Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has confirmed membership of its new Community Board. The creation of the twelve-member, independent board was a key element of the company’s winning bid for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract last year and will be a strong community voice on strategic ferry issues. The Board is completely independent from the company and no CalMac representative will sit on it.
Just like last year, port of Ghent is at its highest level ever for its overall cargo traffic in the first nine months of this year. At the end of this year, the Belgian port will register a record for the second time in a row.
Ro-ro cargo saw an increase of +13,56% in Q3. One of the reasons is the introduction of a fourth ship by DFDS, the ARK GERMANIA.
DFDS has now 8 calls a week between Ghent and Gothenburg.
Photo: ARK GERMANIA © DFDS
Rolls-Royce has signed a deal with Google to develop further its intelligent awareness systems which are making existing vessels safer and are essential to making autonomous ships a reality.
The agreement allows Rolls-Royce to use Google’s Cloud Machine Learning Engine to further train the company’s artificial-intelligence-based object classification system for detecting, identifying and tracking the objects a vessel can encounter at sea.
Photo © Rolls-Royce
In Q3, Wasaline saw an increase on all segments.
Wasaline operates WASA EXPRESS between Vaasa and Umeå.
TT-Line, operating ferries between Sweden, Germany and Poland, has decided to have the ferry PETER PAN lengthened by 30m.
In early 2018 the ro-pax will go to Bremerhaven, where German Drydocks will do the job. The vessel will also get a new bow, with improved fuel consumption characteristics. The process will take two months.
Photo © TT Line
During one month MAX MOLS (InCat, 1998) is in drydock for maintenance. She will also have a new lift, to connect car deck and accommodation. She will be ready on November 5.
In May she will be withdrawn from service again, for a complete refurbishment of her accommodation.
On November 6, EXPRESS 1 (InCat, 2009) will enter drydock for works which will last until mid January 2018. It is unclear how, but she will get 400 more passenger seats.
Source: TV2 Bornholm Photo: MAX MOLS © InCat
Tallink, in partnership with Port of Tallinn and Transiidikeskuse AS, has re-routed its ro-ro SEA WIND. It now operates from Muuga Harbour instead of the Tallinn Old City Harbour.
This move means that more than 40,000 lorries per year will be removed from Tallinn city centre, reducing congestion and pollution. The journey from Muuga to Vuosaari (Finland) is also six nautical miles shorter.
Muuga Harbour, which is Estonia’s largest and deepest cargo port, is located just outside Tallinn, 16km from Tallinn city centre. Muuga Harbour has 29 berths, three of which have been specifically built for ro-ro type vessels.
Transiidikeskuse AS is a specialised Estonian container and general cargo terminal operator in Muuga Harbour.
Stena Line published a video on YouTube, about the use of methanol as fuel.
Photo © Stena Line
DFDS got an award at the European Digital Communications Awards in Berlin, in the category Internal Communications. Look on this YouTube video why.
Photo © DFDS