The departure of Tallink Silja’s ferry GALAXY (see this news here) from Turku could leave a gap of millions in the port’s income if it turns out to be permanent, estimates Turku Satama Oy CEO Erik Söderholm.
Following a successful trial, the Xiplink™ solution is now being used on two Irish Ferries vessels, W.B. YEATS and ULYSSES.
From the user perspective, the biggest benefit of the new Xiplink™ service is the substantially improved quality of experience enjoyed when accessing the internet.
From the perspective of Irish Ferries, it also offers QoS data management, thus affording the most important connections the highest priority throughout.
Brian Short, Information Security Manager at Irish Continental Group, said “Managing the bandwidth demands of multiple data and voice services has been a challenge. The traffic management and bandwidth optimisation features offered by Xiplink have been instrumental in enhancing the onboard experience for our customers, while also protecting revenue-generating services. Our partnerships with Voyager IP and Telenor have been vital to the success of this project, and we look forward to working with them to further develop our use of Xiplink.”
- GLEN SANNOX has returned to Port Glasgow from a brief but essential stay at dry dock in Greenock.
- The vessel – one of two dual-fuel ferries being built at Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) – has spent three weeks at Dales Marine for essential works on its propulsion systems, seals and bow doors. She was also given a fresh coat of paint. The dry dock period is a normal and scheduled part of the build programme.
- Delivery is between March and May 2023.
- Sister vessel, Hull 802 is expected to be delivered between October and December 2023.
In an interview, Andrzej Madejski, president of Polska Żegluga Bałtycka (Polferries), said the following:
- A serious economic effect of the war in Ukraine is the increase in fuel costs, which has a strong impact on Polferries. The company increased the fares, but it still does not cover the total bunker
- Since January last year, fuel prices have increased by 100%, while the company’s budget assumed a 20-30% increase.
- Hesitation about the move from Gdańsk to the new ferry terminal at the Port of Gdynia, as announced last year.
- Moving to Gdynia could happen in autumn 2022.
- Desire to keep Gdańsk too. Because Polferries is the only operator there and because of the easy connection with the motorway.
- Advanced talks to charter a new ship
- Design works are also underway on the ferry, which will be built for Polferries by the Remontowa shipyard under a contract signed with Sedina 2 – a subsidiary of Polskie Promów.
Optimistic is the outcome for the Hellenic Coastal Shipping according to the recent XRTC 21st annual ferry report 2022 which was published under the title: “Hellenic Coastal Shipping 2022: In a new Cycle of Development and Opportunities”.
The main points of the report are the following:
- The Hellenic Coastal Shipping today faces a series of problems and challenges that have not been seen in recent decades (effects of the pandemic, catastrophic drop in transport demand in 2020 and 2021, extremely high fuel costs, difficulty of new investment schemes and financial organizations to enter the market).
- The biggest weakness of the ferry market in the last 14 years, especially since the start of the Greek debt crisis, is the lack of business models that will bring new capital to a market that has to be profitable to justify new investments.
- A positive mark in the market, is the introduction of the three newbuilding Aero high-speed crafts of the Attica Group (HSW), which may also can be seen as a signal of the start of a fleet renewal.
- For the summer season 2022, 100 ferries are active and serve daily 115 islands
- In total, the three largest ferry companies in Greece operate 43 ships and carry 5,776,000 passengers, 1,215,000 cars and 585,000 trucks.
- Attica Group operates 30 ships, transports 4.4 million passengers, 870,000 cars and 370,000 trucks.
- Minoan Lines operates 4 ships and transports 724,000 passengers, 162,000 cars and 82,000 trucks.
- ANEK LINES operates 9 ships and transports 652,000 passengers, 183,000 cars and 133,000 trucks.
- The medium size ferry operators are three. SEAJETS (20 high-speed crafts – 4 conventional ferries), FAST FERRIES (3 conventional ferries plus 1 high-speed craft) and LEVANTE FERRIES (4 conventional ferries plus 2 under conversion).
- The small ferry operators are 22 and operate in total 21 ships.
- The total debt obligations of the two larger ferry groups of the Hellenic Coastal Shipping (Attica Group and ANEK LINES) are increased by 9% (EUR 742 million in 2021 from EUR 683 million in 2020). The third major player, Minoan Lines (Grimaldi Group), has zero bank borrowing after paying off its bond in full.
- The major challenge for the Hellenic Coastal Shipping is the fleet age. The Hellenic Coastal fleet operates 43 ships with an average age the 23 years, which steadily rises
- Around 70% of the fleet is over 20 years old, which means that the needs of fleet renewal are imperative for all sizes of ships.
- Passenger and vehicle traffic in 2021 was increased by 47% and 37% respectively compared to 2020.
- Despite the large increase in the traffic in the years 2021 and 2022 compared to the disastrous 2020, the financial results of the companies were not and will not be satisfactory mainly due to the excessively increased fuel costs
- The negative financial results of the sector question the viability of several ferry companies, but also create a negative environment for mergers and acquisitions without significant losses for shareholders and investors
- The analysis of all the signs of the market, including the Strengths and Weaknesses but also the Opportunities and Threats, certify that the Greek Coastal Shipping is now at the beginning of a new cycle of development and opportunities within a transparent environment and with respect to the institutions and the international financial rules.
