Most of Ireland’s road traffic with the EU goes via Britain, writes The Economist. The Brexit will slow down the ‘land bridge’ route to Ireland.
- STENA HIBERNIA and STENA SCOTIA have started operating together on the Belfast – Heysham route on 22 August.
- STENA HIBERNIA went to the local Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff to freshen up a bit and to get an engine overhaul (see photo).
- STENA PERFORMER will return to Seatruck Ferries, who will use her on Heysham – Warrenpoint. Sister vessel STENA PRECISION will be replaced by STENA FORERUNNER, and will return to Seatruck Ferries after a drydock.
- Stena Line extended the contracts for Godby Shipping owned ro-ro vessels MISANA and MISIDA until December 2019. Both green ships will for the time being operated on Rotterdam-Killingholme and Rotterdam-Harwich.
- TT-Line has refurbished the two ro-pax ferries NILS DACKE and ROBIN HOOD. The latter left the Oresund Drydock shipyard in Landskrona, Sweden end of July.
- UN Ro-Ro has lengthened ro-ro UN KARADENIZ in Turkey.
- CLdN has announced that they will have two direct calls between Belgium and Spain as from September.
- Seabourn Freight has launched its website for the new ferry service between Ramsgate and Ostend. When the operation will start and which ships will be used is unknown.
One More Newbuilding For DFDS
DFDS ordered one more ro-ro unit at the Jinling Shipyard in China.
That brings the order to a grand total of six new mega ro-ro newbuildings, or 40,200 lane meters and 2,700 trailers!
Baleària has invested close to EUR 55 million in the acquisition of the Visentini ro-pax VISEMAR ONE, which has been sailing for the company for seven years. She started in 2011 on the Barcelona-Palma route, and currently operates between Valencia and Palma. Her large cargo intake of 2,860 lane meters makes her very efficient for the Mallorca lifeline route.
Baleària currently has 30 vessels in its fleet, 26 of which are owned. The shipping company is building two LNG-powered ferries at the same Visentini yard, and
it has the intention to convert five existing ferries into LNG powered ships.
Two “other” projects are also on the shelf.
In response to growing market demand, Stena Line is planning to upweight its freight capacity on the popular Liverpool – Belfast route. This month (August 2018), Stena Line will initially deploy the 3,000 lane metre STENA FORERUNNER, before replacing it with a similar ship early in 2019 at which point the STENA FORERUNNER will return to service in the North Sea.
The incredible summer weather seems to have inspired more people to travel between Britain and the Continent by ferry. P&O reported the best tourist carryings for a July on the English Channel in three years: 161,468 cars or +4.5% between Dover and Calais.
On August 7, the traditional coin ceremony took place at FSG shipyard in Flensburg.
For Brittany Ferries and the shipyard it was an occasion to highlight the design process of the hull design, something for which FSG is well respected.
“Passengers will never see Honfleur’s hull, but they will certainly feel its benefit,” said Brice Robinson, Brittany Ferries naval architect, speaking from the keel laying ceremony.
After assembly, HONFLEUR’s hull will be launched in December.
Photo: HONFLEUR’s first mate Fleur Le Derff and FSG head of building berth Michel Bollman at the keel laying ceremony
Probably it is the first time that a ship launch includes a political statement. When shipowner Vincenzo Onorato launched ro-ro vessel MARIA GRAZIA ONORATO at the Flensburg FSG shipyard, he also launched a petition in defense of Italian seafarers on Italian ships. The ship acted as manifest, with the slogan “Onorato for the Italian Seafarers” painted on the hull (in Italian).
He also asks non-EU seafarers to comply with maritime work in Italy and the E.U.
- Ships flying the Italian flag, in regular service between EU countries, must embark Italian or EU crew to access the tax benefits provided by the State;
- Contracts of non-EU staff on Italian ships in international service must be standardized to those of Italian / EU seafarers.
- Safety standards must be guaranteed and verified for all seafarers.
On 1 August 2018 Norled has announced the contract for the construction of two Double Ended Diesel Electric Hybrid ferries based on the LMG 120-DEH design to be built at Remontowa Shipyard. These two sister ships comes in addition to the two first units for which the shipbuilding contract was signed in July.
These two sister ships will operate on the Mannheller-Fodnes route and, as compared to the two first ones intended for the Festøya-Solavågen connection, will feature two modifications. Since the Mannheller-Fodnes route is shorter, the capacity of the battery pack will be reduced by approx. 20%. At the same time, the vessels will be certified to carry more passengers with the maximum being 395 persons.
