Heysham Set For Post-Brexit Growth On Irish Sea
Alistair Eagles, CEO Seatruck Ferries tells Port of Heysham how far Seatruck has come since 1996, and explains how important Heysham will continue to be in a post-Brexit trading landscape.
Ten ports in the Nordic Region have agreed upon a declaration focusing on sustainable port management. The joint declaration shows a regional commitment to collaborate on environmental challenges related to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 10 ports have put forward a declaration emphasising the importance of sharing knowledge, information and best practices on different environmental topics such as energy use and pollution to optimize sustainable port management.
“Sustainable development is a considerable challenge – but also a development which holds great potential and opportunities. Responsible business demands innovative ways of thinking and new ways of working. In order to accelerate solutions on sustainable matters, we need to create strong partnerships. This declaration signals a strong commitment among some of the largest ports in the Nordic Region to act collectively”, says Barbara Scheel Agersnap, CEO at Copenhagen Malmö Port AB.
The Stockholm Norvik Port is the biggest port to be built in Sweden in more than a century, and it is the first time that Ports of Stockholm has built an entirely new freight port from the ground up. The new port will be one of the largest in the Baltic Sea, with capacity for both roro vessels and container ships.
Ports of Stockholm will hand over the keys to Hutchison Ports in November, and the first container vessel is planned to arrive in May 2020.
A little later, in September 2020, Ports of Stockholm will open a new roro-terminal. Interest is great, not least because of the growing freight volumes at both Nynäshamn and Kapellskär. An example of this is traffic to and from Poland, which increased by as much as 70 percent last year.
The structure and technics at Kiel’s shunting station in Meimersdorf have been enhanced in such a way that freight trains with an effective length of 740 m (535 m before) can enter and exit the station as of now.
The Port Authority of Algeciras imposed fines -following complaints by the environmental organization AGADEN- on the polluting ferries operating the Algeciras-Tanger Med line during MARHABA 2019. According to the Organization’s data, the ships that have been imposed fines due to harmful emissions are Intershipping’s GALAXY (1979) and MED STAR (1986), AML’s MOROCCO SUN (1980)(which is already in Perama (Greece) for engine repairs and upgrades), Trasmediterranea’s LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA (1993) and Balearia’s HSC JAUME III (1996).
AGADEN urges the Algeciras Port Authority to proceed immediately with a plan aimed to the drastic reduction of the harmful emissions released by the operating ferries. Among other things, it proposes the creation of a shore power infrastructure.
Although no offers were officially sent to the port authority of the Sardinian Sea before the deadline of 4 November, at least two group are interested in operating the ropax terminal in the Port of Olbia.
Moby group officially said to have submitted a project finance in the last few days and also Grimaldi Group is expected to do have done the same.
Last June, the Port Network Authority of the Sardinian Sea announced that it intends to select a private partner for the management of the ropax terminal, passenger services, parking areas, and support services to road transport and to the users of the commercial area in the port of Olbia.
As of today, the ferry terminal is managed by Sinergest, subsidiary of Moby group, and the concession (which expired last year) was and will be extended until the end of 2019.
More About The New BC Ferries Damen Units
Last week we announced the BC Ferries order for 4 New Damen Road Ferries.
A technical datasheet of these ferries can now be consulted on the Damen website.
A new GHG Pathway Model from the latest Maritime Forecast to 2050 report can help the maritime industry to assess and prepare for the effects of regulatory and technological change in reducing world fleet greenhouse gas emissions.
Levante Ferries’ Smyrna Transformation In Full Swing
Levante Ferries’ SMYRNA is being converted into a high-quality car ferry.
The bridge wings are almost closed. Her stern superstructure is changing in order to host new ramps for passengers and the upper garage. The interior is being redone too.
After the conversion, the Norwegian-built former Unity Line train ferry is expected to be introduced on the Thessaloniki-Izmir run. Smyrna is the old Greek name for Izmir.
The conversion is done under the responsibility of Kopoukis naval architects.
Dutch Customs Authorities in the Port of Rotterdam have granted C.RO Ports with the status of Authorised Economic Operator, both for Customs and Security. The award acknowledges the company’s constant effort in maintaining the highest standards in safety and process transparency, and recognizes the trust relationship between the terminal operator and the Customs Authorities.
Slow Boat To Piraeus
The inhabitants of Funchal could notice the slowest fast ferry ever passing their island. The vessel is Bridgemans Trinidad LP’s OCEAN FLOWER 2, which was purchased in 2017 for the Trinidad -Tobago route.
She is under tow by the Portuguese tug MONTE DA LUZ, from Curaçao to Piraeus. Seajets is the company that purchased her.
