Untitled | Page 188 | Ferry Shipping News

Jun 30

Belfast Harbour posts robust Financial Results for 2022

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 26

Belfast Harbour reported robust financial results for 2022, with annual turnover and profits in line with expectations, despite a challenging global trading environment.

Belfast Harbour reported turnover of £77.2m for 2022, up 5% on its figures for 2021, and underlying pre-tax profits of £34.3m, up 1% on the previous year.

Despite the climate of global uncertainty and external challenges sparked by the war in Ukraine, port trade dropped only slightly on the record levels recorded in 2021. Total tonnage through Belfast Harbour was reported at 24.5m tonnes, representing the second highest levels in its history, and a slight easing back of 4.3% from the record levels of 2021.

RoRo freight on Stena Line performed strongly, recording 600,000 freight units during the year, and matching the record performance delivered in 2021.

The volume of ferry passengers travelling through the Port increased by 22% year on year to almost 1.8 million people, with routes benefitting from the full easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The number of passenger cars reached a record high of 462,000, increasing by 12% from the year before, reflecting a continued interest in staycations and local holidays.

Source

Jun 30

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Valenciaport uses Artificial Intelligence to predict the flow of trucks

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 26

Valenciaport and Nextport have developed an Artificial Intelligence tool assisted by data technology professionals, which will adjust the traffic of cargo vehicles in Valencian ports.

The tool, which is in the pilot phase, is fed by the data managed by Valenciaport and is crossed with other variables such as holidays by country or meteorology, which help to forecast the behaviour of land traffic.

This system is a competitive advantage both for terminals – which will know the workload by time slot – and for carriers – which will have a real timetable planning.

Jun 30

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Grimaldi deploys “green giants” on the Venice – Bari – Patras route

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 26

Since June 26, the regular ro-ro line operated by Grimaldi Group between Venice, Bari and Patras is covered by two of the GG5G-series ro-ro ships: ECO CATANIA and ECO MALTA.

These vessels can offer much higher capacity (7,800 linear metres of freight, equivalent to around 500 trailers and 180 cars and better performances) than the Eurocargo-class ships that they replaced on the line.

The ro-ro traffic flows in the port of Venice grew by over 11% in 2022 according to the statistics released by the local port authority, and this trend has continued also in the first half of 2023.

The doubling of the capacity of the new ships compared to those previously operating will lead to a further increase in ro-ro cargo capacity on the Venice – Greece link.

Jun 30

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Algérie Ferries decides not to charter the Italian ferry CAMOMILLA

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 26

Algérie Ferries made public the decision not to charter the vessel CAMOMILLA recently sold by Corsica Ferries to the new company Flipper Lines, controlled by Saimja Shpk.

For the 2023 summer season, the Algerian national maritime passenger transport company decided to strengthen its programme of crossings with new routes departing from Italy, Spain and France. New routes have been opened, offering Algerian travellers a wide choice of destinations.

“In view of the impossibility of chartering the CAMOMILLA, Algeria Ferries reassures its customers that the ships in its fleet are ready to ensure the best possible operation of its crossings” a press release from the company said.

In order to meet the growing demand from its passengers, the Algerian national shipping company informs that “all the human and material resources will be made available to its passengers to ensure the smooth running of all its voyages during the 2023 summer season”.

Jun 30

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The two Damen 4212 class arrived in Vancouver

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 26

After beginning their voyage early this month from the Damen shipyard in Vietnam, the two brand-new high-speed catamaran vessels for the new Hullo Ferries service arrived in British Columbia this past weekend.

Hullo Ferries is a private, passenger-only ferry service linking downtown Vancouver and downtown Nanaimo, designed for both regular commuters from Vancouver Island and tourists.

Both vessels have a hul’q’umi’num’ name according to the Snuneymuxw First Nation (*).

SPUHÉLS (**) and STHUQI’ (***) will begin sailing in early August 2023.

