Nick Cunningham, a freelance writer on oil and gas, renewable energy, climate change, energy policy and geopolitics, explains on oilprice.com why “the path to higher oil prices seems pretty clear.”
Torghatten Trafikkselskap has won ferry contracts in Nordland, Norway, worth over NOK 400 million.The three-year contracts concern the ferry connections Vennesund-Holm, Horn-Andalsvåg, Horn-Igerøy and Igerøy-Tjøtta. Torghatten is going to order a new ferry and rebuild TORGHATTEN, the existing ferry. Both will be diesel-electric hybrid, although this was not a tender requirement.
Who is going to build the new vessel has not been decided yet.
Source: Skipsrevyen (in Norwegian)
Photo: Carsten Watsack, Just Ferries
This amazing picture was taken by Carsten Watsack in the Greek Chalkis Shipyard, end of March. All these fast ferries belong to SeaJets, and are from left to right:
SEA SPEED JET (former SEACAT TASMANIA), HIGH SPEED JET (former HOVERSPEED GREAT BRITAIN), MASTER JET (former HOVERSPEED FRANCE) and MEGA JET (former CAT-LINK I).
SeaJets now has a fleet of 18 ferries, from which 14 are high-speed craft.
Corsica Linea Tests New Ferry Route
Corsica Linea has been testing a ferry route between Ajaccio (Corsica) and Porto Torres (Sardinia), with ro-pax JEAN NICOLI.
In three days 1,500 Corsican passengers decided to take the opportunity to visit their Italian neighbours.
The test was for passengers only, but there could be a market for freight. At least in one direction. Apparently Sardinian building materials are being exported to Corsica.
Look at the France Info video on YouTube (in French)(Time 1:45)
The Greek Atsalakis shipyard launched the double-ender ferry PROTOPOROS XIV on May 5. The 100m long ferry is under construction for Tsokos Line. She has a capacity for 200 cars and 1,000 passengers.
Watch the video of the launch (Time 5:20)
Norway has taken the audacious decision to ban all polluting ships from the UNESCO World Heritage fjords. The resolution will impact the cruise and ferry industry heavily, way beyond these fjords.
Polluting ships? You might be thinking of a 50-year old veteran ferry. In fact even a modern LNG-powered ship will no longer be welcome in famous fjords as the Geirangerfjord or the Nærøyfjord. In the near future, these fjords will only be accessible for ships producing zero emissions. ZERO!
When? Latest 2026, and if feasible before.
The only zero-emission energy so far is electricity. Either a ship is fully relying on batteries, or a ship is hybrid. In that case fossil fuel could be used outside, and once in these protected fjords, the energy source would be electricity.
For the global cruise industry Norway’s decision is quite a blow. There are no electric cruise ships. Especially the Geirangerfjord will be hit hard. Last year, 181 cruise calls were registered. That is excluding the daily calls of the Hurtigruten ships.
But let’s be honest, anyone who has been in Geiranger can only but agree: cruise ship smoke is an issue.
DFDS Q1 Review: Strong Logistics Performance In Q1
“Both growth and earnings were ahead of expectations in Q1 and our full-year growth expectation is now raised to 4% and to 10% including U.N. Ro-Ro. European growth is robust and continues to support our ferry routes and logistics activities. Our continuous improvement projects are on track and will also contribute to earnings this year,” says Niels Smedegaard, CEO.
Some highlights:
- Revenue growth of 9%, adjusted
- Passenger volumes up 14% boosted by Easter
- Ferry freight volumes up 3% despite negative impact from Easter and a collision
- Profit before special items and tax up 18%
Outlook 2018
- Revenue growth increased to 4% from 2%, excl. U.N. Ro-Ro
- EBITDA range of DKK 3,000-3,200m, incl. U.N. Ro-Ro
- Investments of DKK 5.2bn, incl. U.N. Ro-Ro
Click on the image to start the download of the report.
”The year has started extremely well with increased revenue, EBITDA and net result,” said Emanuele Grimaldi.
The January–March 2018 result for the period increased by 48.6% to EUR 16.5 million. EBITDA came to EUR 34.3 million and revenue increased by 11.6% to EUR 134.9 million.
Port of Tallink (Aktsiaselts Tallinna Sadam) announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering and a listing of its Shares on the Baltic Main List of the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange.
The purpose of the Offering is to offer to investors approximately one third of the Company.
With the Offering, the Republic of Estonia, currently the Company’s sole shareholder intends to:
- Increase flexibility, transparency and efficiency of the Company and to establish the Company’s market value
- Facilitate the implementation of the Company’s strategic objectives
- Provide domestic investment opportunities for Estonian private investors and pension funds
- Increase liquidity and attractiveness of the Tallinn Stock Exchange by attracting international investors.
Business Can’t Rely On Just-In-Time Brexit Preparation
New research by the British Chambers of Commerce, in partnership with the Port of Dover, finds that over a third of traders rely on the just-in-time delivery of material and components, but that many are not preparing for changes to customs procedures after Brexit.