One year ago, Ferry Shipping News announced the arrival of Blue Channel Line.
The idea of the Calais-based startup was to start a door-to-door roro/logistics service between Calais and Tilbury.
One year later, the company threw in the towel, because of lack of suitable tonnage.
Other companies that never took off:
AS Tallink Grupp and Corporate Travel Management (North) Ltd on behalf of The Scottish Government have signed a short-term time-charter agreement for the vessel Victoria I. The vessel will be used to provide temporary accommodation in Scotland.
The vessel will be chartered from 8 July 2022 for six months with an option to extend the charter for another three months.
Mathieu Girardin appointed Head of Ferry Division and succeeds Peder Gellert Pedersen who retires on 1 August 2022.
Mathieu Girardin, a French national born in 1982, is currently Senior Vice President at CMA CGM, one of the world’s largest shipping and logistics companies, for Short Sea Lines Europe and Containerships. He has held senior management positions at CMA CGM since 2013, including both operational and corporate responsibilities.
Mathieu Girardin graduated from ESCP Europe (Master’s in Management) in 2005 and from INSEAD (Executive MBA) in 2018.
Mathieu Girardin succeeds Peder Gellert Pedersen, Head of Ferry Division and EVP, who will retire after 28 years with DFDS.
“Peder Gellert Pedersen has been instrumental in developing DFDS into one of Europe’s leading ferry companies. It has been a great pleasure and privilege for me to work alongside Peder since 2009,” says Torben Carlsen, CEO of DFDS.
Repeating the same choice made last year, MSC-controlled Grandi Navi Veloci has just chartered-in for the summer season the roro ship FRIJSENBORG from compatriot Visemar Levante.
The 2016-built vessel is already deployed on the Genoa – Termini Imerese route adding capacity on the maritime link between Liguria and Sicily thus incrementing cargo capacity while leaving lane meters free for cars on the other ferries operated by the same company on the Genoa – Palermo regular service.
ECG, the Association of European Vehicle Logistics, announced a new “open dialogue between car manufacturers and logistics providers on the way forward to restore confidence and capacity”.
More specifically car manufacturers seem to be “open to discussing minimum volume guarantees and inflation rate clauses, to support operators in the finished vehicle logistics sector,” as capacity crunch bites.
Wolfgang Göbel, president of ECG, noted “guarantees on volumes and inflation adjustments are essential, however, it is not possible to restore capacity in a flash.”
Lead times for industry assets are still very high: at least 12-18 months for a new truck and 4-5 years for new ships.
Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) announces their design of a hybrid-electric passenger vehicle ferry for Casco Bay Lines of Portland, Maine will enter the construction phase at Senesco Marine of North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
The 50m ferry will replace an existing diesel-powered ferry, the MACHIGONNE II, resulting in a reduction of 800 tons of carbon dioxide each year, helping to improve air quality in and around Portland, Maine.
The hybrid-electric ferry has capacity for 15 vehicles and 599 passengers.
The double-ended configuration eliminates the need to turn the vessel around and thus reduces the required speed and energy consumption for the new vessel even though it is larger than the MACHIGONNE II.
Casco Bay Lines is a ferry system that provides year-round passenger, freight, postal and vehicle ferry service to the islands of Casco Bay from Portland, Maine. For over 150 years, their vessels have been transporting people from Portland to the islands of Casco Bay.
The UK government has (6 July 2022) introduced new legislation to make sure seafarers get paid at least equivalent to the UK National Minimum Wage.
Vessels and services that call on UK ports at least every 72 hours on average, or more than 120 times a year, will fall under these new pay requirements.
In parallel, the Insolvency Service’s criminal and civil investigation into the circumstances of the redundancies made by P&O Ferries continues.