* The Snuneymuxw are a vibrant First Nation of the Coast Salish People, residing in the centre of Coast Salish territory on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, with villages on the Fraser River and waterways in the Gulf Islands. Snuneymuxw territory encompasses one of the most productive and resource rich areas at the heart of the Salish Sea.

**Spuhéls (spah – els): is the hul’q’umi’num’ name meaning wind.

**¨Sthuqi’ (sta – key) is the hul’q’umi’num’ name for Sockeye salmon.

Damen 4212 class executive summary PDF

Jun 23

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DFDS: Calais — Sheerness becomes Calais —Tilbury

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 25

DFDS has announced that it will be launching a new unaccompanied freight service from Tilbury to Calais, replacing its existing Sheerness – Calais service.

The newly located service will start in late June 2023 and will offer one daily sailing in each direction six days a week.

Vessel: BOTNIA SEAWAYS (115 unaccompanied units).

The relocation comes as a result of feedback received from customers and demand for a more accessible route into the UK.

Competitors: P&O Ferries, CLdN, Transfennica…

Jun 23

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2022 was a record year for Grimaldi Group

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 25

Grimaldi Group 2022 in figures:

+41% turnover : 4.8 billion (3.4 billion in 2021).
+78.8% EBITDA: 1.7 billion
+140.8% EBIT: 1.2 billion

These results are the result of “higher volumes of passengers and new cars transported, as well as containers and general cargo” and “are by far the best achieved by the Grimaldi Group in its long history and confirm exponential and continuous growth, with the exception of 2020, which was affected by the effects of Covid.”

At the end of last year the managed fleet consisted of about 140 vessels, of which 130 owned, with an average age of about 14 years.

Outlook: “The management has not recorded any reductions in activities and/or volumes transported in the first months of the year 2023.”

Also mentioned in the annual report:

The 1995-built EUROFERRY OLYMPIA owned by Grimaldi Group which caught fire in February last year while sailing off the Greek island Ereikoussa is bound for scrap soon.

She is to be sold to Dido Steel Corporation S.A. and will be dismantled and recycled.

Jun 23

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Viking Line: better outlook for financial year 2023

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 25

Viking Line’s Board of Directors has decided to revise the company’s earnings forecast for 2023. Under the condition that energy prices are maintained at the current level, Viking Line’s board of directors assesses that the profit before tax will be better than the previous year.

The previously published earnings forecast was “Under the condition that energy prices are maintained at the current level and taking into account that the realized profits are expected to be lower than in 2022, Viking Line estimates that the result before tax will be slightly lower than the previous year”.

The Half-year Financial Report for January – June 2023 will be published on August 25, 2023.

Jun 23

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Fusion-class P&O PIONEER started to operate between Dover and Calais

By sandra 2023 Newsletter week 25

The new vessel from P&O Ferries started last Monday (19 June 2023) with its first commercial Channel crossings.

The ship is propelled by a combination of traditional fuel and battery power and has been designed with the capacity to become carbon neutral in future. The major investment in these two 230m long hybrid ships allows P&O Ferries to cut fuel use while maintaining capacity.

The modular elements of the ship mean its electric power capabilities will develop in the future. As technology develops and charging stations are brought in at ports, the installation of additional batteries will allow fully electric operation.

The ship is the world’s largest double-ended hybrid ferry, with two bridges meaning there is no need for it to turn in port, saving fuel on every trip.

As the longest ferry to sail between Dover and Calais, P&O PIONEER and its sister ship P&O LIBERTÉ, which will join the fleet later this year, will replace the capacity of three older vessels with just two, delivering further efficiency benefits.

Introduction of the Fusion Class vessels P&O PIONEER and P&O LIBERTÉ on the Dover-Calais route this year will see the replacement of the remaining Darwin Class vessels in operation, the PRIDE OF KENT and THE PRIDE OF CANTERBURY, following the previous retirement of the PRIDE OF BURGUNDY.