The Greek Shipping Ministry has announced that it will use funds of up to one billion euros to improve the service of 47 ferry lines and cover 44 projects aimed to upgrade the port infrastructure on islands.
In July, tests were carried out by Stena Line, on August 30 it was Polferries’ NOVA STAR who tested the ramps at the new Gdynia terminal.
The launch of the terminal is scheduled for September 23.
Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) has completed another significant milestone in the dual fuel ferry project with the installation of the bulbous bow on Hull 802.
In recent weeks, three stern units have been lifted into place on Hull 802. When finished, these units will house the steering gear and other equipment and will support the car deck and stern ramp.
Earlier this year, structural work on first vessel GLEN SANNOX was completed following the installation of a reworked funnel and newly constructed mast, as well as completion of the structure around the stern and inside the hull.
GLEN SANNOX is scheduled to be delivered between July 2022 and September 2022.
Hull 802 is scheduled to be delivered between April 2023 and July 2023.
Could Ferguson Marine Compete to Win at least some of the 22 Ships in the Order Pipeline for CalMac?
Very interesting BBC Article about the Future of Scottish Ferries and Shipbuilding
Ferguson Marine’s shipyard is probably “the most challenging business turnaround in the UK”, says Tim Hair, the ‘turnaround director’ at the Port Glasgow yard.
Click on the picture to access the article.
Hansa Destinations’ ferry DROTTEN departed for the first time from Nynäshamn to Rostock on Monday 30 August.
Swedish Minister of the Environment and Climate Per Bolund attended the inauguration ceremony in Nynäshamn.
The ceremony was attended by Per Bolund, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment and Climate, Pia Berglund, National Coordinator for Domestic Shipping and Eco Bonus at the Swedish Transport Administration, Fredrik Lindstål, Chairman of the Port of Stockholm Ports and Harry Bouveng, Chairman of the Municipal Board in Nynäshamn Municipality, and Håkan Johansson, CEO of Rederi AB Gotland.
The world’s largest civilian hospital ship, the GLOBAL MERCY, was delivered to the charity organization Mercy Ships in June.
The GLOBAL MERCY has been built at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard in northern China under the project management of Stena RoRo.
The ship is in the last leg of the journey to the Port of Antwerp, where she will be further equipped and crewed. The ship is scheduled to arrive on 12 September in Belgium (Antwerp) and remain until early next year.
Volunteers from home and abroad will set up and finish the private hospital ship. This includes the installation of medical equipment and IT systems, as well as the supply and crewing of the ship for its first mission.
Traffic volumes in H1, 2021:
98,510 passengers (621,781 last year and 1,634,408 in H1, 2019)
89,337 freight units (85,759 last year and 89,503 in H1, 2019)
Financial figures H1, 2021:
- Operating revenues NOK 629 (1,116 million last year and 2,278 in H1, 2019) from which:
- Revenue Cargo NOK 268 million
- Norwegian Government compensation scheme NOK 185 million.
- Operating loss/profit NOK -48 million (-189m last year’s H1 and 290m the H1 before)
- Operating loss (EBIT) NOK –349 million (-490 million last year’s H1 and -8m the H1 before)
- Profit before tax was NOK -421 million (NOK -756 million in H1, 2020)
- Profit after tax was NOK -329 million (NOK -590 million in 2020)
- The total result was NOK -279 million (NOK -639 million in 2020).
- Color Line was hit hard by Covid-19 related travel restrictions.
- Color Line expects a continued gradual reopening, and that during the autumn of 2021 there will be more easing of entry restrictions / requirements in general in Norway.
- Freight market has been good.
- The company expects to achieve profitability relatively quickly in a normalised market, with a historically low cost base, and expects a result for 2021 which is slightly better than 2020.
Q1 results for the three months ended June 30, 2021
+37% cars compared to Q1, 2020 and -27% compared to Q1, 2019 (pre-Covid)
+40% passengers compared to Q1, 2020 and -46% compared to Q1, 2019 (pre-Covid)
Revenues increased $91.8 million, primarily as a result of the Safe Restart Funding, increases in traffic volumes and net retail sales.
Net earnings were $4.7 million, an increase of $66.7 million compared to a net loss of $62.0 million in the same period in the prior year.
In December 2020, BC Ferries received $308 million through the Safe Restart Program, a federal-provincial initiative intended to help provinces and territories safely restart their economies.
Safe Restart Funding of $60.0 million was applied towards BC Ferries’ operating losses in the three months ended June 30, 2021. Without the Safe Restart Funding of $60.0 million, revenues in this period would have been $169.2 million and net losses would have been $55.3 million.
The company continues to modernize the fleet with four more battery-electric hybrid Island Class vessels and one more LNG-fuelled Salish Class vessel.
Capital expenditures in this quarter totalled $38.7 million and included new vessels, major overhauls and inspections, marine ramp structure upgrades, hardware upgrades and various other projects.
Three ferry operators —Attica Group, ANEK and Grimaldi— are expected to compete for the privatisation of the three ports: Igoumenitsa, Patras and Heraklion.
In brief:
- Grimaldi Group controls Minoan Lines and seek to acquire a port in order to form a bridge between the Adriatic Sea services and Crete.
- The Port Authority of Thessaloniki (PAT/Ivan Savvidis’ Group) is strongly interested in the port of Igoumenitsa, as it considers it of great importance for its strategic expansion and development.
- Greek Ferry Operators seek to control either the port of Igoumenitsa or Patras in order to exert pressure on Grimaldi in Heraklion.
- Grimaldi is interested in both ports (Heraklion, Igoumenitsa) and possibly will be interested in Patras as well. However, there will be a competition issue if they eventually control the port of Igoumenitsa.
Regarding the investors’ participating in the privatisation process for the three ports:
- For the 67% of the Igoumenitsa Port Authority qualified Attica Group, Portek International, Quintana, Aegean Oil, Archirodon joint venture with ANEK and Trident Hellas, Grimaldi Euromed consortium with Minoan Lines and the Port Authority of Thessaloniki.
- For the 67% of the Port of Heraklion, the deadline for the investors’ interest expires on September 17, 2021. Active interest has already expressed by Greek cruise companies, the Greek Group AVIAREPS (G. Grylos), Grimaldi Group, Attica Group, GEK TERNA and the Port Authority of Thessaloniki.
- The tender process for the port of Patras has not started yet.
Source: Spyros Roussos and Kathimerini newspaper 25 August 2021
Meyer Werft is planning a new competence centre for special ships in Rostock.
“In the first step, we would like to recruit around 50 engineers,” says CTO Malte Poelmann.
According to the other managing director, Manfred Müller-Fahrenholz, the new competence center will develop particularly innovative solutions for shipbuilding. The focus is on the development of climate-friendly propulsion systems, as well as sustainable solutions for retrofitting existing fleets.
Photo: Malte Poelmann, CTO of the MEYER Group, in conversation with Manuela Schwesig about the future technologies that the new competence centre will be working on.