Mar 01
1

Grimaldi strengthens its Brindisi-Igoumenitsa link

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

Grimaldi Group started to deploy Europalink on the twice-daily Brindisi-Igoumenitsa service on 29 February.

Europalink is the RoPax with the greatest cargo capacity ever deployed in the Adriatic Sea, says Grimaldi in a press release. The new ship will join another modern RoPax, Kydon Palace, on the line where the Grimaldi Group offers two regular daily departures from each of the two ports.

The Italian-flagged Europalink can transport 930 passengers and 3,900 linear meters of rolling freight, equal to 220 trucks. Compared to the ship Igoumenitsa, that she will replace on the line, she can transport 20% more passengers and approximately 50% more trucks on each voyage.

Mar 01
1

P&O Ferries: promising results from its new fuel and energy efficiency initiative

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

P&O Ferries cut almost 50,000 tons of carbon emissions from its operation in 2023 with the introduction of a new hybrid ferry and its new dedicated initiative to reduce fuel consumption – the Fleet Support Centre for Fuel and Energy Efficiency.

This follows a reduction of over 85,000 tons in 2022, achieved through partnerships with other operators to enable the company to sail less frequently – and other measures to improve the technical efficiency of its vessels.

P&O’s Fleet Support Centre, based at the company’s Dover headquarters, uses the latest SmartShip technology and fuel meters onboard each ferry. This gives the company a wealth of new data that can be used to track and reduce fuel and energy consumption. The ability to see granular data on fuel consumption for each route and vessel allows P&O Ferries to investigate any changes in consumption and see the result of efficiency efforts straight away.

The data also gives deep insight into the impact of different variables such as: the weather, operating system, method of operating the vessel and its schedule.

Since the rollout across the P&O Ferries’ fleet in recent months, the Fleet Support Centre’s new approach has reduced fuel consumption and related emissions on key routes during 2023, with further fuel reductions of 5% expected for 2024.

More details in the press release.

Photo: Simon Boulanger

Mar 01
1

European Commission opens in-depth State aid investigation into French compensation to maritime transport companies

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the public service compensation granted to Corsica Linea and La Méridionale for the provision of maritime transport services to Corsica between 2023 and 2030 is in line with EU State aid rules.

At this stage, based on its preliminary assessment, the Commission considers that additional information is necessary to determine whether the public compensation paid to Corsica Linea and La Méridionale is in line with EU State aid rules, and in particular with the 2012 Service of General Economic Interest (‘SGEI’) Framework.

For this reason, the Commission has decided to open an in-depth investigation to assess whether:

  • The inclusion of transport of towed freight and truck drivers in the contracts is justified by a public service need, given the presence on the market of a commercial offer developed from the neighboring port.
  • The volume of freight traffic to be transported pursuant to the contracts does not exceed the public service need identified by the French authorities.

In addition, additional clarifications are needed to conclude that the contracts comply with EU rules on public procurement.

Source: European Commission

Mar 01
1

State aid: the EU General Court dismisses the actions regarding the financing of the Fehmarn Belt fixed link project between Denmark and Germany

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

Unfortunately, Scandlines failed in its attempt to challenge the state funding for the rail and road tunnel connecting Denmark and Germany. The second-highest court in Europe sided with EU competition regulators who had endorsed the financial assistance.

“According to the General Court, the Commission was entitled to find that the Fixed Link project is of common European interest, inter alia because that project makes a significant and concrete contribution to the achievement of the European Union’s transport policy objectives and broader EU objectives, and that it will improve the connection between the Nordic countries and central Europe.”

Read the full text here.

Photo: Femern

Mar 01
1

Fast progress on the Blue Carrier 2 at Elefsis shipyards

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

Progress on the RoRo Blue Carrier 2 (ex-Clementine) has been swift, with the vessel undergoing major refit and upgrades at Elefsis shipyards since the beginning of January 2024.

The ship was purchased in March 2023 and will likely serve on the Piraeus-Dodecanese run sporting Blue Star Ferries livery. It is the second pure RoRo vessel in the company’s fleet.

Originally built in Japan in 1997, she has a carrying capacity for 458 cars and 160 unaccompanied trucks (2,309 lane meters/3 decks) and can travel at 18 knots.

Photo: Anastasios Anastasiou

Mar 01
1

Public funds for Italian fleet renewal to be partially cancelled

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

The €500 million Italian scheme to assist companies in the maritime transport sector to acquire clean and zero-emission vessels, as well as to retrofit more polluting vessels, is at risk. Some new ferries were among the projects approved under the €161 million Italian fleet renewal [Ferry Shipping News]. To date, only roughly €50 million is expected to be effectively used. This is the reason why policymakers in Rome have decided to transfer these same funds to other projects, such as new port infrastructures. The aid would support the acquisition of clean and zero-emission vessels, including vessels powered by electricity and hydrogen, as well as the retrofitting of vessels.

