Stena Line is to continue its expansion on the Baltic Sea during 2022, increasing both freight- and passenger capacity. The company said it will deploy their two new 240m fuel-efficient E-Flexer ferries, on the Nynäshamn-Ventspils next year.
Lane meters: 3,600 | Passengers: 1,200 | Cabins: 263
Stena Line also announced their plans to increase the capacity on the Karlskrona-Gdynia route further during 2022 with the deployment of the two large and modern 222-meter RoPax ferries STENA SCANDICA and STENA BALTICA.
After 7 months in the dry dock STENA BALTICA was launched at the Sedef Shipyard on Wednesday 29 September. She is first expected to join sister vessel STENA SCANDICA on the Baltic Sea route between Nynäshamn and Ventspils early next year.
WALLENIUS SOL will introduce weekly traffic to the Port of Skellefteå beginning October 2021.
What’s behind? An agreement between logistics company Scanlog and Northvolt.
Northvolt’s first battery gigafactory is being established in Skellefteå and serves as Northvolt’s primary site for manufacturing of active material, cell assembly and recycling.
Route: Zeebrugge-Antwerp-Kokkola-Skelleftehamn-Kemi-Oulu
In the initial stage, the chartered vessels Fiona Sea and Jutlandia Sea will be plying the route. At the end of the year, they will be replaced by WALLENIUS SOL’s newly built vessels, which will be the world’s biggest ice-rated, multi-fuel RoRo vessels.
Moby Group announced that on 21 September, together with its wholly-owned subsidiary CIN SpA and the parent company Onorato Armatori Srl (Moby, CIN and Onorato Armatori Srl form together the Moby Group) entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with an ad hoc group of bondholders who together hold in excess of 33% of the outstanding amount under the EUR 300 million Senior Secured Notes due issued by Onorato Armatori.
“Pursuant to the MoU, the Moby Group and the Ad Hoc Group will engage in negotiations with the purpose of, inter alia, providing the additional financial resources necessary to support a new composition plan to be submitted to Moby Group financial creditors”. The company also added that will “make a further announcement in due course, as appropriate”.
This week Bloomberg also reported that Morgan Stanley and two of its top distressed-debt traders are being sued by Italian ferry operator Moby which claims it has recordings showing the bank and an investor were secretly trying to seize control of the company away from other creditors.
Roro ship IVAN, owned by Suardiaz and operated (in bare boat charter & purchase) by Glenhallen, lost stability and capsized at Algiers port in Algeria on September 29.
Reportedly, stability loss was caused by water ingress on cargo deck, which in its’ turn, was probably caused by faulty ballasting and ensuing list. 17 crew are safe, 6 of them (all Filipino) treated in hospital with slight injuries.
The incident was confirmed to Ferry Shipping News also by Umberto Lazzareti, head of the Malta-registered shipping company Glenhallen which offers regular sailings between Italy and North of Africa (mainly Libya).
Salamis Tours (Holdings) Public Ltd. announced the signing of an agreement (MOA) for the sale of RoRo ALEXO (1983). The ship will be delivered by October 2021, while on the Lavrio-Limassol-Haifa line she will be replaced by the newer RoRo VASSILEIOS (1990), which was purchased last June.
The ship was sold for USD 3.5 million and currently is on her way to the port of Larnaca.
According to a recent Hellenic Minister of Shipping’s decision Dodekanissos Seaways’ HSC Dodekanisos Pride took over the subsidized Kos – Astypalea line. The ship will perform two sailings a week in the summer period until 03/10/2021, while the contract is valid for the period until 02/10/2022.
Alliance between two iconic French companies with far-reaching possibilities and synergies:
With more than 500 vessels, CMA CGM Group offers a combined capacity of 3 million TEUs.
After Maersk and MSC (*), it is the third largest container group.
(*) MSC Group owns ferry companies GNV and SNAV
Freight
Total volumes in August 2021 were 0.6% above 2020.
Net adjustments for structural route changes reduced growth 1.9 ppt to -1.3%.
The volumes transported in August 2021 by the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean business units were well above August 2020.
North Sea volumes were on level as automotive volumes were negatively impacted by the current global supply chain bottlenecks.
Volumes for each of the three business units were above 2019.
Following a decrease in the total Channel market, and re-introduction of a ferry taken out of the market in 2020 by P&O Ferries, the Channel volumes were below 2020, adjusted for the Dunkirk-Rosslare route opened at the beginning of 2021.
Passenger
The total number of passengers in August 2021 was 38.9% below 2020 reflecting a continued negative impact from travel restrictions as well as a temporary easing of restrictions in the first half of August 2020.
Baltic Sea’s passenger volumes continued to be above 2020.
From September 18, 2021, a new cross-Channel freight service will be open to all transporters, using an unaccompanied mode through the Channel Tunnel, says Getlink in a press release.
The crossing will be managed by Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Freight and will operate 24 hours a day and six days per week.
Departures will be from the Group’s two terminals in Calais or Folkestone. The capacity will be 8,300 trailers per year.
Getlink plays the environmental card, saying that “this new rail service will emit 40 times less CO2 than ferries,” referring to the DFDS Calais – Sheerness service.
