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2020 Newsletter week 45

Nov 05
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Ferry Shipping

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Stena Line Continues the Baltic Reshuffle

Normally a press release contains all the answers. Not in the case of Stena Line’s latest, announcing the introduction of larger, faster ships on Germany – Latvia, without saying which ships.

An overview of changes on the Baltic Sea routes.

(all hyperlinks refer to each individual ship on the Stena Line fleet website)

Nynäshamn (Sweden) – Ventspils (Latvia)

Travemünde (Germany) – Liepaja (Latvia)

  • Currently: STENA GOTHICA and URD
  • Next year: two modern (unknown) ropax ferries.
  • 40% extra lane meter capacity
  • Shorter crossing time: 20 hours instead of 27
  • 12 weekly departures (6 in each direction)

Karlskrona (Sweden) – Gdynia (Poland)

  • 31 October 2020: STENA BALTICA charter ended, ship likely to be returned to Brittany Ferries as COTENTIN.
  • Replaced by STENA NORDICA
  • Other current ships on this route: STENA VISION, STENA SPIRIT
Routes and ships
Nov 05
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Lofoten Ferry Route to be Powered by Hydrogen

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The Norwegian government has decided (announcement in Norwegian) that the next tender for the Bodø – Røst – Værøy – Moskenes route will be for ferries with hydrogen technology.

“Electric ferries will not work well enough on this long stretch,” said Minister of Transport Knut Arild Hareide.

The final announcement is planned before Christmas, so that contracts can be signed before the summer of 2021.

The start of operations on the ferry connection is 1 January 2024. The tender period lasts for 15 years, which is 5 years longer than the current contract.

Nov 05
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Ten 100% Electric Ferries Ordered for Lisbon

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A ferry company that has 19 million passengers annually, ordered 10 new fully electric ferries.

Gondan Shipyard has been awarded the contract by Transtejo Soflusa, the Portuguese company that links Lisbon with the other side of the river Tagus.

Each ferry can carry 540 passengers.

The first four units will cross the Tagus in 2022. Four in 2023. Two in 2024.

Nov 05
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Start of the Construction of Fehmarn Belt Tunnel

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Works on Scandlines’ biggest competitor can start.

The longest combined road and rail tunnel in the world, with two double-lane motorways and two electrified rail tracks, will link Germany and Denmark under the Fehmarn Belt.

The 18km long tunnel is due for 2029.

At the end of September, the Scandlines Group’s lawsuit was heard before the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. On 3 November the court confirmed the planning approval decision as legal.

Scandlines said it is particularly pleased that the court has taken the safety of the ships into account and that the barges used to bring excavated material to Denmark have to give way to the Scandlines ferries in order not to disturb the operations.

Scandlines is not pleased with the planned road works, which will downgrade the current connection. This gives a competitive advantage to the tunnel. “It cannot be that Femern A/S can design worse access to our ferry terminal, ”says Søren Poulsgaard Jensen. Further steps will be taken.

Nov 05
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Ferry Companies Reduced Number of Sailing and Ships in the Gulf of Naples

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All five companies operating passenger transport services in the Gulf of Naples decided to close down or reduce the sailings offered to and from the surrounding islands (such as Capri, Ischia, etc.).

Three labour unions (Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl e Uiltrasporti) publicly protested against the ferry companies Alilauro, Snav, Medmar, Navigazione Libera del Golfo e Gestour and complaining that less sailings have a direct impact on the workforce and on the social distance needed for the people onboard during the current pandemic emergency.

The ferry companies from their side decided to reduce the number of ships deployed and the sailings offered to and from Naples just because, due to the new procedure and limits introduced by the local authorities, the number of passengers sharply decreased.

Nov 05
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Blu Navy Will Add a Second Ship on the Piombino – Elba Link

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Next summer, Blu Navy will add a second vessel on the Piombino – Portoferraio link, where the Italian ferry company has just obtained from the Tuscan port authority further three slots (from five to eight).

Blu Navy will operate the short-sea link also during the winter season.

Gianluca Morace, CEO of Blu Navy, told Ferry Shipping News that “the second ship will enter service next June and will be similar to the ro-pax ACCIARELLO.” (currently deployed by the company in the route linking the Elba island to Italy mainland).

Nov 05
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RoRo Terminal at Stockholm’s Norvik Port Opens this Autumn.

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The RoRo terminal at Stockholm Norvik Port has two new berths for the largest ferries and roro ships.

One of the quay-berths has a length of 280 metres and a depth of 10.5 metres. The other quay-berth has a length of 230 metres and a depth of 10 metres.

These are the final two of a total of nine ramps that have been delivered to Ports of Stockholm in recent years.

Stena Line will start to operate from Norvik as from 9 November. (route Nynashamn – Ventspils)

Nov 05
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Nine Candidates for the Port of Igoumenitsa

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Eventually, nine investors have expressed interest for the acquisition of the 67% of the Igoumenitsa Port Authority (OLIG). The specific port has high profitability and respectable infrastructure and the future candidate will also take over pitches, buildings and facilities that are within the port zone and managed by OLIG as well as the fishing shelters of Sagiada and Plataria, and the yacht marina at Sivota. The 9 candidates that expressed interest in the port of Igoumenitsa are the following:

  • Port Authority of Thessaloniki
  • Quintana Infrastructure & Development
  • Attica Holdings
  • Danthia Shipping Company Limited: a private shipping company based in Cyprus
  • Marg Limited: Infrastructure Company in India listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange
  • Portek International Private Limited: subsidiary of Japanese Mitsui & Co. Ltd., based in Singapore, manages 7 medium-sized ports
  • Aegean OIL SA: part of the Aegean group (belongs to the Melissanidis family) with activities in the Greek oil and shipping market, trade in energy products, etc.
  • ARCHI-RODON GROUP NV- ANEK consortium and TRIDENT HELLAS GROUP: a Greek construction company, ANEK Lines and a part of the American group Trident that provides security solutions and consulting services
  • Grimaldi Euromed-Minoan Lines consortium: belong to the Italian group Grimaldi, a multinational supply chain group specializing in the operation of roll-on / roll-off ships, car and ship transport.