More International passengers and more freight for Eckerö Line

By 2018 Newsletter Week 01 & 02

Last year the number of passengers on the Finnish shipping company Eckerö Line grew by 3%. That is a total of 1,496,397 passengers.
More than 37,000 (+ 13%) of the passenger growth came from Estonians and about 55,000 (+ 31%) of international passengers, mainly Russians and Asians.
In turn, the number of Finnish passengers has decreased, especially towards the end of the year. An explanation is the change in the alcohol taxation.
The largest growth was for the freight division, with an 18% increase.

Record volume for Viking Line in 2017

By 2018 Newsletter Week 01 & 02

The total number of passengers who travelled with Viking Line in 2017 was
6,881,149, equal to +6%. That figure is the highest in Viking Line’s history.
The number of cargo units was 127,668 (131,918).
The number of passenger cars was 762,253 (682,194).

The greatest increase in passenger volumes was on the Helsinki–Tallinn route, where capacity was enhanced from April to October (fast ferry VIKING FSTR). The volume on that route was 2,341,440 (+15.7%).

Photo: Mike Louagie

Finnlines to enforce the no-show fees

By 2018 Newsletter Week 01 & 02

Finnlines urged their customers to cancel the reservation of cargo space they have made but will not use. The cancellation needs to be made no later than two hours before the departure of the vessel, in Germany-Russia service four hours before the departure. If the reservation is cancelled later than that, or not cancelled at all, Finnlines is going to charge €150 per every no-show unit of trailers, lorries and low-loaders.
This fee is applied on all Finnlines routes, except on FinnLink and NordöLink which have their own policies.

Madeira to relaunch ferry link tender after no one bids

By 2018 Newsletter Week 01 & 02

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

SHORT NEWS

By 2018 Newsletter Week 01 & 02

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.

  • The new ro-pax ferry for Molslinjen will be named HAMMERSHUS. There have been three ships with that name on the Bornholm service. The Rauma shipyard will hand over the vessel at the end of June.
  •  Fjord Line’s OSLOFJORD is at Hirtshals for refit. Her duty-free shop is being expanded by 600m2. Shopping is very important on the route Sandefjord-Strömstad.
  • Trasmediterranea’s ro-pax ferry ALMARIYA has been spotted doing sea trials. The ship was berthed in Almeria since September after an engine breakdown.
  • P&O Ferries have chartered ro-ro NEPTUNE DYNAMIS. This refit relief vessel will be covering Hull-Zeebrugge for the next 2 months.
  • Brittany Ferries has appointed Simon Johnson as interim group commercial director. Simon previously worked at P&O Ferries as passenger services director and later on as maritime consultant. Brittany Ferries group commercial director Mike Bevens left the company at Christmas.
  • DFDS changed terminals in Esbjerg just before Christmas.
  • Red Funnel has announced that Kevin George, the current Chief Executive Officer, is to be appointed as Chairman of the Group. The announcement follows the restructuring of the Board following the acquisition of the Group by a consortium of UK and Canadian pension funds in July last year and the recent appointment of a number of Non-Executive Directors.
  • TT Line’s PETER PAN is being lengthened in Bremerhaven, by insertion of a 30m section.