Packet Made A £9m Profit In Year It Was Nationalised
The Steam Packet made a profit of £9.3m in the year that it was acquired by the Manx government.
But operating profits have fallen slightly.
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Remontowa Shiprepair Yard S.A. constructed an additional, new cargo deck, from the superstructure towards the bow, and the installation of a hydraulic entry ramp on roro ferry MAZARINE.
ALFRED To Replace PENTALINA
Stena Estrid Successfully Completes Sea Trials
STENA ESTRID, the first of Stena Line’s three new ferries destined for the Irish Sea, has successfully completed her sea trials in China’s Yellow Sea.
She is now on schedule to start operating on the Dublin to Holyhead route in early 2020.
STENA ESTRID is the first of five new Stena Line next generation RoPax vessels that are being constructed at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China, three of which will be introduced on the company’s Irish Sea routes from Dublin to Holyhead and Belfast to Liverpool.
Sister ship STENA EDDA is due to commence operations from Belfast to Liverpool in spring 2020, with the third vessel STENA EMBLA expected to be introduced on the same route in early 2021.
Polferries Acquire NOVA STAR
ST Engineering’s marine arm has sold its ropax ferry NOVA STAR to Polferries.
The vessel has been on a bareboat charter to Polferries since September 2018 and is deployed in the Gdańsk-Nynäshamn route. The charterer has since exercised a purchase option.
NOVA STAR was designed and built by ST Engineering, originally for LD Lines.
Cantiere Navale Visentini broke a record with the newbuilding CIUDAD DE VALENCIA, the longest ropax ever launched at the shipyard based in Porto Viro, Rovigo.
Designed by NAOS Ship and Boat Design, the ship set to be chartered long-term by Trasmediterranea will have a length of 203m, a 25m beam and a capacity of 2,600 lane metres and 1,000 passengers. Delivery is scheduled for May 2020.
According to some rumours, the sistership due for delivery in 2021 might also be chartered by Trasmediterranea (Armas Group).
The Italian transport ministry definitively approved a law which makes it possible for the Regional Governments to co-finance (15% of the total price) investments aimed at building new ferries or refitting old ones deployed on the short sea routes.
Subsidies will be granted for those companies in charge for the local public transport by sea.
The 10-years program is worth €250 million and will start in 2020.
Of the total amount some €69m are set for region of Sicily, €64m for Veneto (Venice), 60m for Campania (Gulf of Naples), €20m for Tuscany (Elba island), €15m for Sardinia and €13.2 for Lazio.
The first player expected to take advantage of these new subsidies is likely to be Siremar, ferry company 50% owned by Caronte&Tourist and Liberty Lines, and active on the Sicilian market.
Less than one year ago Vincenzo Franza, chairman of the company, announced that two new ferries would be ordered soon for the routes to and from Lampedusa and Pantelleria islands. The project had been developed by Naos Design and this new series of ropax units should have a 1,000 passenger capacity, up to 170 cabins and 650 lane meters plus 60 cars.
Flensburg-built LOCH SEAFORTH, which operates the route between Ullapool and Stornoway, was financed by Lloyds Banking Group and has been leased to CMAL for the past five years through an operational lease agreement.
“Purchasing the Loch Seaforth outright will also bring considerable financial benefits by delivering savings to the public purse over the longer term when compared with a more expensive leasing arrangement,” said Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Paul Wheelhouse.
When plans for a replacement vessel were approved by the Scottish Government in 2011, CMAL sought proposals for funding in the form of lease options from banks and other financial institutions to finance procurement of the vessel. Following a tender process governed by EU procurement rules, Lloyds Banking Group was appointed to provide the operating lease.
The Cypriot-based SEAJETS proceeds to the purchase of another fast ferry, raising its fleet up to 16 HSCs.
The vessel is Bridgemans Trinidad LP’s OCEAN FLOWER 2, which was purchased in 2017 for the Trinidad -Tobago route. Unfortunately, plans failed, and the ship remained laid up in the Damen shipyard at Willemstad (Curaçao).
OCEAN FLOWER 2 was built in Australia (Incat) in 1996. Her carrying capacity is for 670 passengers and 150 private cars.
A recent staff meeting brought good news:
- The three vessels (2 for TT-Line Tasmania and 1 for Irish Ferries) will be built. Financing seems to have been renegotiated.
- Only some 100 will have to go in a system of partially unemployment(with shorter work weeks), until the end of the year.
The investment company Tennor Holding took over the ailing FSG yard in August.