On 11 July, PATRIA SEAWAYS will be moved from the Klaipėda – Karlshamn route to the Estonian corridors of Paldiski – Kapellskär and Paldiski – Hanko so that SAILOR can be released for dry dock.
She will cover SAILOR’s routes from 12 to 26 July and will be back in Klaipėda on 28 July to continue the service to Karlshamn.
Tallink Grupp Has Signed The Loan Agreement For The New LNG Powered Fast Ferry
AS Tallink Grupp’s subsidiary Tallink Superfast Ltd. and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH have signed the loan agreement in the amount of EUR 197,6 million to finance the new EUR 247 million LNG powered fast ferry currently under construction in Rauma Marine Constructions Oy.
The loan is arranged and long-term financing is provided by KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH. Finnish Export Credit Agency “Finnvera” guarantees 95% of this post-delivery buyer credit.
The loan is secured by the mortgage on the new vessel and the corporate guarantee of AS Tallink Grupp. This OECD-term export credit loan will be drawn on the delivery of the vessel, presumably in the beginning of 2022 and has the final maturity of twelve years from the drawdown.
Q2 is the best so far for Wasaline, since the start of operations in 2013.
There is an increase in all segments.
The total revenue increased by 10.8% compared to last year, to EUR 5.3 million.
In June there was a record increase on all segments and revenue increased by 16.4%.
In Q2, Wasaline has added 9.4% more departures to meet the demand.
The cheap tickets that Bornholm Line has introduced on the route to Bornholm shows in the June statistics.
The route between Rønne and Ystad saw a 17% increase of passengers compared to June 2018.
The number of passenger cars has increased by almost 17% too.
The June figures also show that the route between Rønne and Køge enjoys an increasing popularity with ordinary travelers. The new HAMMERSHUS sailed with almost 26% more passengers and 40% more cars. More tourists mean more food etc. Freight went up 13%.
Scandlines is doing well. Last year, it was especially cargo that saw an increase, 11% on Rostock-Gedser and 5% on Puttgarden-Rødby.
The two hybrid ferries on the Rostock-Gedser route also showed a solid result – in the summer they carried over 16,000 passengers a day for the first time.
As usual, the shipping company’s first half of 2019 was stable, although truck volumes were not quite up to the level of previous year.
In passenger car traffic, Scandlines slightly exceeded the previous year’s figures.
Ports de Normandie: Brexit Already Has An Impact On The Cross-Channel Ferry Traffic
Ports de Normandie is the organisation that groups the French ports of Cherbourg, Caen-Ouistreham and Dieppe.
Although Brexit did not happen (yet), the first five months of the year saw a freight increase of 6.5%, due to the constitution of stocks in the UK and some industrial actions by customs in the ports of Calais and Dunkerque.
Passenger traffic has seen an increase of 0.9% for the ferry lines to the UK, and 5.7% to Ireland. In spite of the small increase of 0.9%, it must be said that May was not a good month for passenger traffic from the UK. It seems obvious that Brexit has caused uncertainty.
Ireland traffic is much better. Especially the arrival of W.B. YEATS (in March on Dublin-Cherbourg) has boosted the passenger and cargo flows considerably, especially in May. Freight progressed with 12% over the first five months.
Each year some 1.7 million pax, some 500,000 cars and some 160,000 freight units get across the Channel via one of the three Ports of Normandie.
DFDS has taken over GWM, the company providing operations, gate and tallying services for DFDS in Ghent. “We have been working with them for many years as they were already operating at the Mercatordok Multimodal Terminal for Volvo Group Logistics before DFDS took over the terminal,” says Sam De Wilde, Managing Director at DFDS Seaways NV.
Piraeus port was awarded as the best cruise port in the eastern Mediterranean region -from MedCruise- at an event held in Genoa within the Mare Nostrum Awards.
The prize was received by the Strategic Planning & Marketing Manager of the Port Authority of Piraeus, Mrs Theodora Riga. According to statistics, for the first five months of 2019, the cruise sector for the port of Piraeus increased by about 14% compared to 2018, while homeporting (arrivals and departures from the port of Piraeus), increased by 24%.
Interview With The President Of Corsica Linea
In this (French) article, Pascal Trojani, president of Corsica Linea reviews the recent weeks, after his company won the public service contract for three major ferry routes. Some highlights of this interview:
Can’t we speak of a monopoly?
We do NOT have a monopoly. Because a company that does have a monopoly would be able to do anything, such as changing the frequency of the crossings or raise the prices. However, a DSP is a contract between Corsica and the ferry operator, with agreed prices, frequencies and ships. We fully need to respect this contract.
Also, still two secondary routes have to be decided upon, which may go to a different company.
Why did you reach out to La Méridionale?
Corsica does not profit from a social conflict. Also, we felt that the owner of La Méridionale (STEF) did slightly abandon their crews.
I believe that Groupe STEF made some strategic errors, probably they are an international group, noted on the stock exchange and based in Paris. In other words, too far away from the economic reality. It is the difference with us: we are based in Corsica, and have invested our own money.
Would you acquire the ships from La Méridionale? Take over the company?
No, buying is not something we consider. But we can think about how to have a common industrial project.
How does the season look like?
May was not good, because of the weather. June had social unrest. July and August will be good. However, we have put a lot of hope in September and October, which are more and more important.
The business veteran who was part of the team which bought out Western Ferries 21 years ago has called for the Scottish ferry network to be split into bundles to boost competition as he steps down as chairman of the Dunoon-based firm.