Snam, Italy’s leading gas utility company and manager of the regasification plant at Panigaglia, has taken delivery of a newly built RoRo vessel, which is yet to be named.

• Built to RINA Class standards for coastal areas, the ferry is optimised for operation in the protected waters of La Spezia.
• Built by Holland Shipyards in the Netherlands, the vessel was transported from Rotterdam to Italy aboard a general cargo ship.
• It is designed to transport up to four LNG tank trucks per trip, directly connecting to the national road network, thereby reducing traffic on local urban roads near the Panigaglia LNG terminal.
• The double-ended vessel is a fully electric ferry, designed as a modern battery-powered shuttle ferry, featuring dual-fuel diesel auxiliary propulsion.
• Key specifications include:

• • Less than 500 GT
  • Overall length: 50.2 m
  • Beam: 13.89 m
  • Propulsion: Two 300 kW L-drive thrusters powered by a battery pack exceeding 1 MWh capacity

The Government of Jersey has appointed DFDS as their preferred bidder to operate the Island’s UK and French passenger and freight services from 28 March 2025. [www.gov.je]

Subject to the completion of contract negotiations, the 2025 timetable will be published by the end of next week which will allow passengers to begin booking for next year.

For Jersey passengers this is expected to mean:

• Greater frequency of ferries to the UK and France in peak periods
• Faster ferries to the UK
• Three new ferries within the next six years
• Two dedicated high speed ferries for the summer.
• Poole, Portsmouth and St Malo

Earlier, Guernsey opted for Brittany Feries – Condor Ferries, with the following fleet deployment [www.gov.gg]

• High-speed ferry VOYAGER on St Malo, Guernsey and Poole

• ISLANDER will provide Ro-Pax and lifeline freights services between Portsmouth, Guernsey and St Malo
• CLIPPER will provide resilience and operate back-up services as and when required on all routes