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2019 Newsletter week 1

Jan 03
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UK Spends 108 Million Pound To Secure Extra Freight Ferry Capacity

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The UK has spent £108m for “the supply of additional freight capacity on Short Sea crossings for Ro-Ro services between English and European ports.”

This is to ease potential congestion problems at Dover in the event of a no-deal Brexit, as the government ramps up its multi-billion contingency plans.

The Department for Transport has signed contracts with three ferry companies, in order to create more freight corridors away from Dover.

  • Brittany Ferries (£46.6m)
  • DFDS (£47.3m)
  • Seaborne Freight (£13.8m)

Seaborne Freight is a start-up company, with “seasoned shipping veterans”. They are working on setting up a freight ferry service between Ramsgate and Ostend, initially with two ro-ro ships.

Dredging of Ramsgate port will start on January 4th, chief executive Ben Sharp told the BBC.

The ferry services under the contracts are to be operational by 29.3.2019.

Brittany Ferries adds 19 weekly return-sailings to three routes on the western channel: Roscoff to Plymouth, Cherbourg to Poole and Le Havre to Portsmouth.

These additional rotations will allow more space for lorries, as requested by the Department for Transport. This is a 50% increase in freight capacity on the three affected routes from 29th March 2019, representing a 30% increase overall on the western Channel.

Jan 03
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DFDS Expands Cooperation With Turkish Ekol Logistics

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DFDS and Ekol Logistics, a leading Turkish transport company in the market between Turkey and Europe, have agreed just before Christmas to significantly expand their cooperation.

The agreement covers sea transport of trailers between Istanbul and Trieste. DFDS expects it to increase volumes of freight units in the Mediterranean by almost 30 %.

To accommodate those extra volumes, DFDS will:

1) expand terminal capacities. DFDS has signed a contract for the use of a recently built ro-ro terminal in Yalova, southeast of Istanbul.

2) increase ships capacity by adding more tonnage. This means the two new 450-trailer freight ferries will not be put on Ghent-Gothenburg, but on the Med route.

The recently delivered ro-ro ALF POLLAK has been put on the former U.N. Ro-Ro line too, chartered by DFDS instead of the previously announced CLdN.

Since the acquisition of U.N. Ro-Ro in 2018, DFDS has already invested in the lengthening of ships

Jan 03
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Moby-CIN Reverse Merger Officially Postponed

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The reverse merger between Moby and CIN – Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione– originally set to be completed before the end of 2018 have been officially postponed by the group controlled by Vincenzo Onorato.

In a statement published on the Luxembourg stock exchange, where the €300m bond is listed (current price stands at 42% of the original value), it is written that “In the context of the procedure under the Italian Civil Code that allows creditors to bring proceedings to oppose a merger project within 60 days from its publication, a challenge against the proposed reverse merger of Moby into CIN has been served on the Companies by the Commissioners of Tirrenia di Navigazione S.p.A. in Extraordinary Administration”.

Moby is confident that “there are no reasonable grounds for Tirrenia in AS to stop the reverse merger, as it does not prejudice any creditors”. Based on that, the Onorato-controlled companies are fully confident that the Court will rule in favour of the reverse merger. A decision is expected within the first six months of 2019.

Jan 03
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Antitrust Authority Asked Local Region To Rethink Regulation For Ferry Operators In The Gulf Of Naples

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Following complaints filed by frequent customers and tourists, antitrust authority in Italy found that competitive constraints and unfair market conditions seems to be still present in the short sea ferry market between the port of Naples and the surrounding islands.

MSC’s controlled SNAV and Caremar, and the company Alilauro owned by the local Lauro family dominate the market.

The Antitrust authority asked the Campania Region to rethink the regulation introduced in 2016 in order to make the ferry market more transparent, accessible for new entrants and competitive.

In January 2015, the same Italian Competition Authority fined ten ferry services operators, active in the Gulf of Naples and Salerno, for their failure to respect commitments agreed on in a previous investigation. (Nicola Cappuzo)

Jan 03
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Virtu Ferries’ New High-Speed Craft Is Nearing Completion

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Incat Tasmania has launched a 110m vehicle / passenger ferry from the shipyard at Derwent Park in Hobart Tasmania on 22 December 2018. The ship will commence sea trials in mid January prior to delivery to her new owner Virtu Ferries for service between Malta and Sicily.

Bearing the livery SAINT JOHN PAUL II the vessel is named in honour of the Pope who served from 1978 to 2005. It is the second Incat ship named in honour of a Pope; in 2013 Buquebus named their Incat 99m ship FRANCISCO in honour of Argentina-born Pope Francis.

Jan 03
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Caronte & Tourist Took Control Of The Ferry Player Traghetti Delle Isole In Sicily

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Vincenzo Franza, head of the Messina-based Caronte&Tourist group, revealed in an interview with Italian media, that they have gained control of the Traghetti delle Isole ferry company based in Trapani.

In 2016 Liberty Lines acquired 50.9% of the share capital of Traghetti delle Isole, the shipping company operating between the smaller islands of western Sicily.

Traghetti Delle Isole was born in 1969, and the first maritime link launched connected the port of Milazzo with the Eolie islands. In the following decades the company inaugurated new ferry services between Trapani and the Egadi and Pelagie islands, Ustica and Pantelleria.

Traghetti delle Isole’s fleet is composed of the two units LAMPEDUSA (449 pax and 221 cars capacity) and COSSYRA (300 passengers and 120 cars capacity).

Jan 03
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INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

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Year Of Progress Supports Strong Outlook

Over the past 12 months, Interferry has made significant progress in key areas through the great work of its Domestic Safety, Security and Regulatory committees; hosted another successful annual conference in Cancún; announced Hobart, Australia, as the location for its 2020 conference; elected a new chairman and three new directors to the Board; and welcomed 34 new members to the Interferry family.

Final arrangements are also being made for the 2019 conference in London, next October.

Jan 03
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TECHNOLOGY

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Macgregor Receives Clearance From The South Korean Competition Regulator For The Acquisition Of TTS

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has received a clearance decision from the South Korean Fair Trade Commission on the company’s acquisition of the marine and offshore businesses of TTS Group ASA, which was announced on 8 February, 2018.

MacGregor announced the approval from the German regulator on 6 November 2018 but is still waiting for the approval from the competition authority in China.

MacGregor expects to close the transaction in Q1 2019.

Source: Maritime Executive