- The first two new DFDS ro-ro ships being built in China will most likely be employed on the Ghent – Gothenburg route.
- The Supreme Court of Finland did not grant Finnlines the leave to appeal on the fairway dues dispute between Finnlines and the Finnish State on 9 February 2018. As a result, the Helsinki Court of Appeal decision on 8 August 2016 remains in force. The dispute related to the fairway dues charged excessive.
Exceptional gathering of seven ferries in one yard
The Remontowa Shiprepair Yard had the good idea to make an aerial video of an exceptional day. Indeed, on Sunday February 4, a fleet of seven ro-pax ferries were gathering in the drydocks and on the quays of the yard Gdańska Stocznia Remontowa SA: BARFLEUR, MONT ST MICHEL, BALTIC PRINCESS, STENA SCANDINAVICA, STENA SPIRIT, SPIRIT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA and PRINCESS ANASTASIA.
Source: Portalmorski.pl
DFDS had fantastic results in the last quarter of 2017, and for the whole year. Especially noteworthy are the North Sea freight volumes, which went up 6%. The overall passenger volumes went up 1%.
For 2018, freight volumes, particularly un-accompanied units, are expected to grow on most routes. Passenger volumes are expected to be on level with 2017.
Some key figures:
- Q4 Revenue increased 5% adjusted for non-comparable items. Reported revenue was DKK 3.5bn (+4%).
- Q4 EBITDA before special items increased 12% to DKK 574m following higher earnings in both the Shipping and Logistics divisions.
- Full-year revenue increased 4% adjusted for non-comparable items. Reported revenue was likewise up 4% to DKK 14.3bn.
- Full-year EBITDA before special items increased 4% to DKK 2,702m.
- Full-year profit before special items and tax increased 8% to DKK 1,727m.
- Outlook 2018: the Group’s revenue is expected to increase around 2% in 2018. The outlook range for EBITDA before special items is DKK 2,650-2,850m (2017: DKK 2,702m). Investments are expected to amount to around DKK 1.1bn.
Charging electric ferries in less than four minutes
As recently announced, C-Job Naval Architects got a contract for the concept design of a series of five sustainable car and passenger ferries assigned by the GVB Amsterdam. They will be the largest fully electric ro-ro vessels in the Netherlands. Especially the charging time of maximum four minutes is spectacular. This notably short charging period will be enough for the vessels to operate a 24/7 service with no overnight charging required.
Boreal and Wärtsilä Ship Design have agreed to develop a hydrogen-powered ferry for the Hjelmeland-Skipavik-Nesvik stretch. The ferry will be the first in the world where the vessel will use hydrogen as a fuel.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has been commissioned to announce a development contract for a hydrogen-powered ferry, which will be put into operation in 2021. The ferry service will be operated by two ferries, one being fully electric and the other hybrid hydrogen-electric with 50 percent of the hydrogen output.
Boreal has reserved the ship name HYDROGEN.
The Finnlines fleet saw a reshuffle after the purchase of EUROPALINK, last week.
At the end of April, NORDLINK, already renamed FINNSWAN, will move from the Malmö–Travemünde route to the Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär route.
She will be one of the first ships of this cargo capacity (4,215 lane metres) to service the Finnlines customers.
Before, she will undergo refurbishment in the public areas.
2017 marked another record trading year for Stena Line on its routes from Belfast to Cairnryan, Liverpool and Heysham.
- Freight units: 514,000 (+3%)
- Cars: 360,000 (+2.5%)
- Passengers: over 1.5m (+2.5%)
- Coach traffic delivered the biggest increase at 10.5% underscoring Belfast’s ongoing tourist boom.
Today Belfast represents Stena Line’s largest operational hub with seven ships providing up to 22 daily crossing options.
A further £500,000 will be invested in the upgrade of onboard passenger facilities this spring.
Photo: Stena Line
On Friday 2 February 2018, the official keel-laying ceremony of the first 3,100 lane meter Stena RoPax (Hull W0263) took place at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China.
The two new vessels under construction for Stena RoRo are planned for 2019 and 2020, and will be deployed on the Irish Sea.
Photo: Stena Line
Viking Line Abp has decided not to exercise the option to construct another vessel included in its shipbuilding contract with Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. The option has expired.
- ORTC (Observatoire Régional des Transports de la Corse) published the first statistics for the year 2017. Some highlights:
- Total of ferry passengers: 4,144,614 (+2.1%)
- Total of airborne passengers: 4,025,727 (+9.7%) from which 241,744 came with low-cost flights.
- Several ports, both in Corsica and on the Continent saw a progression in passenger traffic. Ajaccio +5%, Bastia +2%, Marseille +8% (but Nice -9%), Genoa +14%.
- The ferry port of Porto Vecchio and the airports of Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi and Figari have set new records.
- On the ro-ro freight side, most ports saw an increase. Only Toulon, on mainland France, went down -8%. Marseille is the most important mainland French port for freight.
- Corsica Linea is the biggest freight carrier, and saw month after month a steady increase. Second is La Meridionale, followed by Corsica Ferries.
All statistics can be found on the old-style (and in French) ORTC website under ‘publications’.
Photo: Mike Louagie