More ships are being added to the direct connections between Ireland and the Continent.
More in our Logbook.
Two New Turkish RoRo Connections in One Week
This week (5) sees the start of two new roro freight routes from Turkey.
Route 1: Karasu – Constanta
Joakim Lindblom, the CEO of Sea Lines confirmed last week’s news about the start of a new roro route between Karasu (Turkey) and Constanta (Romania).
- Start: 3 February 2021
- Vessel: VASALAND
- Last year the route was tested with Sea Lines own roro SEA PARTNER.
- Information and timetable: Sea Lines
Route 2: Izmir – Tarragona
EKOL and Inditex started the route Tarragona (Spain) – Izmir (Turkey) with DFDS operating it as of today, 2 February.
A weekly roundtrip is planned and the first sailing from Izmir, on Sunday 7 February at 12:00, has been advertised in DFDS’s latest sailing schedule.
Vessel: SF BALEARES (chartered from Trasmediterranea)
From the second half of February the cruise ferries CRUISE SARDEGNA and CRUISE EUROPA will be deployed on Livorno – Olbia.
Result: In a single journey between the two ports, the company will be able to carry over 1,000 passengers, 120 cars and 65 trailers more than what it has guaranteed so far.
How is it now?
- Presently Livorno – Olbia is being served by CRUISE OLBIA and CRUISE AUSONIA
- CRUISE EUROPA and CRUISE SARDEGNA (actually sailing under the name of CRUISE OLYMPIA) are actually sailing on the route Ancona – Igoumenitsa – Patras route for Grimaldi Minoan Lines.
How will the Grimaldi fleet be reshuffled?
- Livorno – Palermo: CRUISE SMERALDA and CRUISE AUSONIA
- Livorno – Olbia: CRUISE SARDEGNA (ex OLYMPIA) and CRUISE EUROPA
- Civitavecchia – Olbia: CRUISE BONARIA
- Ancona – Igoumenitsa – Patras: CRUISE OLBIA and ZEUS PALACE
- Brindisi – Greece: EUROFERRY OLYMPIA and FLORENCIA
Competitor on Livorno – Olbia: Moby Lines / Tirrenia
Attica Group ordered 3 Aero Catamaran passenger-only vessels to serve the Saronic islands.
- To be built by Brødrene Aa in Norway
- The total investment €21 million
- Delivery of all 3 vessels is expected within the first 4 months of 2022
- Saronic routes: 3 million pax per year
- Maximum speed of 34 knots – 150 passengers
In January 2021 AS Tallink Grupp transported
- -80.4% passengers (121,116)
- -8.4% cargo units (27,283)
- -48.7% passenger vehicles (37,453)
Not a single bid was submitted for the tender for the ferry connection between Greece and Cyprus which expired on Friday 29 January.
- Contract was for 3 years, with a subsidy of €5m/year
- 24 companies asked for the tender documents
- Covid-19 and its passenger travel restrictions might be the reason for the reluctancy
- Project will be re-evaluated
Source: Cyprus Mail
Brittany Ferries believes more companies will look west in the months to come, and it has urged hauliers and logistics companies to get in touch.
Brittany Ferries says the proportion of unaccompanied units is already much higher than in previous years. Since sailings of the new GALICIA began in early December (Santander – Portsmouth), around 40% of its freight has been unaccompanied.
Designed primarily for unaccompanied trailers, roro PELICAN’s fill rates have risen so significantly that it is now the best performing freight ship in the Brittany Ferries fleet.
She has been operating since 2016, connecting Bilbao with Poole.
Over the last 10 months the Italian transport ministry asked ferry companies for ropax units to be used as “floating quarantine hotels” for migrants arriving on the Italian coasts from North Africa.
Earlier this week the same ministry published an updated resume of the awarded contracts: GNV €34.5m and Moby €1m.
Some other ferry companies such as CIN, Forship and the Greek firm Galaxy Maritime S.A. submitted offers but were excluded or emerged as second best.
“Short Straits to Smart Straits”
Coalition Project Unites Port of Dover and GetLink
Short Straits gateway consists of the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel (Getlink). Together they draw attention on the fact that they:
- occupy a unique strategic location at the critical trading intersection with the UK’s main trading partner
- provide the quickest and most frequent services, supporting just-in-time supply chains across the UK
- handle 50% of the UK’s trade in goods with Europe
On 3 February, the coalition has proposed a new initiative to the UK Government: “Short Straits to Smart Straits”
Instead of the Governments Freeports ambitions the coalition wants to develop the world’s smartest border through a number of solutions that will help remove border frictions and create a world-leading virtual border solution for the Government’s 2025 UK Border Strategy.
The coalition also pursues the goal to pioneer the UK’s first zero emissions logistics corridors, linking with the Government’s important sustainability agenda to build back better through its Green Industrial Revolution and Maritime 2050.
Freight volumes at Port of Kapellskär are continuing to rise.
- In 2020, a total 2.9 million tonnes of freight was transported via Kapellskär, an increase of 250,000 tonnes.
- This shows the supply of goods shipped by sea, which is so important to the Stockholm area, functioned very well in the difficult prevailing circumstances.
- Finnlink, Ports of Stockholm’s largest freight customer, represented the largest proportional rise in freight volumes
- Freight volumes in 2020 also increased for DFDS and Tallink Silja. Both shipping companies introduced additional vessels on the Kapellskär – Paldiski (Estonia) route to meet the demand for transport when services from Stockholm stopped as a result of the pandemic.
