eurocargo Sicilia is reportedly transitioning from Grimaldi to Baleària’s fleet, following RoPax Ciudad de Mahon. While no official confirmation has been received from the Naples-based group, sources and accompanying imagery suggest that the vessel, built in 1998, is undergoing a bareboat charter with a purchase obligation to the firm controlled by Adolfo Utor.
Eurocargo Sicilia, formerly known as Finnmaster during its deployment with Finnlines, boasts a cargo capacity of 1,775 lane meters and has been actively serving the Porto Torres – Genoa maritime route over the past 12 months.
Details regarding the sale and charter prices remain undisclosed.
On February 15, 2024, a tender was announced for the sale of Anes Lines’ ferry, Proteus. The tender is scheduled for March 13, with a starting price of EUR 750,000.
In November 2023, it was reported that Kerkyra Seaways intended to short-charter her for the Igoumenitsa-Corfu-Paxoi line as a temporary replacement for Hermes, which was sold to the Croatian Jadrolinija. However, this arrangement never materialized.
Proteus ceased operations on the Evia (Mandoudi) – Sporades route in April 2023. Built in Greece in 1973, she has a carrying capacity of 372 passengers and 110 cars.
Before Christmas, Norled placed an order for three identical battery-electric ferries with capacity for 60 passenger cars and 250 passengers. Norled confirmed the option for a fourth one.
Havyard Leirvik is building the ferries for the Stokkvågen-Lovund-Træna connection for Nordland fylkeskommune. They will be ready as from 2027.
Are you planning a holiday? For many destinations, the ferry is an excellent alternative to, for example, the aeroplane. But what’s the cost, actually, for a crossing with (or without) the car? Ferry and travel portal FerryGoGo investigated the prices for various crossings this coming summer. They looked at the total costs, the distance, and the cost per kilometre. They also compared the data with last year’s prices.
The research included international crossings with overnight stays (>150 km), short international crossings (<150 km), and domestic crossings. The price was based on a return trip for 2 people and a standard car.
Some conclusions and trends that emerge from the data:
- The average distance of international crossings with overnight stays was approximately 600 kilometres – the average price per kilometre is €1.10. While some crossings have significantly increased in price, for example, the crossing from IJmuiden to Newcastle is nearly 20% cheaper than in 2023.
- The most expensive international crossing with overnight stays is from Denmark to Iceland with a total price of €2,768, while the cheapest is Hoek van Holland – Harwich.
- The average domestic crossing costs around €4.27 per kilometre. The Netherlands predominates here. Without a car, it’s €1.56 per kilometre. The crossing to Texel is comparatively cheap compared to the other Wadden Islands.
- For short international crossings (<150 km), you’ll spend an average of about €3.14 per kilometre. The crossing from Hirtshals to Kristiansand is the cheapest per kilometre, while the crossing between Helsingør-Helsingborg has dropped by more than 50%.
- For the most popular crossing: from Calais to Dover, you pay €170 for 2 people and a car. That’s €2.13 per kilometre.
- It’s noteworthy that the average price level hasn’t changed much compared to a year earlier. There are significant differences per connection.
All prices were researched between 19th and 21st February 2024, during which it was also noted that various crossings were almost fully booked for the summer. The analysis focused on the week from 29th June to 6th July, from Saturday to Saturday.
In total, the study examined 34 different crossings: 15 international crossings with overnight stays, 8 short international crossings, and 11 domestic European crossings. Furthermore, the price for 2 people and a car was considered, along with the total price and the straight-line distance. Subsequently, the cost per kilometre for a ferry crossing was calculated.
All data from the research can be consulted on https://ferrygogo.com/cost-of-ferry-crossing/
January–December 2023 (2022)
- Sales amounted to EUR 491.4 million (EUR 494.7 million).
- Other operating revenue was EUR 9.1 million (EUR 24.1 million).
- Operating income totalled EUR 55.0 million (EUR 38.3 million).
- Net financial items were EUR -9.6 million (EUR -10.3 million).
- Income before taxes totalled EUR 45.4 million (EUR 28.0 million).
- Income after taxes totalled EUR 36.3 million (EUR 22.7 million).
- The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of 1 euro per share, which corresponds to 48% of earnings.
Outlook for the financial year 2024
There continues to be significant uncertainty due to the geopolitical situation and the impact this has on energy prices, inflation, interest rates and currencies as well as the effects these uncertainty factors may have on people’s propensity to travel, demand, consumption patterns and costs.
Provided energy prices remain at current levels and there is a sustained propensity to travel, the Board expects income before taxes in 2024 to be on a par with the figure for 2023 if the EUR 8.6 million capital gain from the sale of ROSELLA in 2023 is not included.
Q4, 2023
- Sales amounted to EUR 112.2 million (EUR 124.5 million).
- Other operating revenue was EUR 0.3 million (EUR 15.2 million).
- Operating income totalled EUR 2.7 million (EUR 19.4 million).
- Net financial items were EUR -0.6 million (EUR -2.9 million).
- Income before taxes amounted to EUR 2.0 million (EUR 16.5 million including the EUR 15.0 million capital gain from AMORELLA).
- Income after taxes totalled EUR 1.7 million (EUR 13.2 million).
Full details here.
Hyundai Mipo Dockyard has officially announced in a statement [in Korean] on 13 February 2024, that the contract to build two RoPax train ferries was cancelled at KiwiRail’s request.
The shipbuilder says it will see a claim for design costs as part of its negotiations.
This cancellation follows the Government’s decision last year not to provide further funding for the Inter-Island Resilient Connection (iReX) project.
KiwiRail now also confirmed [in a press statement] it has now started discussions with Hyundai Mipo for the termination.
KiwiRail says it will be working with international shipbrokers on options to source suitable replacement ferries.
During the financial year, further measures have been taken to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. Emissions of CO2 have decreased by 23%. During the year, the use of LNG increased. In the autumn, Aurora Botnia operated one day a week with certified Biogas. Utilization of the battery technology was also optimized. All of this contributed to this decrease.
Since the start of traffic of AURORA BOTNIA in 2021, Wasaline has reduced its CO2 emissions by 29% per trip and in 2023 CO2 emissions were reduced by 23%.
The passenger side showed an increase compared to 2022, despite that the bookings decreased significantly in the last quarter due to the recession.
Passenger volumes increased by 4.4% and turnover by 5.4%.
Departures increased by 2.7% to 1,164 departures.
Cargo lost volumes. Mainly it was imports to Finland that decreased. All shipping to Russia was cancelled and demand for paper decreased, which led to the amount of cargo units falling by 5.9%
The result before appropriations and taxes amounted to +3.2 million (2022 +3.3 million).
TRAFFIC STATISTICS
| (numbers) | 2023 | 2022 |
| Departures | 1 164 | 1133 |
| Passengers | 279 590 | 267 757 |
| Passenger Vehicles | 63 647 | 55 661 |
| Cargo units | 20 886 | 22 191 |
KEY FIGURES
| (1000 €) | 2023 | 2022 |
| Revenue | 29 107 | 29 293 |
| Operating profit | 2 902 | 3 292 |
| Operating profit % | 10,0 % | 11,2 % |
| Equity ratio | 61,7 % | 63,05 % |
