On August 9, 2021 the former AZORES EXPRESS of Hellenic Med Ferries performed her sea trials under the Seajets ownership. She was purchased at the end of July and renamed AQUA STAR. According to the information she will be probably introduced within the next few days temporarily on the Lavrio – Agios Efstratios – Lemnos – Kavala line.
Corsica Ferries is expected to sell the veteran ferry SARDINIA REGINA shortly.
An announcement has been published by the local Coast Guard in Genoa, explaining that the vessel will change flag (and ownership) from Italy to Libya.
The buyer is still unknown at the moment.
CORSICA REGINA had been operated by Corsica Ferries since 1986 and deployed on the routes linking France and Italy to Corsica.
She was built as VISBY in 1972.
PRINCESS (1974, PRINSESSAN BIRGITTA, STENA SCANDINAVICA, KING OF SCANDINAVIA…PRINCE) has left Greece and has been deflagged to Comoros. She is now near Sri Lanka. It is expected she’s going to be scrapped in Bangladesh. [MarineTraffic]
APOLLO (1970, one of the famous ‘Papenburgers’) is being towed from Canada to Aliaga for recycling. [MarineTraffic, tug MIRJANA K]
Grimaldi Adds Zeebrugge to its Belgium – Ireland Service
At the beginning of May, Grimaldi started a twice-weekly roro service between Antwerp and Cork, with EUROCARGO BARI as route vessel.
Now, since Saturday 24 July, the ship calls twice a week in Zeebrugge, and once a week in Antwerp.
Zeebrugge was already connected with Cork, by the service from CLdN.
Interesting is the cooperation between Grimaldi and P&O Ferries.
In the port of Zeebrugge, the Grimaldi ship calls at the terminal of P&O Ferries.
The press release states that, “the cooperation with P&O Ferries will be extended to commercial activity as well.”
FRS will stop operating the weekly connection between Huelva, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife that it had maintained since July 2018 through a freight agreement with Naviera Armas.
This three-year agreement was made with the Spanish fair competition commission (CNMC), to allow Naviera Armas to acquire Trasmediterranea.
The last FRS crossing between the Canary Islands and Huelva will be on 29/30 July.
The day after, Naviera Armas will re-operate the route
The ropax continues to be VOLCÁN DE TINAMAR, the same vessel that FRS chartered from Armas for this route.
Fjord1 has contracted Norwegian Electric Systems (NES) to act as system integrator and deliver power control, distribution and battery systems on three ferries set to be converted from gas and diesel propulsion to zero-emission battery operation.
NES will also deliver equipment and control systems for four battery charging stations.
After this, NES will have installed battery systems on board 21 zero-emission ferries.
Once converted, the three vessels will operate on the Drag – Kjøpsvik and Bognes – Skarberget ferry services in North Norway, from December 2022.
Photo, from left: SVP Sales at NES Stein Ruben Larsen, Sales manager at NES Martin Aasheim and Project and Technology Manager at Fjord1 ASA, Nils Kristian Berge.
Brittany Ferries recently received the “Green Marine Europe” label at a ceremony held in Biarritz and organized by the Green Marine Europe program.
This label rewards the Company’s continuous and ambitious work on the environment and recognizes the progress made in this sector during the year 2020.
Launched in 2020, the Green Marine Europe label is the result of the collaboration between the NGO Surfrider Foundation Europe and Green Marine (Alliance Verte), a North American environmental certification program.
CMA CGM starts a new regular roro shortsea Med service connecting Marseille – Barcelona – Casablanca on August 24.
1 RoRo vessel: AKNOUL – 1,200 lane metres
Rotation: 7d – Marseille/Barcelona/Casablanca/Marseille
Frequency: Weekly
Transit times: Marseille > Casablanca in 3 days | Barcelona > Casablanca in 2 days | Casablanca > Marseille in 2.5 days
Advertised as “best transit times in this market” and “50% less CO2 compared to road transport via short ferry routes.”
