Aug 23
0

Growth On Gulf Of Finland Boosts Eckerö’s H1

By | 2018 Newsletter week 34 | No Comments

Eckerö Group can look back on a successful first six months for the three passenger operations (two ro-pax ferries and one Birka cruise vessel) and Eckerö Shipping’s two ro-ro vessels. They are employed in Northern Europe on fixed contracts for the paper industry. These contracts expire at the end of 2019.

Overview for the period 1.1 – 30.6.2018
+ Passengers 1.5 million (1.4 million)
+ Freight units on own lines 45,903 (41,000)
+ Turnover EUR 105.2 million (103.3 million)
+ Operating profit EUR 2.4 million (0.7 million)
+ Net debt EUR 43.6 million (60.8 million)

The clear majority of the increase is attributable to growth in the Gulf of Finland.

Challenges
– The krona’s value has been weaker, which had a negative impact on earnings.
– Higher bunker costs

Download the H1 report PDF (in Swedish)
Aug 23
0

IN THE MEDIA

By | 2018 Newsletter week 34 | No Comments

Challenging Times Ahead For Ferries Of Scotland

By coincidence I was in Stornoway last week when this local newspaper published a three-page article about the ferry services.

What’s the problem?

An ever-increasing flood of visitors puts quite a lot of pressure on the ferry network, especially on the remote islands of the west coast.

On the services to the Outer Hebrides, ferries have seen 25% more cars and 21% more summer passengers over the last four years.

Demand is expected to grow up to 9% per annum, which is good for the local economy. However, the newspaper says the islands need more reliable ferry services. They calculated that half of the fleet is older than 25 years.

Still it was a young vessel that lost power mid August, and fuelled the discontent. LOCH SEAFORTH is from 2014. She is the sole vessel on this remote route, making it vulnerable.

The main criticism addressed to the Scottish Government is about the lack of foresight and investment.

Aug 23
0

SEEN: Greece Ferry Strike Will Cause Major Problems To Travellers

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The Greek Shipowners Association for Passenger Ships (SEEN) called for the Pan-Hellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) to reconsider its 24-hour strike announced for 3 September, as it is expected to cause severe disruption to ferry transport in Greece.

In a letter to PNO, the association underlined that some 180,000 passengers, 50,000 vehicles and 3,000 trucks are expected to travel that Monday.

Source: GTP
Aug 23
0

French Ports Cut Out Of EU Trade Route After Brexit

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French ports were excluded from European Commission plans for a new shipping route linking Ireland with the Continent post Brexit — potentially preventing them from accessing billions of euros in EU grants.

The Commission adopted a proposal to revise the routing of one of its strategic transport corridors to connect Dublin and Cork with the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Antwerp and the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, to channel trade directly from Ireland to mainland Europe after Brexit.

Comment from Ferry Shipping News: Jean-Marc Roué, President of French Shipowners and Brittany Ferries is shocked by the intention to exclude the ports in Brittany and the English Channel, and says action needs to be taken to change the plans.

Source: Politico
Aug 23
0

SHORT NEWS

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  • STENA HIBERNIA and STENA SCOTIA have started operating together on the Belfast – Heysham route on 22 August.
  • STENA HIBERNIA went to the local Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff to freshen up a bit and to get an engine overhaul (see photo).
  • STENA PERFORMER will return to Seatruck Ferries, who will use her on Heysham – Warrenpoint. Sister vessel STENA PRECISION will be replaced by STENA FORERUNNER, and will return to Seatruck Ferries after a drydock.
  • Stena Line extended the contracts for Godby Shipping owned ro-ro vessels MISANA and MISIDA until December 2019. Both green ships will for the time being operated on Rotterdam-Killingholme and Rotterdam-Harwich.
  • TT-Line has refurbished the two ro-pax ferries NILS DACKE and ROBIN HOOD. The latter left the Oresund Drydock shipyard in Landskrona, Sweden end of July.
  • UN Ro-Ro has lengthened ro-ro UN KARADENIZ in Turkey.
  • CLdN has announced that they will have two direct calls between Belgium and Spain as from September.
  • Seabourn Freight has launched its website for the new ferry service between Ramsgate and Ostend. When the operation will start and which ships will be used is unknown.
Aug 16
0

Baleària Purchase Ro-Pax VISEMAR ONE

By | 2018 Newsletter week 33 | No Comments

Baleària has invested close to EUR 55 million in the acquisition of the Visentini ro-pax VISEMAR ONE, which has been sailing for the company for seven years. She started in 2011 on the Barcelona-Palma route, and currently operates between Valencia and Palma. Her large cargo intake of 2,860 lane meters makes her very efficient for the Mallorca lifeline route.

Baleària currently has 30 vessels in its fleet, 26 of which are owned. The shipping company is building two LNG-powered ferries at the same Visentini yard, and
it has the intention to convert five existing ferries into LNG powered ships.

Two “other” projects are also on the shelf.

Aug 16
0

Stena Line Adds Extra Freight Capacity To Its Liverpool – Belfast Service

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In response to growing market demand, Stena Line is planning to upweight its freight capacity on the popular Liverpool – Belfast route. This month (August 2018), Stena Line will initially deploy the 3,000 lane metre STENA FORERUNNER, before replacing it with a similar ship early in 2019 at which point the STENA FORERUNNER will return to service in the North Sea.