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PIANA On Charter To Corsica Linea

La Méridionale’s Ro-Pax PIANA will leave the Bastia route and serve the Marseille – Porto Vecchio run for Corsica Linea, instead of PAGLIA ORBA. The latter will sail on the Marseille – Ajaccio route.

This charter of PIANA is from October 2019 to February 2020.

E-Ferry ELLEN Is Operational

E-ferry ELLEN made her first commercial trip connecting the ports of Søby and Fynshav in Denmark.

She can carry 30 cars and 200 pax. The Leclanché power pack has a capacity of 4.3MWh.

Ulstein Verft Delivered COLOR HYBRID, The World’s Largest Plug-In Hybrid Newbuilt Ro-Pax

On 1 August, the world’s largest plug-in hybrid vessel, COLOR HYBRID, was delivered from Ulstein Verft to Color Line. With all its innovative and new environmentally friendly solutions, the ship is an important milestone project for both Ulstein, Color Line and the suppliers.

Over 70% of the suppliers are from the maritime cluster in Norway.

COLOR HYBRID introduces new solutions to reduce noise and emissions.  The vessel is a plug-in hybrid, where the five-megawatt batteries can be charged with environmentally friendly power from shore power in Sandefjord. The vessel will go silently in and out of the fjord of Sandefjord, without emissions. With a battery pack of 4.7 MWh, the ‘COLOR HYBRID is able to travel 12 nautical miles only on battery power.

The battery pack weighs 65 tons and can be recharged in one hour. The ship also has a heat reservoir of five megawatts which utilizes heat from both the wake and the exhaust for heating. This, together with an optimal hull construction, helps to make the vessel energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

Measuring 160 m in length and 27.1 m in the beam, the vessel has a capacity of carrying 2,000 passengers and 500 cars.

As from 16 August she will operate on Sandefjord (Norway) – Strømstad (Sweden). The crossing time is 2h30.

Remark: Recently Fincantieri redelivered the Grimaldi ferries CRUISE ROMA and CRUISE BARCELONA after lengthening. They have been equipped with large Corvus battery packs (5.5MWh), which are being charged at sea, and used in port for a better environment for the locals.

These two Italian ships can probably claim the title of ‘largest battery packs on a ferry’. The two ferries are also huge, with a gross tonnage of 63,000 and a length of 254m.

Bad Start For Ro-Pax OLYMPUS Of Sea Speed Ferries

The Port Authority of Santorini decided to impose sanctions to the damaged ro-pax OLYMPUS of Sea Speed ​​Ferries.

These sanctions came as a result of the inspection carried out – on August 2, 2019 – which identified significant deficiencies in the area of ​​the SOLAS, LOAD LINES, MLC 2006, MARPOL & ISM CODE.

On the morning of 1 August, OLYMPUS hit the reef called Skala Panagias, which lies between Thirassia and Aspronisi, resulting in a few meters crack in her double bottom. On the same day, a floating barrier was installed around her, as well as two absorbent pads.

However, fuel contaminants and slag were found inside the dam, resulting in the installation of a second dam.

On 3 August, the tug CHRISTOS XXVIII of the Spanopoulos Group arrived in Santorini, in order to remove the vessel. But there are some temporary repairs in progress that have to be completed first. The ship is still moored on the spot.