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sandra

Jul 01
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Pentland Ferries Have Decided not to Time Charter their Vessel PENTALINA to Calmac

By 2021 Newsletter week 26

CalMac has been searching for solutions to enhance capacity and resilience within its network. One possible vessel was PENTALINA from Pentland Ferries.

Robbie Drummond CEO CalMac: “Berthing trials had shown she could successfully operate services to Arran and Mull and we were looking forward to her deployment. Unfortunately, Pentland Ferries have decided not to enter into a charter agreement for the use of PENTALINA on our network. We are surprised and disappointed by this unexpected news.”

CalMac had first inquired about chartering PENTALINA end of March. Later an engine failure of CalMac’s biggest vessel, LOCH SEAFORTH, caused weeks of chaos across the ferry network.

Managing director of Pentland Ferries, Andrew Banks: “I would like to stress that the talks with CalMac Ferries were positive and constructive. However, our priority has to be to the continued viability of Pentland Ferries, and to our employees and passengers. We cannot commit to a scenario whereby external factors have the potential to cause severe risk and reputational damage to the business that we have worked so hard to build, and unfortunately we have therefore let CalMac know of our decision.” [Source: Hebrides News]

Jul 01
Love2

Alfa Laval and Wallenius to Develop an Innovative Vessel Type that Can Contribute to the Decarbonization Targets

By 2021 Newsletter week 26

Alfa Laval and Wallenius will form a 50/50 joint venture – AlfaWall Oceanbird – that will supply innovative wind propulsion solutions for cargo vessels and other ship types. The agreement was signed on June 28, 2021. The plan is to have the first Oceanbird system onboard a vessel within five years.

Jul 01
Love2

Rigel II Enters Service on July 6

By 2021 Newsletter week 26

Ventouris Ferries’ RIGEL II will soon return into service, on the Bari-Durres line. The ship was at the port of Aigio and out of service since September 2020.

According to the information the ship departed for Albania on June 29 and she will be introduced on the above line on July 6, 2021 replacing her fleet mate RIGEL VII.

Jul 01
Love2

Slow Restart of Passenger Ferry Travel to Norway

By 2021 Newsletter week 26

It has now finally become easier to enter Norway. People who are fully vaccinated or who have had COVID-19 during the past six months are exempt from entry quarantine.

Currently, only a certificate (Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or EU digital COVID-19 certificate) with a QR code that can be verified by Norwegian authorities is considered to be a secure and verifiable way to document vaccination or having had COVID-19.

Color Line: a few weeks ago the service between Oslo and Kiel was resumed. The service between Sandefjord and Strömstad will restart with COLOR HYBRID on Monday July 5.

COLOR VIKING returns mid July.

DFDS: Oslo – Frederikshavn – Copenhagen route will resume sailings on 2 July for PEARL SEAWAYS and 3 July for CROWN SEAWAYS. Passenger capacity is reduced.

Fjord Line: both STAVANGERFJORD and BERGENSFJORD are in normal operation. The new FJORD FSTR makes one daily round trip between Kristiansand and Hirtshals. This becomes 2 return trips as from July 1.

The reintroduction of OSLOFJORD is imminent, after a test crossing between Norway and Sweden on June 30.

Jul 01
Love2

Interislander Signs Up for a New Era of Cook Strait Ferries

By 2021 Newsletter week 26

KiwiRail and Korean shipyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) have now signed a binding contract for the delivery of two new, state-of-the-art, Cook Strait ferries.

The first will arrive in 2025 and the second in 2026.

The contract price for the two ferries is USD$369 million (NZ$551m).

The two, rail-enabled ferries, when running at full operating capacity, will be able to carry nearly double the number of passengers, and commercial and passenger vehicles when compared with the current fleet.

The rail freight capacity will triple. The only currently rail-enabled ferry ARATERE can carry a maximum of 27, sixty-foot equivalent wagons per sailing. The two new rail-enabled ships will be able to carry 40, sixty-foot equivalent wagons per vessel on up to three return sailings each per day. That is a 300 per cent increase in capacity at peak.

Design: OSK Shiptech.

Contract signing: Stephen O’Keefe, iReX Programme Director; Paul Harper, Chairman of Project Governance Board; iReX, Greg Miller, KiwiRail Group Chief Executive;  KiwiRail Chief Operating Officer, David Gordon, Capital Projects and Asset Development; Walter Rushbrook, Executive General Manager, Interislander;  Massimo Soprano, iReX Ships Programme Manager. On Screen: Mr. Sam Ka, President & CEO of Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and members of the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard team.