Interview With Jan Hanses, President And CEO Of Viking Line
Viking Line, the Finnish cruise ferry company that operates services from Finland to Sweden and Estonia celebrates its 60th anniversary this May, and is looking forward to taking delivery of its next newbuilt ship in two years’ time. The company’s busy CEO Jan Hanses took a moment to sit down for a question and answer session in the company’s Helsinki office with Ferry Shipping News’ Finland-based freelance correspondent Kalle Id.
Brittany Ferries Confirms Fourth New Cruise-Ferry
Brittany Ferries decided to charter a third E-Flexer from Stena RoRo, for its UK-Spain route.
Its arrival will bring to three the number of E-Flexer class ships in Brittany Ferries’ fleet following the arrival of GALICIA in 2021 and SALAMANCa in 2022. Brittany Ferries is also constructing another new ship, HONFLEUR, at the FSG shipyard in Flensburg Germany, for delivery expected in late 2019.
The charter agreement, which includes an option to purchase, represents the next step in a fleet renewal and investment programme worth around €550m.
Like SALAMANCA and HONFLEUR, the new ship will be powered by LNG.
The order for the construction of a ro-pax train ferry was placed by FS Italiane Group to the Temporary Business Association composed by the agent T. Mariotti SpA and by the principal Officine Meccaniche Navali and Fonderie San Giorgio del Porto S.p.A., which was awarded the European tender.
The 147m ferry will be built in fourteen months, in the infrastructures of the winning shipyards, in Genoa.
The total investment amounts to over EUR 48 million.
Bluferries (a subsidiary of RFI, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana) introduced the newbuilt TRINACRIA in November 2018.
In 2020 a twin of TRINACRIA will follow, as well as the above-mentioned new train ferry.
The company also says the design has been started for yet another train ferry.
AS Tallink Grupp and Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) recently signed the contract for the construction of a new LNG-powered shuttle ferry for the Tallinn-Helsinki route, which entered into force on 27 March.
Price: EUR 250 million.
Gross tonnage: 50,000
Speed: 27 knots
The delivery of the vessel is expected in January 2022.
The new shuttle ferry will also benefit from the recently signed cooperation agreement with Tallinn Technical University, the aim of which is to develop innovative Smart Car deck solutions for the group’s vessels to enhance the loading and unloading operations and make them compatible with the already existing Smart Port solutions at the Port of Tallinn.
According to the contract, 30% of the total cost will be paid during the construction period and the rest after the delivery of the vessel. AS Tallink Grupp plans to finance 70% of the new ship cost in 2022 by long-term loan, the loan terms will be concluded in the near future.
The ship in question was built in Italy by Cantiere Navale Visentini and delivered in 2011 to Caronte in bare boat charter and from 2013 sub-chartered out to Irish Ferries. The latter still operates the vessel today.
The Italian ferry company Caronte&Tourist has purchased the ro-pax unit EPSILON.
They did with the financial support of Banco Bpm and Sace, which forms with Simest the export and internationalization hub of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group.
The line of credit guaranteed was used to fund the deal just closed by the Messina-based company controlled by the Franza and Matacena families and which is worth some EUR 34 million.
The ship in question was built in Italy by Cantiere Navale Visentini and delivered in 2011 to Caronte in bare boat charter and from 2013 sub-chartered out to Irish Ferries. The latter still operates the vessel today.
The two ro-ro ferries that serve the Northern Isles network have been purchased by the Scottish Government.
Sister vessels HELLIAR and HILDASAY operate on the lifeline routes from Aberdeen to Kirkwall, Orkney and Lerwick.
They had previously been chartered from Fortress, but a formal deal has been completed and they will now join the Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) fleet.
Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Paul Wheelhouse, said: “Our ferry services are iconic transport links that play a vital role for our island economies, so it’s important that we secure the two freight ferries for the future. Purchasing the vessels outright will also bring financial benefits by delivering savings to the public purse over the longer term.”
In April 2018, ro-pax ferries HAMNAVOE, HROSSEY and HJALTLAND had already been taken into CMAL ownership. This means that now the entire fleet of NorthLink ferries is under the CMAL ownership.
In May, Naviera Armas will take delivery of the 111m Incat 091, VOLCAN DE TAGORO. She will be named after a submarine volcano, which erupted off the island of El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands.
She will have a capacity for almost 1,200 passengers, 215 cars and 595 lane metre of ro-ro cargo.
A new sea link between Greece’s Lavrio and Turkey’s Cesme ports will go into operation on June 2, boosting trade by avoiding long overland travel for large trucks while serving tourists as well.
Shipping agents of the two countries will run the line through Istanbul-based Aegean Sea Ways, overseen by chairman Bulent Ipek. Its representative in Greece is Stefmar Ltd., headed by Stefanos Karakanis.
Three Options For A New LNG Depot In The Port Of Genoa
“Three are the options currently under examination in order to realize a new LNG depot in the port of Genoa, useful also for bunkering ships: the so-called ex-Ilva area in Cornigliano, the liquid bulk terminal of Porto Petroli in Multedo or on the breakwater either in the old port or in the Voltri-Pra basin”.
That is what Paolo Emilio Signorini, chairman of the local port authority, said to Ferry Shipping News in the occasion of the first ‘coming back home’ call of a Costa ship in Genoa in 15 years.
Signorini also pointed out that “there are some hurdles related to the nearby presence of the airport which impose limits” to the height of the building and depots. “There are no doubts about the interest from the market to build and manage such a new LNG depot since several companies expressed their will to invest on it” the head of the port added.
Next November, in the nearby port of Savona (which is managed by the same authority), Costa Cruises will christen Costa Smeralda. She is currently under construction at Meyer Turku. She will be LNG-powered. So far, bunkering is only possible in Barcelona.
In the near past also Grandi Navi Veloci and Moby publicly expressed their concerns about the fact that they are obliged to install scrubbers on the new ferries ordered in China due to the lack of LNG available in Genoa.
An operation of commercial bunkering with LNG fuel was carried out at the Tri-City ports. Cargo vessels with the “fuel of the future” called at Gdynia and Gdansk last week. These were the first operations of this type in Poland.
