The autonomous government of Madeira (Portugal) announced a new international public tender for a ferry service connecting the archipelago to the Portuguese mainland.
The announcement comes after the deadline for previous tenders passed without a single bid submitted.
The concession is for operating a 300-passenger ro-pax ferry between Funchal and the Portuguese mainland. The return journey should be made once a week.
Photo: Port of Funchal – Mike Louagie
Photo: Apostolos Kaknis
Former MOBY LOVE has been spotted in drydock in Piraeus. She’s being refurbished for an unknown route to be operated by Med Lines, and she will be renamed AIOLOS. She was built in 1975 as SAINT ELOI, and operated as a train ferry on the Channel.
She was sold old to Portucalence Shipping Co. Ltd, a Greek company which operated the EXPRESS SANTORINI in the Acores.
The same company also acquired MOBY BABY.
In the morning of January 6 the small car ferry was pushed towards rocks at the entrance to the port of Madalena on the island of Pico.
The 61 passengers and nine crewmembers had to be evacuated via the MES.
The ship, operated by Atlantico Line, was covering the route between Horta on the island of Faial, one of the nine islands that make up the Azores archipelago, and Madalena. This small ferry can carry 8 cars and 344 passengers.
Reason for the crash is unknown. The weather was bad with large waves.
Her sister vessel is out of service for refit. The inter-island service is being maintained by passenger-only ferries CRUZEIRO DO CANAL and CRUZEIRO DAS ILHAS.
From January to November, 543,000 ro-ro-units were handled in the port of Gothenburg, compared to 535,000 in 2016 in total. It is clear that 2017 will be the third straight year with increased ro-ro-volumes in the port of Gothenburg.
In Gothenburg, ro-ro traffic is the domain of the shipping companies CLdN, DFDS, Stena Line and SOL.
Photo: Port of Gothenburg
Helen Deeble CBE will be stepping down as CEO of the P&O Ferries Division, effective 31 December 2017.
Mrs Deeble became CFO of P&O Stena Line in 1998 and COO in 2004. She was appointed CEO on the takeover by Dubai World in 2006.
Under her leadership, the Company has grown into a £1 billion turnover per annum ferry and logistics business consisting of P&O Ferries and the logistics arm, P&O Ferrymasters.
Her role will be taken over by Managing Director Janette Bell.
In January 2018, the Province of British Columbia will begin a comprehensive review of the coastal ferry service to evaluate its performance in meeting the needs of ferry users and British Columbia’s coastal communities.
This review will identify what improvements can be made to the existing model and the Coastal Ferry Services Contract to better serve the needs of ferry users and coastal communities.
Examine whether the contracted ferry services are being provided for in a manner that supports the public interest.
Consider what changes to the price cap and regulatory model would ensure the ferry system is working as efficiently and effectively as possible for all British Columbians.
Identify opportunities and recommend actions to enhance ferry service delivery and/or reduce costs without impacting existing service.
The review will not consider bringing BC Ferries back into government.
Blair Redlin, former deputy minister of transportation and former CEO of the BC Transportation Financing Authority, has been appointed as a special adviser to oversee the review.
At this year’s Gala CIO Awards 2017 in Sweden, Stena Line was awarded the coveted ‘Digital Project of the Year’ for its AI venture (Artificial Intelligence).
Stena Line was nominated for its aspiration to become the world’s first cognitive ferry company and the fact that the company has totally embraced its digital statement, namely that ‘The company will be fully assisted by AI in 2021’.
“We started our digitilisation and transformation journey two years ago and it is now a central part of our strategy that will take us into the future and increase our competitiveness. It’s all about working with automation in our ports and digital experiences onboard and the exciting possibilities that AI and machine learning brings”, says Jari Virtanen, Chief Transformation Officer at Stena Line.
Amer Mohammed, Head of Digital Innovations, Stena Line, was at the Gala event and received the award together with his team on behalf of Stena Line. From left to right: Sebastian Nabrink, Ludvig Gee, Jessica Andersson, Erik Osmund, Amer Mohammed, Hampus Hallman. Photo: ©Stena.
AGA Gas and Viking Line have signed a new six-year agreement for continued LNG shipments to VIKING GRACE and to the new LNG-powered cruise ship under construction in China.
The SEAGAS LNG bunker vessel, which came into operation in the spring of 2013, supplies VIKING GRACE with more than 60 tonnes of LNG at every bunkering occasion, as the ship is moored at Stadsgården in Stockholm, and whilst passengers and freight are being (un)loaded. SEAGAS has so far carried out nearly 1,400 LNG bunkerings for VIKING GRACE.
Photo: SEAGAS ©Mike Louagie
DFDS CEO Niels Smedegaard handed over ECSA Presidency to Panagiotis Laskaridis, Member of the Board of the Union of Greek Shipowners and CEO of Laskaridis Shipping Co. Ltd. and CEO of Lavinia Corp.
Mr Panagiotis will start his two-year term as ECSA’s new President from January 2018. Mr Smedegaard will remain Board Member representing Danish Shipping.
Claes Berglund of the Swedish Shipowners and Director Public Affairs and Sustainability, from Stena AB will start as ECSA’s Vice-President in January.
Photo: ©Stena Irish Sea
AS Tallink Grupp transferred the ownership of two of its previously chartered-out ships, SUPERFAST VII and SUPERFAST VIII, to Stena North Sea Limited who purchased the ships from the Group earlier this year.
The ownership transfer follows the sale agreements between Baltic SF VII Ltd and Baltic SF VIII Ltd, both subsidiaries of AS Tallink Grupp, and Stena North Sea Limited, concluded in July 2017.
From 2006 to 2011, Tallink operated the two Superfast ferries between Finland and Germany. In spring 2011 Tallink then signed an agreement with Stena Line Ltd on the charter of the two vessels. They were transferred in August of the same year. Since then the two ferries have been operating in British waters.
The transaction is worth EUR 133.5 million.
Photo: ©Stena Irish Sea
