Austal Hull 393 Lift And Rollout
This Austal video shows a key milestone in the construction of the 109m high-speed catamaran ferry EXPRESS 4 for Molslinjen. This short footage combines the lift of the superstructure and rollout of the hull at Austal’s Henderson Shipyard in August 2018.
Click on photo to access the video on YouTube.
Length: 01:42
Ordering A New Ferry For Canadian CTMA: Not A Piece Of Cake
CTMA badly needs a new ferry to replace the 1973-built CTMA VACANCIER.
In December the Prime Minister promised a new ferry. The newbuilding would largely benefit local companies. Davie Shipyard is the largest Québec-based shipyard.
The suppliers of the Davie Shipyard are united in a group, the AFCDC (l’Association des fournisseurs du Chantier Davie Canada) and they are not happy with the state of affairs with the Governement of Québec. The latter has promised to subsidize the new ferry for CTMA, if 30% of the ferry is related to supplying companies from Québec.
AFCDC’s president Pierre Drapeau says that 30% is not enough to guarantee that the ferry will be built at the Davie Shipyard. He says that several foreign shipyards are also in the running, and says it is difficult to compete with yards using cheap labour etc.
On August 17 Davie Shipyard submitted an offer for the new ferry, “with no risks and totally privately-funded.” The yard says that nothing has to be paid until the ship is ready and built according to the specifications. The yard adds that 70% of the cost involves local companies and that the ferry has a competitive price.
It is now up to the Government from Québec and CTMA to take a decision.
It was mentioned in last week’s short news: since 15 August VIKINGLAND replaces BORE BAY on the Stena Line route from Gdynia to Nynäshamn. The larger ro-ro vessel adds as much as 30% freight capacity.
The route from Gdynia to Nynäshamn started in October 2017 and was operated by ELISABETH RUSS until April 2018 when she was replaced by BORE BAY. Due to tonnage changes on the North Sea BORE BAY will sail on the Hoek van Holland to Harwich route during the autumn.
Torghatten Group has ordered a near sister to 2017 Fiskerstrand built HORNSTIND for its Torghatten Nord brand. The vessel will be built by the Turkish Sefine Shipyard.
To be named HEILHORN, the new Multi-Maritime-designed vessel will have a similar capacity as HORNSTIND. Expected in 2020.
New Joint Terminal For Ship Traffic Opens Up Opportunities For Development Of The Turku Port Area
The Port of Turku will build a new joint terminal in the port area which both Viking Line and Tallink Silja undertake to use for regular liner traffic in accordance with their current schedules once the arrangements have been completed.
The joint terminal and its operations will be run by the Port of Turku.
Fjord1: Smooth Operator
Some highlights of Fjord1 ASA Group’s H1
Financial results H1
+ Revenue NOK 1,372.7 million (NOK 1,368.4 million)
+ EBITDA NOK 476.9 million (NOK 448.1 million)
Outlook
+ Despite investment in bridges and tunnels, Fjord1 believes that ferries will continue to be a vital part of the Norwegian road infrastructure for the foreseeable future.
+ The Group has stable contracts.
+ Fjord1 is scheduled to take delivery of 5 ferries in Q4
Eckerö Group can look back on a successful first six months for the three passenger operations (two ro-pax ferries and one Birka cruise vessel) and Eckerö Shipping’s two ro-ro vessels. They are employed in Northern Europe on fixed contracts for the paper industry. These contracts expire at the end of 2019.
Overview for the period 1.1 – 30.6.2018
+ Passengers 1.5 million (1.4 million)
+ Freight units on own lines 45,903 (41,000)
+ Turnover EUR 105.2 million (103.3 million)
+ Operating profit EUR 2.4 million (0.7 million)
+ Net debt EUR 43.6 million (60.8 million)
The clear majority of the increase is attributable to growth in the Gulf of Finland.
Challenges
– The krona’s value has been weaker, which had a negative impact on earnings.
– Higher bunker costs
Challenging Times Ahead For Ferries Of Scotland
By coincidence I was in Stornoway last week when this local newspaper published a three-page article about the ferry services.
What’s the problem?
An ever-increasing flood of visitors puts quite a lot of pressure on the ferry network, especially on the remote islands of the west coast.
On the services to the Outer Hebrides, ferries have seen 25% more cars and 21% more summer passengers over the last four years.
Demand is expected to grow up to 9% per annum, which is good for the local economy. However, the newspaper says the islands need more reliable ferry services. They calculated that half of the fleet is older than 25 years.
Still it was a young vessel that lost power mid August, and fuelled the discontent. LOCH SEAFORTH is from 2014. She is the sole vessel on this remote route, making it vulnerable.
The main criticism addressed to the Scottish Government is about the lack of foresight and investment.
The Greek Shipowners Association for Passenger Ships (SEEN) called for the Pan-Hellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) to reconsider its 24-hour strike announced for 3 September, as it is expected to cause severe disruption to ferry transport in Greece.
In a letter to PNO, the association underlined that some 180,000 passengers, 50,000 vehicles and 3,000 trucks are expected to travel that Monday.
French ports were excluded from European Commission plans for a new shipping route linking Ireland with the Continent post Brexit — potentially preventing them from accessing billions of euros in EU grants.
The Commission adopted a proposal to revise the routing of one of its strategic transport corridors to connect Dublin and Cork with the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp and the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, to channel trade directly from Ireland to mainland Europe after Brexit.
Comment from Ferry Shipping News: Jean-Marc Roué, President of French Shipowners and Brittany Ferries is shocked by the intention to exclude the ports in Brittany and the English Channel, and says action needs to be taken to change the plans.