The Italian shipowners’ association requested some simplifications, such as including ‘Mediterranean shipyards’ (thus also based in Turkey) among the eligible builders for new building and refitting projects, but this was not acceptable either for Italy’s Fincantieri or for EU legislation.

Another hurdle for the shipowners to overcome was the limitation to deploy the funded ships to a maritime link, including an Italian port. The Italian scheme, approved by the European Commission, aimed to encourage shipping companies to replace existing vessels with low environmental performance and to reduce the use of fossil-based fuels in the maritime transport sector. The scheme supported projects that increased the environmental performance and energy efficiency of vessels operating long, medium, and short sea services for passengers, freight, and combined transport, as well as other vessels operating in Italian ports.

Mar 01
1

Compagnia Italiana di navigazione (Tirrenia) to be finally merged in Moby

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

The project to merge Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione into the Moby Group is finally taking shape. The vehicle company that owns the Tirrenia brand and assets, established when the former public ferry company was acquired by the Onorato family in 2012, was intended to be reverse merged several years ago as part of an initial stage restructuring plan.

In the recent past, Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione filed for restructuring at the Court of Milan in parallel with Moby. However, today both companies are back ‘in bonis’. As a result, in the future, CIN and Tirrenia will no longer exist, while Moby (51% controlled by the Onorato family and 49% by Aponte’s MSC) will be the sole entity in the market, owning the fleet of ferries and tugs deployed on the short sea local market in Italy.

Feb 23
1

Strong profit for Tallink Grupp in 2023

By | 2024 Newsletter week 08 | No Comments

Tallink Grupp reports a strong profit of EUR 78.9 million for the year (EUR 13.9 million in 2022). During the year, Tallink Grupp managed to continue the steady path of recovery from the last four years of crises.

  • +4.5% Passengers 5 705 600
  • +2.6% Passenger vehicles 840 881
  • -20.0% Cargo units 323 990
  • +8.3% unaudited consolidated revenue EUR 835.3 million
  • EBITDA also saw a significant increase to EUR 214.5 million (EUR 135.8 million in 2022).
  • Tallink Grupp’s total investments in 2023 amounted to EUR 28.1 million (EUR 203.3 million in 2022, mainly relating to the new shuttle vessel MyStar).
  • At the end of the 2023 financial year, the group’s total liquidity buffer (cash, cash equivalents and unused credit facilities) remained strong and amounted to EUR 116.9 million (EUR 249.9 million 31 December 2022).
  • During the financial year 2023, Tallink Grupp repaid loans in the total amount of EUR 487.6 million, which includes refinancing of loans in the amount of EUR 298.0 million.
  • Tallink Grupp and its subsidiaries contributed a total of EUR 76 million in various taxes to the state  of Estonia budget.
  • Tallink Grupp’s Management Board, with the approval of Tallink Grupp’s Supervisory Board, will propose paying a dividend of EUR 0.06 per share based on the 2023 financial results.
  • As at 31 December 2023 Tallink Grupp had 38 894 shareholders and FDR-holders, of which 30 563 on Tallinn Stock Exchange and 8 331 on Helsinki Stock Exchange.

Outlook by Tallink Grupp’s CEO Paavo Nõgene

“In 2024 we will continue to focus on maintaining profitability while balancing the high and increasing costs of fuels and other products and services and the addition of new costs for the business, such as the emissions costs arising from shipping being included in the ETS scheme from 1 January 2024. As the climate crisis intensifies alongside the economic and geopolitical tensions, we are also increasing our efforts of searching for new technologies and solutions to play our part in tackling climate change. In 2023 we trialled a number of new technologies on board our vessels, all aimed at increasing energy efficiencies and reducing fuel consumption and thus also our emissions, but even greater collaboration and innovation is urgently needed to make a bigger difference. This is also one of our priorities for 2024.

Full details here.

Photo: MyStar, Tallink Grupp. Photo by Raul Mee.

Feb 23
1

FRS to acquire French Caribbean company L’Express des Îles

By | 2024 Newsletter week 08 | No Comments

Flensburg-based FRS acquires L’Express des Îles, a company operating in the Caribbean Sea. This move is part of FRS’s strategic realignment, following the successful sale of FRS Iberia, with a focus on diversifying the range of offered routes.

For the past 37 years, Guadeloupe-based L’Express des Îles has been synonymous with outstanding and reliable service.

Headquartered at the Bergevin ferry terminal in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, the company, initially known as “Antilles Trans Express (ATE)” began by offering fast ferry services between the islands of Guadeloupe, Les Saintes, and Marie Galante—all French overseas territories.

In 1989, it expanded services to Martinique and Dominica, followed by St. Lucia in 1994.

Today, the company operates three high-speed catamarans in collaboration with its subsidiary, “Jeans for Freedom,” serving multiple national and international routes.