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
The Danish company sold the high-speed ferry to an unidentified buyer in the Mediterranean. She was used as reserve vessel on Ystad-Bornholm.
The sale will become effective after August 31.
Faergen already sold ro-pax vessels POVL ANKER and HAMMERODDE, and fast ferries LEONORA CHRISTINA, and leased them back until the end of the public service contract.
LEONORA CHRISTINA will go to Fred. Olsen SA, to serve the Canary Islands.
HAMMERODDE has been sold to Stena Ro-Ro and POVL ANKER to Mols Linien.
Photo: ©Mike Louagie
CalMac business prospers thanks to retention of Hebrides service
Herald Scotland writes that the retention of the contract for the Clyde and Hebrides service was the driver of CalMac’s improved financial performance in the year to the end of March.
When private company Serco joined the tender process, competition became very stiff. After committing to 350 service improvements CalMac was ultimately successful with its bid. Its new eight-year contract began on October 1, 2016.
According to CEO Martin Dorchester this was a key highlight in a year that saw the business increase its turnover by £5 million to £195.5m at the same time as turning a £4.8m pre-tax loss into a £4.8m pre-tax profit.
Photo: ©Mike Louagie
A ferry service between Caithness, a county in Northern Scotland, and Shetland has been brought back onto the agenda amid hopes that it could help alleviate concerns over capacity on the current NorthLink service from Aberdeen.
Orkney operator Pentland Ferries and Gills Harbour in Caithness are behind the idea, which would see a ferry run between the top of the Scottish mainland and Shetland during the summer months.
It is expected that the potential service would need financial support from the Scottish Government, which could prove difficult to secure.
Fares on ferries to Shetland and Orkney from Aberdeen are set to fall next year as the Scottish Government introduces a new pricing structure based on a road equivalent tariff variant, but this is expected to cause capacity issues both for passengers and also for freight customers.
Photo: ©Mike Louagie