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sandra

Apr 30
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UK Coronavirus Support Package for Vital Routes

By 2020 Newsletter week 18

Vital routes for supplies and people have been protected through a coronavirus support package to keep the flow of goods and services running smoothly in and out of the UK, and around the country, throughout the pandemic.

A multimillion government support package for essential freight services includes:

Apr 30
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IN THE MEDIA

By 2020 Newsletter week 18

Freestyle translation by Ferry Shipping News

  • 4 ferries in operation, 9 stopped. Two thirds of people in partial unemployment.
  • Only a few dozen ‘essential’ passengers travel. Freight is now king, something unusual for Corsica Ferries. The company has listened to Corsica transport companies and adapted the offer. Sometimes changes were skillfully implemented overnight, to react as quick as possible.
  • We are awaiting what the government says about the relief of travel restrictions. We can only adapt once we know. But we are preparing and we can assure the tourism industry that if travel allows people will have enough ferries to get to the island.
  • Although the company is already experiencing the economic consequences of this crisis, Pierre Mattei is happy about the quick reaction time of his company. “It is in our DNA to be agile and versatile.”
  • Corsica Ferries suffered a fake news campaign. It was accused of transporting tourists. It all started with pictures from before the lockdown. They were re-released by some politicians, who did not even check.
Apr 30
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Interview with Pierre-Antoine Villanova, Corsica Linea

By 2020 Newsletter week 18

Freestyle translation by Ferry Shipping News

  • Corsica Linea went from 7 to 4 ships: 2 on Bastia, 2 on Ajaccio.
  • No link to North-Africa
  • Only a few passengers, majority is freight. In the middle of the crisis freight went down. Then we carried only 70% of the normal capacity. Now we transport 80% of the goods that arrive on the island.
  • Very difficult to predict summer. I don’t know if we will carry passengers this summer. We need to carry people without putting them at risk.
  • We’re going to lose lots of money, but I am not afraid for my company. I am more afraid for the economic earthquake on the island.
  • We have a social ambition. We want to develop the local economy. That’s why we employ French seafarers, not Italians (as Corsica Ferries does, note from editor). They are costing us three times more. We have also decided to only work with food from Corsica.
Apr 30
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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

By 2020 Newsletter week 18

Progress on the SUPERFAST XI Scrubber Conversion

Conversion works on Attica Group’s ropax SUPERFAST XI is in progress.

The large ferry is at Keratsini dock since March 29, 2020 in order to undergo her scrubber conversion (open loop type), which will be the first to be performed on a ropax ferry in Greece.

Corsica Linea’s A. NEPITA (ex-Superfast X) is getting a scrubber too, in Perama.

HOLLANDIA SEAWAYS Is Now on the Zeebrugge-Göteborg Route

The mega freight ferry was photographed last Sunday in Zeebrugge.

Apr 30
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THREE SHIPS DOWN MEMORY LANE

By 2020 Newsletter week 18

This week we go back 20 years: 2001

Place: Travemünde, at a moment when TT Line started to operate the new NILS HOLGERSSON and PETER PAN, still in service.

TRANSFINLANDIA (built 1981)

The first ship is TRANSFINLANDIA. She was eventually scrapped in 2012.

TRANSEUROPA (built 1995)

Another Finncarriers fleetmate was the sturdy TRANSEUROPA. In 2013 she let the Baltic Sea for a second life in the Meditterranean, as EUROFERRY OLYMPIA. She is still in service between Salerno and Catania.

LÜBECK LINK (built as FINNROSE in 1980)

Last but not least is the ship that would probably never win a beauty contest. LÜBECK LINK is photographed when she was operating for Nordö Link on the Travemünde-Malmö route. In 2017 she was broken up in India.

Apr 23
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TOP STORY

By 2020 Newsletter week 17

The Hellenic Coastal Shipping Urgently Needs Financial Support, Says XRTC

According to the recent XRTC study, the Hellenic Coastal Shipping will need a monthly financial support immediately – for as long as the crisis lasts – ranging from EUR 22 to 30 million, in order to face the unexpected consequences of Covid-19.

Apr 23
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FERRY SHIPPING

By 2020 Newsletter week 17

Corsica Sardinia Ferries to Launch a New Savona – Golfo Aranci – Civitavecchia Summer Link

Corsica Sardinia Ferries announced on the website a new “all Italian” maritime service set to be offered from July 10 to September 14 and connecting Vado Ligure (Savona) with the Sardinian port of Golfo Aranci and Civitavecchia (Rome).

The new link from Savona will be overnight and served three days per week (on Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays) while the sailing from Civitavecchia will take place early in the morning on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays. One of the Mega Express-class ferries will be deployed on this route.

Raoul Zanelli Bono, sales director of Corsica Sardinia Ferries, underlined that the new link “will be compliant with all the new rules which has been and will be introduced by health and maritime authorities in order to face Covid-19 emergency”.

Apr 23
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Italy Launched Public Tenders to Charter Ro-Pax Units for Transporting and Accommodating Migrants

By 2020 Newsletter week 17

The Italian transport ministry published an announcement inviting ferry companies to propose ro-pax units capable of hosting aboard migrants set to be quarantined upon arrival off the Italian coasts from North Africa. Last week Tirrenia-CIN’s ferry RAFFAELE RUBATTINO was already used to accommodate some 180 migrants saved from two NGO vessels (ALAN KURDI and AITA MARI).

The expressions of interest invitation is set to expire on next Friday April 24, at midnight, and ro-pax units proposed (either Italy or Eu-flagged) must have capacity enough to accommodate 250 migrants to be hosted in single cabins (except families). The garage must have instead at least 300 lane metres capacity. The value of the contract is EUR 1.2 million per month.

The Prefecture of Agrigento also launched another public tender, set to expire on Friday April 24 at 9 AM, in order to find ferry companies interested at serving a potential maritime transport service of migrant s from Lampedusa to Sicily (Porto Empedocle). In this case a ferry with at least a 50-passenger capacity is requested.