On Sunday 15 July, Minoan Lines started a new daily route, connecting Piraeus with Chania.
Chania is the second largest city of Crete, after Heraklion, and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north coast of the island, about 145km west of Heraklion.
The 6h30 minute route is operated by the Grimaldi Group owned cruise ferry MYKONOS PALACE.
Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ) has taken delivery of double-ended ferry ARMAND-IMBEAU II. Built by Davie Shipbuilding, ARMAND IMBEAU II is able to operate entirely on LNG. She has icebreaking capability, necessary for year-round operations on the Saint Lawrence River, more specifically the busy Tadoussac–Baie-Sainte-Catherine link near Québec. She’s entering service in October. A sister vessel, JOS-DESCHÊNES II, is expected in autumn.
Color Line has agreed to purchase the ro-ro ship FINNCARRIER and plans to put the ship on the Oslo-Kiel route in January 2019. The establishment of a separate ro-ro offer represents a new area of activity for Color Line, and is part of the company’s growth ambitions from a Norwegian point of view, says CEO Trond Kleivdal. FINNCARRIER is currently operating on the Finnlines network (Hull-Helsinki).
Wagenborg Shipping Sweden was awarded a contract with General Electrics for the transport of several wind turbine components between Terneuzen (The Nethetlands) and Piteå (Gulf of Bothnia, Sweden). The shipments are part of the Markbygden project which is, once i completed, a windmill park consisting of over 1,100 wind turbines just outside of Piteå.
Successful Port Of Kiel Has More Projects
Dr. Thilo Rohlfs, state secretary of the ministry for economy, transport, labour, technology and tourism for the country of Schleswig-Holstein, made use of a visit to the port of Kiel to learn more about the current port investment projects.
Today, the port of Kiel handles over 7 million tons of cargo and over 2 million passengers per year.
As part of a tour of the harbour, Port of Kiel’s managing director Dr. Dirk Claus informed the state secretary of the current investment plans:
Photo Port of Kiel
Between Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Karlshamn (Sweden), DFDS increased weekly departures from nine to ten. Ro-pax PATRIA SEAWAYS added a weekly round trip to the nine DFDS performs today. The extra sailings take place in the weekend, on Saturdays at 8:00 from Klaipeda and 23:59 from Karlshamn. Crossing time is 13-15 hours
Photo: PATRIA SEAWAYS © DFDS
Ferry and ro-ro are the best performing segments in the Port of Rostock.
Positive business development, new staff, effective sustainable initiatives and a more efficient roadmap: Stena Line draws a positive summary of the first half of 2018 at the traditional half-year press conference of Rostock Port GmbH.
In the passenger area, it was very good in the first half of 2018. Stena Line recorded 15% more passengers and 19% more vehicles. Sales rose 18%. The advance bookings for the summer season are also positive.
The freight division of Stena Line is also doing well: in 2017, Stena was able to increase its freight volume by 3%, and the trend continues. In addition to the classic trailer traffic, the demand for conventional rail transports and project loads is increasing.
Photo: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern entering the port of Rostock © Stena Line
In the first five months of this year, volumes are rising significantly in the Port of Lübeck
At the intermodal terminal Baltic Rail Gate, too, things are going well. The two gantry cranes handled more than 30% extra.
The Port Authority of Santander (APS = Autoridad Portuaria de Santander) closed the year 2017 with a profit of €1,9 million which represents an increase of more than 329% compared to the year before.
Interesting for the readers of Ferry Shipping News is the fact that the tonnage transported by ro-ro vessels increased by 11.2%, mainly due to the new ro-ro service by CldN. Faithful customer Brittany Ferries has also seen an increase by 13%.
