Torghatten has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Lille Helgeland ferry contract in Nordland, Norway.
The contract runs for approximately 13 years, from 2027 to 2039, and is valued at around NOK 1.4 billion.
The award covers the routes Horn–Andalsvåg, Horn–Igerøy and the seasonal summer service between Igerøy and Tjøtta.
Ferrygogo’s UK Ferry Travel Survey 2026 suggests that ferry-interested travellers are not only being held back by price. The bigger frustration is simpler: for many trips, the ferry route people want does not exist.
Marathon Software has acquired Sweden’s Omborddata AB and Finland’s Panasoft Oy. Together they now form the leading Nordic provider of specialised software for crew management and payroll administration for the maritime industry. Through the acquisitions, two industry-leading companies with deep domain expertise are brought together under common ownership. Omborddata and Panasoft have market-leading products in Sweden and Finland respectively.
The partnership with Marathon as new majority owner means that the companies gain a long-term partner that contributes additional expertise and resources to support the business in product and technology development.
Founders and key people in both companies remain and become co-owners of the new group. At the same time, new expertise is added to the group as Christer Bruzelius joins the board. Christer has extensive experience from senior positions within Nordic shipping and was previously, among other roles, CEO of Destination Gotland.
EUROFER, Recycling Europe and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform are calling on the European Commission to ban beaching and landing methods in ship recycling.
The appeal comes as the Commission reviews technical guidance for third-country ship recycling facilities. These guidelines are used to assess whether non-EU yards can recycle EU-flagged vessels under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation.
The organisations argue that the current system creates double standards between EU yards and approved third-country facilities.
They call for:
The organisations also repeat their call to remove Turkish yards from the EU List until improvements are made.
They point to ongoing concerns in Aliağa, Turkey, including weak environmental permitting, poor monitoring, unsafe working conditions and waste-management shortcomings.
European Shipowners Criticise ETS Revenue Allocation
Speaking at Posidonia, ECSA Secretary General Sotiris Raptis said the EU collects around EUR 9 billion annually from the maritime ETS, but warned that too little of this revenue is being reinvested in clean fuels and decarbonisation projects.
The Port of Turku Ltd has appointed Minna Pirkkanen as its new Managing Director.
Pirkkanen holds a Master’s degree in Environmental and Energy Technology from Tampere University of Technology and brings extensive leadership experience from technology-sector companies in Finland and internationally.
She will take over the leadership of one of Finland’s busiest passenger and cargo ports.
Finnlines has appointed Markus Peura as Onboard Revenue and Customer Services Manager.
Peura joins the company with extensive hospitality experience and will be responsible for developing onboard revenue streams and customer services across Finnlines’ passenger fleet.
In a LinkedIn post, he said he looks forward to helping shape the future of passenger services on the company’s nine vessels operating in the Baltic Sea.
The Board of Directors of Port of Antwerp-Bruges has appointed Rob Smeets as CEO of the Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority for a six-year term.
He succeeds Jacques Vandermeiren, who announced on 14 April that he would step down from the role.
A familiar figure within the organisation, Smeets has worked for the Port Authority for more than 20 years. He headed the Towage Department from 2014, became Director of Nautical Operations in 2017, and joined the Executive Committee as Chief Operations Officer (COO) in 2019. Following Vandermeiren’s announcement, he assumed the role of interim CEO.
Source: Havila Voyages
Photo: Oclin for Havila Voyages
BC Ferries introduces the Summit Class of New Major Vessels.
First four vessels named SUMMIT ARBUTUS, SUMMIT CEDAR, SUMMIT MAPLE, and SUMMIT SPRUCE reflecting BC’s natural environment.
Each vessel will have capacity for up to 360 vehicles and up to 2,100 passengers and crew, an increase of ~80 more vehicles and over 1,000 passengers compared to some of the vessels they will replace.
Starting in 2029.
More information: https://www.bcferries.com/in-the-community/projects/new-major-vessels#summit-class
