Belfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyard was placed into administration in August 2019. It has now been sold for £6m to InfraStrata, a ”London Stock Exchange-listed firm focused on the development and commercialisation of advanced high-value energy infrastructure projects across the globe.”
Harland and Wolff’s problems occurred after the collapse of its Norwegian parent company.
The yard is well known to the ferry operators of the Irish Sea.
When La Mériodionale’s PIANA left Bastia on 30 September it was with some regret that the crew looked back. Smoke pots and horn blowing were marking the event. It was the last time the ship was going to call in Bastia for the time being. In fact, the ro-pax ferry was built especially for the Marseille-Bastia route.
This final departure is because La Méridionale (the blue ferries) lost the DSP (delegation of public services) on the main routes between Marseille and Ajaccio/Bastia.
La Méridionale will now serve the connections with Propriano and Porto-Vecchio, for a period of 15 months, because that’s the duration of the actual so-called ‘short’ DSP.
Corsica Linea (the red ships) will operate solo between Marseille, Ajaccio, Bastia and Ile-Rousse .
La Méridionale is now preparing for the ‘long’ DSP of 8-10 years. For that purpose, they agreed to acquire LIVERPOOL SEAWAYS from DFDS.
GIROLATA will be dry-docked in Marseille. What her role will be afterwards is unclear.
October 9, 2019 is the new date for the public tender of the HSC AEOLOS KENTERIS I (6.177gt/2000) of the collapsed NEL Lines. Following an application for interim relief, the Court of Piraeus set the value of the vessel at €180,000, with a starting bid price of €120,000.
Initially the Court had set the ship’s price at €3mi, but soon it was corrected. Let’s see where that ship will end up. To a ferry operator or a scrap yard…
HSC HELLENIC HIGHSPEED’s charter to Fast Ferries expired successfully a few days ago. During the summer season of 2019, the ship has been reliable and consistent in her program on the Rafina-Tinos-Mykonos-Naxos run. It is rumored that her next mission will probably be to the Western Mediterranean as she is expected to be introduced on the Tanger-Cadiz run on behalf of AML for the next summer season.
Grimaldi Group returned to the European Investment Bank, asking for €70m, on a total cost of €150m, for a project involving “the retrofitting of SOx exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) to 10 ro-pax ferries, 17 conro vessels, 11 ro-ro vessels and 6 vehicle carriers” for a ‘total of 44 vessels’, the Luxembourg-lender reports. The request is ‘under appraisal’.
As for the objectives of Grimaldi’s plan, EIB explains that “the aim is to ensure that the promoter’s vessels comply with IMO, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and EU regulations governing the cleaning of exhaust gas emissions. The vessels concerned by this project will be outfitted with wet exhaust gas cleaning systems designed to remove harmful sulphur and exhaust particulates from the vessels engine emissions. The resulting emissions will meet future, more stringent international regulations and as such the project will contribute to a significant improvement of the environmental performance of the fleet”.
Grimaldi Group controlled Finnlines also received €50m from the EIB for installing 22 scrubbers on its fleet of ferries.
Grimaldi Group returned to the European Investment Bank, asking for €70m, on a total cost of €150m, for a project involving “the retrofitting of SOx exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) to 10 ro-pax ferries, 17 conro vessels, 11 ro-ro vessels and 6 vehicle carriers” for a ‘total of 44 vessels’, the Luxembourg-lender reports. The request is ‘under appraisal’.
As for the objectives of Grimaldi’s plan, EIB explains that “the aim is to ensure that the promoter’s vessels comply with IMO, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and EU regulations governing the cleaning of exhaust gas emissions. The vessels concerned by this project will be outfitted with wet exhaust gas cleaning systems designed to remove harmful sulphur and exhaust particulates from the vessels engine emissions. The resulting emissions will meet future, more stringent international regulations and as such the project will contribute to a significant improvement of the environmental performance of the fleet”.
Grimaldi Group controlled Finnlines also received €50m from the EIB for installing 22 scrubbers on its fleet of ferries.
Tallink Grupp has acquired the development rights for global fast food chain Burger King in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The three Baltic states are among the few remaining countries in Europe where the fast food chain does not yet have restaurants.
Key figures:
ANEK Group turnover: €72.5m versus €72.9m in H1, 2018
ANEK Lines Parent Company turnover: €66.1m versus €66.9m
ANEK Group EBITDA: profits: €3.2m versus €1.6m
ANEK Lines Parent Company EBITDA: €2.8m versus €2.1m
Traffic:
370k (368k) Passengers
65k (62k) Cars
68k (69k) Freight Units
New Passenger Record For Port Of Ystad – Again!
This summer, Port of Ystad has had very positive results, with record levels in passenger numbers. The traffic to Bornholm has – again – broken new records.
The development of passenger traffic to Bornholm as well as to Poland has been tremendous this year. Both routes show a growing market that includes busses and personal cars. There is no doubt that the Swedish port will once again strike a new record at the end of the year, says Björn Boström, CEO.
The development in figures: January-August 2019
+7.3% Passengers (1,697,651)
+75% Busses (3,751)
+11.1% Personal cars (456,574)
After DFDS took over U.N. Ro-Ro, the Danish Company started to restructure the routes:
In July 2019, a new route was opened between Istanbul and Sète (southern France) in addition to the existing route between Istanbul and Toulon.
To further align the route network with customer requirements, several changes have now been implemented.
France:
Turkey:
All other sailings between Istanbul and Trieste will depart from the Pendik and Ambarli port terminals.
