Estonia’s smaller islands are seeing a rise in tourist visitors year-on-year, according to a report on ETV current affairs show “Aktuaalne kaamera” Monday night. This increase is matched by a rise in the use of car ferries to visit islands such as Kihnu and Vormsi, with visitors bringing their own cars.
This year, new procurements will be announced on the Kihnu, Vormsi and Sõru-Triigi (between Hiiumaa and Saaremaa) routes.
BBC brings a very good story about ELLEN, the fully electric ferry connecting Fynshav with the island of Ærø.
Hourly trips between Tallinn and Helsinki could be introduced if there is enough demand, Mr Paavo Nõgene, the chairman of the board of Tallink said on Estonian TV, adding that lowering the excise duty on alcohol had given tourism a boost.
However, he rebutted a stereotype that Finns travel to Estonia purely to buy cheap alcohol.
Nõgene said Tallink plans to build new, environmentally friendly passenger ships which will fly the Estonian flag.
On 9 January, Christian Estrosi (Mayor of the city of Nice, President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, Deputy President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region), and Pierre Mattei (President and CEO of Corsica Ferries) have formalized the use of 0.1% sulphur fuel at the port of Nice.
Nice is not in a SECA, and 0.5% fuel would be the norm. Corsica Ferries has decided to play a pioneering role, with the hope to have a Mediterranean SECA soon. The company also participates in the relevant program under the wings of the French Shipowners Association.
Jadrolinija acquired Greek double-ender FAROS. She will sail between Split and Stari Grad. FAROS is the former STELIOS FILIAGKOS from Thassos Link.
She has a capacity of 600 passengers and 160 vehicles. She was purchased for HRK 63 million or EUR 8.5 million.
On 13 January, the keel was laid for the first out of two combined freight and passenger DFDS newbuildings from Guangzhou Shipyard in South China. The ferries will be used in the Baltic
ELISABETH RUSS has been chartered by Trasmediterranea, to replace LA SURPRISE (Suardiaz) on the roro freight route between Algeciras and Tanger Med. [link MarineTraffic]
Newbuilt Hydrofoil CARMINE Enters Service for Liberty Lines
The high-speed craft CARMINE M –built by Liberty Shipyard in Trapani– has been delivered to Liberty Lines. It is ready to enter service on the routes to and from the Aeolian islands.
This is the fourth unit of the Admiral 250 series built in Sicily and follows the sister ships CARLO MORACE, AMMARÌ and CARMEN M.
This high-speed vessel has a capacity for 250 passengers, is 31.7 metres long, beam is 6.8 metres, draft 4.2 metres and can reach a maximum speed of 36 knots.
Austal Rolls BAJAMAR EXPRESS Out
On 18 December 2019, Austal announced the rollout of Hull 394, the BAJAMAR EXPRESS for Fred. Olsen Express.
Austal recently posted a new video that captures the milestone.
Finnlines Release Renderings of New Superstar Vessels
At the end of last year Finnlines announced that it signed an order for two Superstar ro-pax vessels from China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai). Renderings from Knud E. Hansen have now been released.
They will be larger than the existing Star class vessels and will be Finnlines’ flagships both in terms of size and technology. With a length of about 230 metres, their loading capacity will be for 5,100 lane metres for rolling freight and around 1,100 passengers.
The press release says that “the vessels will have the highest Finnish / Swedish ice class and will be built with the top technical and environmental views in mind, while being pioneers in honouring green values.”
The hybrid newbuilds will operate on the Kapellskär – Långnäs – Naantali route. A large duty-free supermarket will be the center of the ship.
They are expected to be delivered by 2023.
The Municipality of Fanø and the owners of the Fanølinjen – Molslinjen –, have agreed to phase out the ferry SØNDERHO [link: Marinetraffic] and to start the construction of a brand new electric ferry.
The 20-minute trip between Fanø and Esbjerg is very popular, with often long queues in weekends and holidays. Last year te route carried 1.8 million passengers.
A new ferry is badly needed.
The new hybrid battery-powered ferry will be built at the Danish Hvide Sande Shipyard [external link]. It will be in service in late summer 2021.
Converting the existing ferries FENJA and MENJA to electric operation is also being studied.