About ANEK LINES, the report says the following (p.28):
“ANEK LINES has been forced to reclassify its long-term liabilities into short-term liabilities as of 31.12.2018, since it failed to service its loan and based on the relevant contracts, the non-service of the loan obligations constitutes non-compliance with the terms, which entails the obligation of the company for full repayment of the loans.
As a result, short-term bank liabilities on 31.12.2021 amounted to 260.1 million euros compared to 252.9 million euros on 31.12.2020 and are increased by the outstanding interest of the financial year 2021.
In case of completion of the agreement between Piraeus and Alpha Bank and the creditors of ANEK on the extent of the impairment of its loan obligations, ANEK will be saved.
The plan includes the purchase of Alpha Bank’s loans to ANEK by Piraeus, which will then, together with other creditors, refinance the remaining impaired loans and transfer them to the newly enlarged Attica. The agreement under discussion provides for a significant reduction in bank lending, up to 150 million euros, and ensuring that suppliers are paid in full.”
Travellers have suffered through long delays on the M20 heading into the port. But even more red tape is on the way, writes Jonty Bloom in The New European.
Q2
- Strong recovery of passenger numbers after end of COVID related travel restrictions and a profit in the last month of the quarter.
- Recovery and results impacted by continuing geopolitical and economic turbulence.
- +263% passengers (total 1 552 174)
- +19% cargo units (total 109 380)
- +139% unaudited consolidated revenue (total EUR 206.0 million)
- Unaudited EBITDA EUR 28.7 million (EUR 4.4 million in Q2 2021)
- Although the group reached a net profit in June this year, the unaudited net loss for the quarter as a whole was EUR 0.7 million (net loss of EUR 24.3 million in Q2 2021).
- The group’s pre-fuel cost EBITDA in Q2 2022 was almost comparable to 2019 Q2 levels, being only EUR 2.0 million lower than in 2019 and thus clearly demonstrating the group’s increased operational efficiencies.
- The company has taken a number of steps to mitigate the risks related to the rising fuel costs, e.g. the introduction of a temporary fuel surcharge across its routes and the temporary suspension of the use of LNG due to significantly higher costs and supply issues.
H1
- +227% passengers (total 2.3 million)
- +123% unaudited revenue (total EUR 312.2 million)
- Unaudited EBITDA for H1 2022 was EUR 17.7 million (EUR -1.9 million in H1 2021)
- Unaudited net loss was EUR 40.7 million (EUR 58.8 million in H1 2021)
- At the end of Q2 2022, the group’s net debt had decreased by EUR 32.6 million compared to the end of Q1 2022 and amounted to EUR 655.9 million.
- The company’s liquidity remained strong at the end of Q2 2022 with the group’s cash and cash equivalents amounting to EUR 90.6 million as at 30 June (EUR 37.8 million on 30 June 2021) and the group had EUR 116.7 million in unused credit lines (EUR 78.9 million on 30 June 2021). The total liquidity buffer (cash, cash equivalents and unused credit facilities) at the end of Q2 2022 amounted to EUR 207.3 million (EUR 116.7 million on 30 June 2021).
Q3
Historically always best quarter of the financial year due to the travel high season.
As expected in Ferry Shipping News last week, Tallink Grupp signed contracts with Slaapschepen Public BV, an organisation nominated by Centraal Orgaan Opvang Asielzoekers (COA) in the Netherlands, for the short-term charter of two of the company’s vessels.
The company’s Tallinn-Helsinki route vessel SILJA EUROPA has been chartered to provide temporary accommodation in The Netherlands from 20 August 2022. (7+3 months).
The company’s second vessel GALAXY, currently operating on the Turku-Stockholm route, has also been chartered to provide accommodation in the Netherlands, but from 20 September 2022 (7+3 months).
Both vessels have been hired with Tallink Grupp’s technical crew only.
The decision also means that Tallink Silja is notifying 265 of its employees in Sweden. GALAXY will be reflagged from Swedish to Estonian flag.
In total, Tallink Silja has now converted four of its ferries into temporary accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, giving it a guaranteed income: ISABELLE and VICTORIA I in Scotland, and the two others for The Netherlands.
The withdrawal of GALAXY on the Turku route means only the BALTIC PRINCESS remains.
The cruise ferry market on this route will fully be served by the Viking Line ships, including the new VIKING GLORY.
- +32% revenue totalling EUR 356.9 million
- +0.5% cargo units totalling 393,000
- -19% cars totalling 73,000
- +9% tons of freight not possible to measure in units, totalling 742,000
- +25% passengers (incl. commercial) totalling 286,000
- Due to EU sanctions Finnlines stopped calling Russian ports in early March, which naturally has resulted in loss of revenue. However, the increased cargo volumes on other lines have compensated for this loss and the passenger business has also recovered and reached pre-pandemic figures.
- The three Finneco series hybrid ro-ro vessels were all delivered during the late spring and early summer of 2022 at the shipyard in China. The vessels have entered Finnlines’ North Sea and Bay of Biscay services.
- The roro vessel FINNMERCHANT in Poland-Finland route was chartered out to Dutch MoD in early July but she was replaced by FINNMILL vessel to support the increased volumes.
