Navigazione Libera del Golfo purchased the HSC IRIS 1 from Greece

By 2022 Newsletter week 3

Italian ‘Navigazione Libera del Golfo’ has purchased the High-Speed Craft IRIS 1 from Greece (Plaxiven Consulting also owner of the fast catamaran CAT I) for over EUR 5 million.

The ship came in Greece in November 2019 shipped on the vessel ROLLDOCK SUN. She was purchased from the Korean Nam Hae Express Co and her former name was GEOHUNG IRIS.

IRIS 1 will enter service on the Termoli – Tremiti Islands line.

Built in Norway (Kvaerner Fjellstrand) 1999 | 452 pax | 52 private cars | 40 knots

Photo: Barca Ferry

Stena Line and Associated British Ports sign £100M deal for new ferry terminal at the Port of Immingham

By 2022 Newsletter week 3

Stena Line and Associated British Ports will jointly develop a new freight terminal at the Port of Immingham in the Humber region.

The £100M agreement will see the Swedish ferry company operate the new terminal for the next 50 years.

It is a major long-term commitment and boost for the region, where freight on routes to and from the EU has been booming since Brexit.

At the start of the year Stena Line relocated its Rotterdam freight service to the Port of Immingham, the largest port in the UK by tonnage, which is owned by ABP. The move has allowed the company to become the provider of both the terminal and shipping operations, which has resulted in improved benefits and expanded services to its significant freight customers in the region.

With freight levels continuing to grow for the company, Stena Line needs to add capacity and expand its operations at Immingham. It requires a long-term solution that has access to the main Humber Estuary. This would allow for quicker sailing times and the option to use larger vessels to cater for increased freight demand from exporters and importers from across the region and the rest of the UK.

The proposals outline the relocation of Stena Line’s current Immingham freight operations to a new site, adjacent to Immingham Outer Harbour, where ABP will develop a new purpose built terminal facility. The proposals will allow the company to further expand its services by providing increased freight capacity for its customers. It is a significant infrastructure development for the region.

The French flag flies on the SALAMANCA

By 2022 Newsletter week 3

Tuesday 18 January, 2022, the tricolor was hoisted on Brittany Ferries’ new ship, the SALAMANCA. This flag indicates that the ship is now officially French and manned by a French crew.

The SALAMANCA becomes one of nine ships to sail under the tricolor flag of Brittany Ferries, the leading employer of French crew.

Photo: Jean-Marc Roué, captain Christophe Bergeroux and Christophe Mathieu

Successfully through the pandemic – 2021 cargo handling in Rostock reaches all-time high

By 2022 Newsletter week 3

A total of 30.48 million tonnes of goods passed through the port of Rostock, an all-time record.

The strongest growth was achieved in the handling of wheeled cargo in ferry and roro traffic.

+18% roro cargo (18 million tonnes in total)

+63% roro cargo share

+11% trucks (407,000)

+27% trailers (161,000)

+31% cars and campers (429,000)

+41% railway wagons carried to and from Trelleborg (27,100 units)

Grimaldi’s EUROCARGO NAPOLI bound for Ukrainian interests

By 2022 Newsletter week 3

Following a failed attempt in 2021 with the start-up company Morocco Cruise Line, Grimaldi Group is now selling again the roro ship EUROCARGO NAPOLI.

Market sources revealed (and the Italian shipping group confirmed to Ferry Shipping News) that the buyers are Ukraine-based interests.

Up to date the roro unit in question has been sailing on the Genova – Porto Torres – Cagliari link on the Italian motorways of the seas.

EUROCARGO NAPOLI: 175m | 18.5 knots | 1,940 lane metres | cars 400

As part of restructuring process, Moby filed for Chapter 15 in USA

By 2022 Newsletter week 3

Vincenzo Onorato-controlled Moby Group filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. as it seeks to complete a troubled restructuring process at home, Bloomberg reports.

The Milan-based ferry company reached a non-binding restructuring deal with a group representing more than a third of bondholders last September but needs a majority of them to support it at a meeting scheduled for January 20th. As part of the plan, the group could provide new financing (EUR 60 million).

