Viking Line chooses Finnish flag for Viking XPRS

By 2022 Newsletter week 49

Viking Line Abp had decided to register its passenger ship Viking XPRS in the Finnish  Register of Ships. The vessel, which began service in 2008, has been registered in Estonia since 2014.

The decision to register the vessel in Finland was made in order to make it easier to recruit staff and enable the company to administer all of its staff without any  intermediaries. The goal is to have the reflagging work completed during the first quarter of 2023.

Viking Line will begin the process of filling all the positions on board Viking XPRS under the Finnish flag with a few exceptions. Employees currently working on board the vessel (about 175 people) and employees from the company’s other vessels that sail under a Finnish flag can submit applications.

Delivery of MyStar

By 2022 Newsletter week 49

On 7 December 2022, Tallink Superfast Ltd, a subsidiary of AS Tallink Grupp, took delivery of the new fast passenger ferry MyStar from Rauma Marine Constructions.

  • There will be four different travel classes – the standard Star Class, upgraded Comfort Class, exclusive Business Lounge and the novel Platinum Lounge offering even more privacy.
  • There is a 2500 m2 Traveller Superstore shopping area through two decks with modern self-service solutions, and seven restaurants, cafes and bars. A children’s playroom, an area for older kids with gaming equipment, a large winter garden and a kennel for the pets on garage level.
  • The new ship has a service speed of 27 knots and she will operate on the Tallinn-Helsinki route with 6 departures per day in the company’s shuttle vessel schedule in tandem with the company’s other fast ferry Megastar.
  • The cost of the ship is around EUR 250 million and the purchase is financed with a loan of EUR 196,3 million from KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH Ltd., the credit is guaranteed by Finnish Export Credit Agency “Finnvera”. The maturity of the loan is twelve years and bears fixed interest rate.
  • MyStar is co-financed by European Union, the Connecting Europe Facility, Transport – Motorways of the Sea.
  • MyStar will start operating on 13 December 2022.
  • 212m | 2800 passengers | 750 passenger vehicles.
  • Dual-fuel engines LNG MDO

Short-term charter agreement

By 2022 Newsletter week 49

AS Tallink Grupp and Estonian Social Insurance Board have signed a short-term time-charter agreement ropax ISABELLE.

The vessel will be chartered to the Estonian authorities from 8 December 2022 for six months with extension options (6+1+1).

The vessel will be used to provide temporary accommodation to Ukrainian refugees arriving in Estonia.

Color Lines’ COLOR VIKING sold to Seajets

By 2022 Newsletter week 49

Color Group ASA confirmed the sale of its ship COLOR VIKING.

Eventually, the ship was sold to the Greek Seajets and currently is having repairs and branding changing in Odense (Denmark).

According to the information, the ship will be delivered until February 2023 and she is expected to serve the Piraeus-Western Cyclades line with a possible extension to another island.

Corsica Linea took delivery of A GALEOTTA

By 2022 Newsletter week 49

Corsica Linea took delivery of the new LNG-powered RoPax named A GALEOTTA, built by Cantiere Navale Visentini shipyard in Porto Viro.

The vessel will have the capacity to accommodate 650 passengers and 2,560 lane meters of freight. Also, the ship will be able to carry 150 cars on a separate deck.

Corsica Linea’s ferries provide year-round services from Marseille, the main trading port in France to the Mediterranean island of Corsica. The vessel is to be deployed on the route linking Marseille and Ajaccio / Bastia.

Dutch firm Titan will bunker Corsica Linea’s first LNG-powered RoPax in Marseille, as part of a deal revealed in January this year. Titan will first provide truck-to-ship operations until its 4,500 m3 LNG bunkering vessel KRIOS arrives.

EU agrees preliminary ETS deal for shipping

By 2022 Newsletter week 48

The European Parliament, the Council of Ministers represented by the Czech Presidency and the European Commission agreed preliminarily on the conditions on how to include maritime emissions in the EU ETS during the so-called trilogue on Tuesday 29 November.

As proposed by the Commission, not only trips inside the EU but also trips from EU ports to third countries and for third countries to EU ports (50%) will be included.

European shipowners welcome the outcome of yesterday’s trilogue negotiation and the provisional agreement on the EU ETS maritime. The Parliament and the Council have embraced the calls of the industry stakeholders to earmark  EU ETS revenues back to the maritime sector to support its energy transition.

At least 20 million ETS allowances, which correspond to 1.5 billion EUR under the current ETS carbon price, will be allocated to maritime projects under the Innovation Fund.

The provisional agreement on shipping is subject to an overall agreement on the ETS revision in late December.

BC Ferries Q2 shows another record level of vehicle traffic

By 2022 Newsletter week 48

BC Ferries released its Q2 results for the three and six months ending September 30, 2022. Vehicle and passenger traffic, revenue and net earnings are all higher compared to the same periods in the prior year.

In Q2, the quarter ending September 30, 2022, BC Ferries carried 7.5 million passengers and 3.0 million vehicles.

Year-to-date, the company carried 12.9 million passengers  (+28%) and 5.4 million vehicles (+15%) respectively, compared to the same period in the prior year, primarily as a result of travel restrictions being in place through most of Q1 in the prior year.

BC Ferries’ net earnings for Q2 were $80.4 million, consistent with the same quarter the previous year.

Year-to-date since April 1, 2022, net earnings were $88.3 million compared to net earnings of $84.6 million in the prior year.

Revenue for the three months ending September 30, 2022, at $343.1 million, was up $26.3 million over the same period in the prior year primarily as a result of higher passenger traffic volumes, net retail sales, ferry transportation fees and fuel surcharges.

Year-to-date, revenue was $608.0 million, up $62.0 million over the same period in the prior year primarily as a result of higher traffic volumes, net retail sales and fuel surcharges partially offset by lower Safe Restart Funding.

Brødrene Aa is building autonomous ferry

By 2022 Newsletter week 48
  • Torghatten and the autonomy supplier Zeabuz are behind the project of the first autonomous passenger ferry for commercial operation that will run in the middle of Stockholm.
  • Electric catamaran with a capacity of 25 people. I
  • Scheduled to be completed in April 2023.
  • The boat will operate a route between Kungsholmen and Søder Mellarstrand in Stockholm, with 15 hours of continuous electric operation each day.
  • The boat will be 12 meters long and will have an open, covered passenger deck with boarding and disembarking at both ends.
  • At first, the boat will always be led by a captain on board, while the trip will be monitored from a control room.
  • In the long term, the idea is that everything will be controlled from the control room on land.