A Fascinating Year For Finnlines, Says Mr Grimaldi
As written in Week 9, Finnlines has performed very well last year. The official figures are now available in the Annual Report, downloadable via below link.
• Revenue increased by 13.2%
• EBITDA improved by 9.5%
• Cargo units: 709,000
• Passengers: 619,000 (including freight drivers)
Torghatten, the Norwegian group with ferry, bus and air transport (Widerœ) has published the 2017 report.
January 2017 was the start of a new 10-year licensing period for the Horten – Moss route. Traffic development has been good, and all three new ferries have worked without major operational interruptions.
In Helgeland, a new plug-in hybrid ferry was delivered for the Tjøtta – Forvik route.
The group has won two major contracts, which start on 1 January 2019.
These are the ferry connections Halhjem – Sandvikvåg (E39, Hordaland) and Flakk – Rørvik (Trøndelag). Torhatten has 7 ferries under construction for these connections.
Torghatten also signed a contract for the continuation of the operations on Bognes -Scarberget and Drag – Kjøpsvik for the period 2018 to 2021. Here the ferries are upgraded to plug-in hybrid systems.
Key figures for the 2017 (2016) results, including air, ferry and buses:
Revenue NOK 9,740 million (9,386)
EBITDA NOK 1,314 million (1,345)
EBIT NOK 625 million (733)
Result before tax (EBT) 558 million (590)
Result after tax 468 million (448)
Five ferries are built in Turkey, with a gas-electric propulsion plant including a battery pack, and two are being built in Norway, also with gas-electric proplusion.
ICG, parent company of Irish Ferries, reports a solid financial performance for the year ended 31 December 2017.
Highlights:
Revenue up 3.0% to €335.1 million (€325.4 million)
EBITDA down 3.0% to €81.0 million (€83.5 million)
Ro-ro freight volumes up 0.5% to 287,500 units (286,100 units)
Cars up 2.4% to 424,000 units (414,100 units)
MSC To Start A New Ro-Ro Route Between Izmir And Trieste
Mediterranean Shipping Company will start a new twice-weekly ro-ro service between Izmir, Turkey and Trieste, Italy, primarily aimed at trailers, containers, project and breakbulk cargo.
Two modern con-ro vessels from will be deployed. Although not confirmed by MSC, Italian sources say it will be two units from Linea Messina. It is known that MSC tries to acquire 49% of the Messina shares, further expanding and diversifying short-sea ro-ro operations in the Med.
The construction of the first LNG-powered ferry on the Channel has started at the FSG shipyard in Flensburg on Monday, March 12.
In a bit more than a year the HONFLEUR will be the new flagship for Brittany Ferries.
She’ll operate on the core route Caen – Portsmouth.
The photo shows the key participants at the first steel cutting ceremony. From left to right: Dirk Hemsen (Project Manager), Arnaud Le Poulichet (Technical Director Brittany Ferries), Rüdiger Fuchs (CEO FSG), Corinne Vintner (Director of Legal Affairs Brittany Ferries), Christophe Mathieu (CEO Brittany Ferries), Frédéric Pouget (Fleet & Ops Director Brittany Ferries), and Brice Robinson (Naval Architect Brittany Ferries).
Austal said the delivery voyage of a new 56m high-speed passenger ferry, for Förde Reederei Seetouristik (FRS Group) of Germany, is underway.
Hull 418 departed Austal Philippines shipyard in Cebu on 7 March 2018 and formal delivery and handover is anticipated upon arrival to FRS Group in Germany, in April.
On Sunday March 11, the CEO of ENTMV Algérie Ferries, Mr Ahcéne Grairia and the presidents of Chinese shipbuilders GSI and CSTC, Mr Han Guang De and Mr Li Hongta signed the final contract for a new ro-pax ferry. This ceremony took place, not in China, but in Alger. Also present were the minister of transport (ENTMV is a state-owned ferry company) and the Chinese ambassador.
It is the confirmation of a newbuilding already announced last year. The vessel will have a 1,500-berth capacity, 1,800 passengers and 600 cars.
Delivery is now planned for 2020.
According to APS (Algérie Presse Service) the contract is worth USD 175 million.
The minister, Mtr Abdelghani Zaalane said that the order is part of a presidential decision for the country to acquire 26 ships for the transportation of cargo and containers. Until now ten ships have been integrated in the national fleet, and 16 more are being negotiated. It is unclear how many of these are ro-ro ferries.
During the press conference the minister confirmed that the stricken ro-pax TARIQ IBN ZYAD would re-enter service at the start of the summer season. This ro-pax suffered a fire last autumn.
Photo: Algérie Ferries
Golden Star Ferries have finally gained approval for the summer service to Crete, after the owner of the ferry company has been on hunger strike end of February. He was waiting outside Shipping Minister Panayiotis Kouroublis’s office for a license to serve a route linking the company’s homeport Rafina with Crete.
The service will be operated by the SUPERFERRY and SUPERFERRY II, from 2 May to 31 October.
Every morning a ship leaves from Rafina, and another from Iraklion. The ships stop in Andros, Tinos, Mykonos, Paros, Ios and Santorini. Arrival is in the late evening.
The Schleswig-Holstein ports have maintained their strength. The General Association of Schleswig-Holstein Ports (GVSH) achieved a turnover of 53.6 million tonnes last year. This is a record.
51 million tons was for the account of the “Big Four” of the GVSH (Lübeck, Brunsbüttel, Kiel and Puttgarden). These four ports account for 95% of the total volume. But even the smaller ports on the west coast and on the Kiel Canal have held up well, especially in terms of passenger numbers.
Lübeck, which is the strongest port in the region, recorded a most significant 5.5% growth in tons, mainly because of a rise in cargo carried by ro-ro ferries from Finnlines, SOL Continent Line, Stena Line, Transfennica and TT Line.
Kiel saw a 14% increase in tonnage. This was due in particular to Stena Line’s Kiel – Gothenburg route, as well as the handling of paper products from Eastern Sweden at the new forest product terminal.
Ferry traffic to Norway and the Baltic remained stable at a high level.
Increasing volumes of lorries on the Puttgarden – Rödby link gave the port of Puttgarden a positive development in cargo handling to 5.5 million tonnes (+ 5%).
The outlook for the current year is thoroughly optimistic. Nevertheless, Sebastian Jürgens, CEO of the GVSH warned the local Government: “Sustainable growth is not a self-reliance. It requires a high-performing infrastructure to support the development of Schleswig-Holstein’s ports. “
Espo Pleads For A Strong Connecting Europe Facility To Support The EUR 48 Billion European Port Investment Needs
The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has submitted its contribution to the public consultation in preparation of the new Connecting Europe Facility (CEF II) for the financial period 2021-2028. To prepare its submission, ESPO commissioned a study to investigate the future investment needs of European ports, as well as the past ability of ports to benefit from the different EU financial instruments.
The study will be officially presented at the forthcoming ESPO conference “Investing in the port of tomorrow” taking place on 31 May and 1 June in Rotterdam.
We have the pleasure to welcoming Mr Eamonn O’reilly, Chairman of the ESPO, at the Ferry Shipping Summit. Mr O’Reilly has been serving as Chief Executive of the Dublin Port Company since 2010.
