Italian ‘Navigazione Libera del Golfo’ has purchased the High-Speed Craft IRIS 1 from Greece (Plaxiven Consulting also owner of the fast catamaran CAT I) for over EUR 5 million.

The ship came in Greece in November 2019 shipped on the vessel ROLLDOCK SUN. She was purchased from the Korean Nam Hae Express Co and her former name was GEOHUNG IRIS.

IRIS 1 will enter service on the Termoli – Tremiti Islands line.

Built in Norway (Kvaerner Fjellstrand) 1999 | 452 pax | 52 private cars | 40 knots

Photo: Barca Ferry

Stena Line and Associated British Ports will jointly develop a new freight terminal at the Port of Immingham in the Humber region.

The £100M agreement will see the Swedish ferry company operate the new terminal for the next 50 years.

It is a major long-term commitment and boost for the region, where freight on routes to and from the EU has been booming since Brexit.

At the start of the year Stena Line relocated its Rotterdam freight service to the Port of Immingham, the largest port in the UK by tonnage, which is owned by ABP. The move has allowed the company to become the provider of both the terminal and shipping operations, which has resulted in improved benefits and expanded services to its significant freight customers in the region.

With freight levels continuing to grow for the company, Stena Line needs to add capacity and expand its operations at Immingham. It requires a long-term solution that has access to the main Humber Estuary. This would allow for quicker sailing times and the option to use larger vessels to cater for increased freight demand from exporters and importers from across the region and the rest of the UK.

The proposals outline the relocation of Stena Line’s current Immingham freight operations to a new site, adjacent to Immingham Outer Harbour, where ABP will develop a new purpose built terminal facility. The proposals will allow the company to further expand its services by providing increased freight capacity for its customers. It is a significant infrastructure development for the region.

Tuesday 18 January, 2022, the tricolor was hoisted on Brittany Ferries’ new ship, the SALAMANCA. This flag indicates that the ship is now officially French and manned by a French crew.

The SALAMANCA becomes one of nine ships to sail under the tricolor flag of Brittany Ferries, the leading employer of French crew.

Photo: Jean-Marc Roué, captain Christophe Bergeroux and Christophe Mathieu

A total of 30.48 million tonnes of goods passed through the port of Rostock, an all-time record.

The strongest growth was achieved in the handling of wheeled cargo in ferry and roro traffic.

+18% roro cargo (18 million tonnes in total)

+63% roro cargo share

+11% trucks (407,000)

+27% trailers (161,000)

+31% cars and campers (429,000)

+41% railway wagons carried to and from Trelleborg (27,100 units)

Following a failed attempt in 2021 with the start-up company Morocco Cruise Line, Grimaldi Group is now selling again the roro ship EUROCARGO NAPOLI.

Market sources revealed (and the Italian shipping group confirmed to Ferry Shipping News) that the buyers are Ukraine-based interests.

Up to date the roro unit in question has been sailing on the Genova – Porto Torres – Cagliari link on the Italian motorways of the seas.

EUROCARGO NAPOLI: 175m | 18.5 knots | 1,940 lane metres | cars 400

Vincenzo Onorato-controlled Moby Group filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. as it seeks to complete a troubled restructuring process at home, Bloomberg reports.

The Milan-based ferry company reached a non-binding restructuring deal with a group representing more than a third of bondholders last September but needs a majority of them to support it at a meeting scheduled for January 20th. As part of the plan, the group could provide new financing (EUR 60 million).

Bloomberg underlines that Moby has been under pressure from increasing regulation, tougher competition and weak freight traffic volumes in the last years, and was further hit by the pandemic travel restrictions. In June 2020, the company petitioned a court in Milan for a court-supervised restructuring procedure, but its revenue grew above expectations this summer”.