Covid-19 Made Algérie Ferries Lose Billions

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General Director of the ENTMV, Guerairia Ahcene, said that the company has lost 9 billion Algerian dinars (DZD)(=EUR 57 million), due to the corona pandemic.

He said that the company is struggling to pay its employees, because of the operational stop.

Although the company is receiving its newbuilt ferry in January, the general director already knows that the summer fleet capacity is too small. He calls for more new tonnage, and new ports of call.

SHORT NEWS

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The Trinidad and Tobago’s government newbuilding HSC A.P.T. JAMES made a short stop in Malta while en route to Trinidad. She was built at the Austal Vietnam Shipyards and delivered on November 5, 2020. She will continue her long journey making another stop to Algeciras before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

In Trinidad, she will replace the HSC JEAN DE LA VALETTE of Virtu Ferries, which was chartered by the government of Trinidad in May 2019 in order to serve the local line and which will return to the Mediterranean service on the Valletta-Augusta or Catania line.

Hurtigruten Group has appointed Hedda Felin CEO of Hurtigruten Norway – where she will take the helm of Hurtigruten’s iconic coastal Norway operations. (press release)

The Tunisian Minister of Transport and Logistics, Moez Chakchouk, announced that he is finalising a study which would enable the national ferry company CTN to acquire new ships in 2022.

The VOLCÁN DE TABURIENTE, from Naviera Armas, is the first vessel to have been connected to shore power in the port of San Sebastián de La Gomera.

FERRY SHIPPING

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The Return of RoRo Shipbuilding in Flensburg

Flensburger Schiffbaugesellschaft (FSG) has received its first order since the restart under the direction of Tennor Holding.

IVP Ship Invest – a company of Tennor founder Lars Windhorst – is ordering a 32,770 GT, 210m long RoRo (option for a second ship) with a 4000+ lane metre capacity.

The double order is worth €140m and the first ship is planned for an April 2022 delivery.

Moby Approached Its Ad Hoc Bondholder Group with a Draft Restructuring Proposal

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Moby has approached its ad hoc bondholder group with a draft restructuring proposal consisting of new money from a third-party fund and two alternative forms of recovery.

That’s what the news provider Reorg revealed, mentioning sources familiar with the matter.

“Under the draft plan, the creditors may be able to choose between a 30% recovery, and a smaller cash recovery which would, however, also consist in the future proceeds deriving from potential asset sales” the sources said. The proposal is not official yet and may still change.

The size and type of the new money remains unclear.

Funds Clessidra and Europa Investimenti have submitted two non-binding proposals to the Italian shipping group, but Moby seems to be more inclined to select the proposal by Europa Investimenti.

Creditors are discussing the draft proposal and have not told Moby whether they would like to continue negotiations on these grounds, sources said.

The deadline for the Onorato-controlled group to present its restructuring plan is 28 December 2020.

No Tax Money for Three Italian Ferry Routes

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The Italian transport ministry announced this week that the European Commission gave its green light to the procedure launched for renewing the public subsidies for the maritime continuity with the islands.

More specifically the three routes Napoli-Palermo (RoRo and RoPax), Ravenna-Catania and Livorno-Cagliari (RoRo) will no longer receive public money and will be left to the free market.

However, the maritime link with the Tremiti islands and the route Civitavecchia – Cagliari – Arbatax will be subsidised again and the related tender will be launched soon.

The need for public subsidies for all the other links which have been operated by Tirrenia – Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione in the last years still need further investigations.

Up to date, the following routes were those included for the full year in the public subsidies scheme in Italy:

  • RoPax: Cagliari-Palermo / Napoli-Cagliari / Civitavecchia-Cagliari-Arbatax / Genova-Olbia-Arbatax / Termoli-Tremiti
  • RoRo: Ravenna-Brindisi-Catania / Livorno-Cagliari
  • The three maritime links Napoli-Palermo, Genova-Porto Torres and Civitavecchia-Olbia were included in the scheme from October to May and operated without subsidies during the summer season.

GREENFERRY I’ Will Set Sail on the River Elbe in March 2021

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Elbferry GmbH & Co. KG plans to start operating the Brunsbüttel-Cuxhaven ferry route in March 2021 with GREENFERRY I. This was announced in a German press release on 2 December.

Although not announced officially, rumour has it since several months that GREENFERRY I is the Norwegian double-ended ferry FANAFJORD (Aker Yards AS, Norway 2007).

Managing Director Heinrich Ahlers was able to win the Strahlmann Shipping company and MTB New Energy as partners for the project.

Stena Line Gmbh & Co. KG Is Planning to Relocate the Company Headquarters to Hamburg and Strengthen Commercial and Operational Processes

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Stena Line GmbH & Co. KG is planning to relocate its headquarters from Rostock to Hamburg in spring 2020 and concentrate its commercial business there.

With the planned relocation of customer services to the sister company Baltic RoRo Services GmbH, the operational unit in the group is also to be strengthened.

“Hamburg is one of the world’s leading locations for the maritime industry, a logistic hub in the middle of Europe and one of the fastest growing economic and digital locations in Germany. Since we will be relying even more heavily on integrated logistics concepts, intermodal offers and transport chains from a single source in the freight sector, the proximity to other companies in the Stena Group such as Stena Glovis (Hamburg) and Stena Logistics GmbH (Bremen) creates potential for even closer cooperation, “says Ron Gerlach, MD of Stena Line Germany.

The Stena Line Group plans to move the RoPax MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN from the German to the Swedish register and to have it operated by Stena Line Scandinavia AB in the future.

FERRY PORTS

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Construction of a Reserve Truck Parking at the Ferry Terminal in Świnoujście Starts

Construction works for the new 278-truck parking in the Port of Świnoujście will start on 7 December 2020.

The new parking will be located in the immediate vicinity of the Ferry Terminal

The aim of the investment is to improve the access infrastructure to the port, care for the natural environment and improve the maritime connection between Świnoujście and two ports in Sweden – Trelleborg and Ystad.