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- Viking Line’s chartered fast ferry EXPRESS (Incat, 1998), operating as VIKING FSTR, was withdrawn from the Helsinki-Tallinn route earlier than planned, for technical reasons. Instead of October 22 she made her last crossing on October 17.
- Naviera Armas is chartering the Trasmediterránea Incat fast ferry ALBORAN for the Canary Islands route Los Cristianos-San Sebastián de La Gomera-Valle Gran Rey. The charter contract is for six months. It is not the first time ALBORAN is being chartered by Armas.
- Naviera Armas will introduce another high-speed craft, the VOLCAN DE TENO. She is currently being overhauled in Cadiz and will service the Canary Islands too. This Incat was acquired from Hellenic Seaways in 2016.
- Transmediterranea charters the 2,171 lane meter ro-ro MAESTRO SEA, which for a long time has been laid up in Marseille. She runs on Cadiz – Tenerife – Las Palmas instead of VOLCAN DE TENEGUIA, which is away for drydocking.
- Passengers travelling on Spirit of Tasmania will now have free access to 7,000 online newspapers and magazines from more than 120 countries, thanks to the PressReader app. The app and its publications can be downloaded by passengers on a mobile or tablet prior to sailing, using the Wi-Fi at the terminals.
- Instead of sending its ferry WIGHT SKY to drydock, Wightlink decided to do an in-water survey with divers. Therefore the vessel sailed to Portland Port, a nearby harbour, also on the South Coast of Britain. The primary reason Portland was chosen was because of ‘the clarity of the water’.
- In the first 9 months of the year Port of Rotterdam has seen a further growth of the ro-ro freight volumes, an increase of 6.6%. Reason is the growth on the most dominant market, the UK, and more traffic on new markets such as Portugal, Iceland and Scandinavia. Report can be downloaded via this link.
- Axel Meynköhn, CEO of the ferry company Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei announced that the new ferry will be named NORDERAUE. The vessel is currently in the final phase of construction at the Neptun Yard in Rostock. If everything goes well the ship could be christened on December 30. The ship is ready two months earlier than planned.
- Greek website Elliniki Aktoploia’ reports that the new name of the MOBY LOVE will be AIOLOS. She will run with the ANEMOS (ex MOBY BABY) under the name Med Lines. It is not known where they will operate.
- Viking Line’s ROSELLA was chartered for a big international police anti-terrorist exercise, involving eight or nine countries. After discharging in Kapellskär on Wednesday morning October 18, the vessel was withdrawn from service for the exercise. On October 19 she runs again as normal.
- Bad luck for REGINA BALTICA passengers on Friday the 13th. They had to leave the ship in Valencia because of an engine room fire. The vessel is chartered by Balearia for the Valencia-Mostaganem route (Algeria). Until she’s repaired, the Baltic veteran is being replaced by BAHAMA MAMA.
Port of Esbjerg is going to expand by 250,000m2. The project includes three new ro-ro ramps and 400m quay. Check out this video to get an overview of the harbour, the new area as well as the port’s current activities.
Wärtsilä has produced a video to explain the key themes of the Intelligent Vessel program.
Seaborne Freight will start to operate an Ostend – Ramsgate ro-ro freight service as from March, using three ships. There will be six departures a day.
Target group is accompanied freight, which means the line goes in competition with Dunkerque, Calais and the Channel Tunnel, but not with nearby port of Zeebrugge.
Four years ago Ostend and Ramsgate lost their ferry links when TransEuropa Ferries went bankrupt. Especially for Ostend, which has a long history of cross-Channel ferry services, this is excellent news.
What do we know so far?
- The people behind Seaborne Freight have many years of Channel ferry experience (Sealink, SeaFrance, MyFerryLink).
- One of the ships is the former ro-pax trainferry SEAFRANCE NORD PAS-DE-CALAIS. She has been operating as FRS-owned AL ANDALUS EXPRESS between Motril and Tanger-Med, and is now at anchor near Cadiz.
- The two other ships have not been revealed yet.
- In Ostend the service will operate from the former TransEuropa Ferries terminal.
Photo: AL ANDALUS EXPRESS ex SEAFRANCE NORD PAS-DE-CALAIS © FRS
Austal is to design and build two 117m high-speed vehicle passenger trimaran ferries for Fred Olsen S.A. The contract is worth €126m.
The aluminium high-speed ferries, designed by Austal Australia, will be the second and third trimarans to be delivered to Fred Olsen S.A. who already operate the world’s first and largest trimaran, the BENCHIJIGUA EXPRESS (Austal, 2005).
The new trimarans will be capable of transporting over 1,100 passengers and up to 276 cars at speeds of up to 38 knots, with both commencing construction in 2018.
Photo © Austal
BachmannHR Group has expressed its interest to the States of Guernsey and Jersey in the provision of an inter island ferry service between the two islands and Alderney.
“Only last year we were contacted by the States of Guernsey to provide assistance and solutions when CONDOR LIBERATION was restricted from operating due to regulatory issues. Today our services are supplied to a number of ferry operators which include a major cross channel ferry company and one of the largest freight ferry operators in Europe.” said Nick Saul, CEO.
Bachmann is a maritime-centred international business that is based in Guernsey.
Brødrene Aa, Norway has a new contract for 3 high-speed carbon fiber catamaran ferries for the Chinese market. The customer, Zhongshan-Hong Kong Passenger Shipping Co-op Co., Ltd, will be operating the ferries between Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
Two of the vessels will be 42m long with a capacity for 300 passengers and operating speed of 40 knots. The third vessel will also be 42m long but with capacity of 230 passengers and operating speed of 37 knots.
All 3 will be delivered in Hong Kong by June 2019.
“This contract represents an important milestone in our efforts to penetrate the Chinese market”, said CEO Tor Øyvin Aa.
In 2015, Chinese Chu Kong Shipping made an equity investment in Brødrene Aa. In this partnership one objective was to establish a joint composite manufacturing facility in China as well as providing market opportunities for completed vessel from Brødrene Aa’s yard in Norway
Photo © Brødrene Aa
Stena is investing in a new route from Poland to Sweden: Gdynia-Nynäshamn.
The new line will commence operations on October 16, with three round trips a week.
The 18-hour crossing will be operated by 1,625 lane meter ro-ro ELISABETH RUSS.
Stena Line’s CEO Niclas Mårtensson said that the demand for freight capacity in the Baltic Sea has been growing steadily over the last number of years.
Stena Line has already been operating a route from Gdynia to Sweden for over 20 years, with Karlskrona as Swedish port.
Photo © Stena Line
- Hellenic Seaways’ ARIADNE is starting a two-month charter with GNV. She arrived in Genoa on October 10. In Greek waters her place will be taken by NISSOS SAMOS. ARIADNE will operate a couple of trips on Genoa – Tunis before switching to Palermo – Civitavecchia.
- NISSOS RODOS is on a two-month charter to Caronte & Tourist / TTT Lines on Salerno – Messina. In Greece she is replaced by the NISSOS MYKONOS.
- Finally, NISSOS CHIOS has arrived back in Greece after her long charter to Baleària.
Africa Morocco Link (AML) is about to start a new passenger ferry line from Almeria to Nador, presumably in mid October.
To make this possible, the company will move ro-pax DIAGORAS from its actual route Algeciras -Tanger Med, leaving MORROCO STAR as the sole vessel on the ‘short’ route, until a third vessel can be found.
AML began operations in 2016, and was founded by Attica Group and BMCE Bank (51% by the businessman Othman Benjelloun and Attica Group 49%).
The new line on the ‘long’ route is in direct competition with Trasmediterranea.
Photo © AML