Bloomberg underlines that Moby has been under pressure from increasing regulation, tougher competition and weak freight traffic volumes in the last years, and was further hit by the pandemic travel restrictions. In June 2020, the company petitioned a court in Milan for a court-supervised restructuring procedure, but its revenue grew above expectations this summer”.

MSC Group continues to acquire ferry tonnage

By 2022 Newsletter week 2

Brittany Ferries’ CAP FINISTERE seems to be en route to MSC Group, SHIPPING ITALY reports.

This ropax is the former SUPERFAST V (2001).

Although not officially confirmed, the news has not been denied either, writes the Italian source, quoting GNV as the recipient.

CAP FINISTERE has a 1,600 passenger capacity and over 1,900 lanemetres for roro.

Lately, GNV has seen an impressive fleet expansion; in the last two years the following ro-pax has been purchased or long-time chartered in: FORZA, TENACIA, GNV ARIES, GNV ANTARES, GNV BRIDGE E GNV SEALAND. Last week, MSC Group announced a new order for four ropax vessels to be built in China and set to be delivered from late 2024 onwards.

Polferries to get an intermediate ferry before the newbuild(s)

By 2022 Newsletter week 2

Polish Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Marek Gróbarczyk announced at a press conference onboard NOVA STAR that Polska Żegluga Bałtycka (Polferries) will get a financial support of PLN 140 million (EUR 30 million) to acquire a ferry, until the previously announced newbuilt units are put into operation.

Polferries received funds in the form of securities from the State Treasury.
The stop-gap ferry will either be bought or chartered.
It is understood the ferry will be used on the Świnoujście-Ystad line. Port of Ystad has built new, larger ferry berths. Contractually, Polferries has to bring in a new ship.

A report by Radio Szczecin quotes the president of Polska Żegluga Bałtycka, who says that they are “entering the market for the purchase of a used or new ferry, which is currently under construction.”

Andrzej Madejski, president of PŻB, said, money is a stable base to start talks with shipowners who want to sell vessels, as well as with shipyards that are in the final stage of building units. (Note from editor: would he mean LNG-powered HONFLEUR, in the final stage of construction at Fosen Yard?)
Last year, Polferries carried 341,000 passengers, 156,000 passenger cars and 161,000 trucks.

DFDS: UK freight volumes normalised in December

By 2022 Newsletter week 2

Freight:

  • Total volumes in December 2021 were 7.6% below 2020.
  • Net adjustments for structural route changes reduced growth 2.2 ppt to -9.8%.
  • Total adjusted volumes were up 17.0% compared to December 2019.
  • The decrease in total volumes compared to 2020 was entirely due to lower volumes on all UK routes as stock-building ahead of Brexit boosted volumes considerably on UK routes last year. Most of the UK routes are part of the North Sea and Channel business units which in December 2021 both were above 2019.
  • The Mediterranean business unit continued to carry volumes above 2020 while Baltic Sea volumes were just below 2020 as capacity on one route was reduced from two ferries in 2020 to one ferry in December 2021.
  • Volumes for both the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea business units were above 2019.
  • For the full-year 2021, the total transported freight lane metres increased 5.2% to 43.0m from DKK 40.9m in 2020.

Passenger:

  • The total number of passengers in December 2021 was 8.8% above 2020.
  • The number of passengers increased between Norway and Denmark, while the number of passengers on UK routes decreased due to more severe travel restrictions on these routes.
  • For the full-year 2021, the total number of passengers was 0.9m compared to 1.5m in 2020 and 5.1m in 2019, the latter being the latest pre-Covid-19 year.

Record year for cargo on Wasaline – Strong recovery on the passenger segment

By 2022 Newsletter week 2

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic that continued for most of 2021, passenger volumes increased by 87.5% and Wasaline carried 107,659 passengers (57,415). The number of passenger vehicles increased by 69.2%. During the Autumn, when the corona passport was used for entry, the passenger growth was significant.

After the traffic start of AURORA BOTNIA, passenger volumes were all-time high every month. Unfortunately, the positive development was interrupted in mid-December when the new Covid-19 variant and tightening of travel restrictions were introduced again.

The departures increased by 21.3% to 990 departures (816).

Cargo volumes were all time high since Wasaline started the traffic 2013, and cargo units increased by 25.3%. The increase in tonnes was 27.5%. Every month throughout 2021, the company has had growth in cargo volumes.