AS Tallink Grupp passenger, cargo unit and passenger vehicles numbers for July 2024 were the following:
Source: Tallink
A programme of CMAL-led preparatory work to upgrade two ferry terminals on the Islay route has reached key milestones, paving the way for delivery of new vessels by the end of the year.
Upgrades to the south berth of Kennacraig ferry terminal are now complete, while Port Askaig ferry terminal fendering work has also finished, following a six-week closure, allowing ferry services to resume.
New Islay Vessel Enabling Works (NIVEW) at Port Askaig.
Newly refurbished linkspan deck being lifted in place at Kennacraig.
From left to right: Andrew Laverty, Site Manager from George Leslie Ltd, Tony Fry, Construction Manager from George Leslie Ltd, Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Nasir Uddin, Project Manager from CMAL
HEBRIDEAN ISLES to be retired as CalMac and CMAL modernise major vessel fleet:
- Retirement Date: MV Hebridean Isles will be retired in November 2024.
- Service Duration: In operation since December 1985.
- Recent Service: Primarily served the Islay route.
- Replacement Vessels: ISLE OF ISLAY and LOCH INDAAL.
- Reason for Retirement: Age and required extensive overhaul.
- Certification Expiry: Certification expires on 21 November 2024.
Source: CalMac.co.uk
Erik Ahrén has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for
WALLENIUS SOL. Erik comes most recently from Gothenburg Port Authority,
where he served as CFO since 2019. His appointment took effect on
August 5, 2024, when he joined WALLENIUS SOL’s executive team.
Photo: Anna-Lena Lundqvist
The Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA) issued a notice of application for approval of a transaction regarding the sale of 22% of the shares in Condor to Brittany Ferries, with the option to buy 100% of the shares at a later date.
Brittany Ferries (B.A.I. Bretagne Angleterre Irlande) already has a 29% stake in Condor. If the deal is approved, it will take it to 51%.
Christophe Matthieu, Brittany Ferries’ CEO, is currently CEO ad interim at Condor Ferries.
The deadline for comments is 20 August 2024. Details can be found here: JCRA (pdf)
On August 8, Tallinn-based BLRT Grupp celebrated the commissioning of its new large floating dock. The new floating dock, designed for ship maintenance, repair, and modernization, is capable of servicing all Handysize vessels and some Handymax vessels, ranging from tankers to passenger ships.
The 180-meter-long, 30-meter-wide floating dock with a lifting capacity of 10,000 tonnes was completed at the HAT-SAN Shipyard in Turkey at the end of May this year.
Source: BLRT Grupp on Linkedin
Baleària has teamed up with Iberia Express, leader in flights between Madrid and the Balearic Islands, to offer the airline’s passengers an exclusive onboard promotion: on Madrid-Ibiza flights, Baleària ship tickets can now be purchased for the Ibiza – Formentera route at a lower rate than on the website.
Source: Baleària
Echandia has been selected to supply maritime battery systems for San Francisco Bay Ferry’s Rapid Electric Emission Free (REEF) Ferry Program—the first zero-emission high-speed ferries in the USA.
The REEF Program will initially deploy three 150-passenger and two 400-passenger battery electric ferries, set to transform water transit in the Bay Area by 2026. SF Bay Ferry and its REEF integration team is also working on designs for a new electric charging float for the Downtown San Francisco Ferry Terminal. The float will have energy storage via battery banks to allow for rapid charging during dwell times at the terminal.
Source: Echandia on Linkedin
Financial
H1, 2024
- +6% Revenue EUR 358.0 (336.4 in 2023) million.
- -7% EBITDA EUR 83.7 (89.6) million.
- -42% Result EUR 24.2 (41.9) million.
- Interest-bearing debt increased by EUR 76.3 million and was EUR 464.1 (387.8) million at the end of the period.
Q2, 2024
- +13% Revenue EUR 195.8 (173.2 in 2023) million.
- +22% EBITDA amounted to EUR 53.6 (44.1) million.
- +19% Result for the reporting period EUR 24.2 (20.3) million.
Statistical (H1)
- Cargo units 400,000 (356,000 in H1, 2023)
- Cars 47,000 (86,000) (not including passenger cars)
- Tons of non-unitised cargo 658,000 (707,000)
- Passengers (*) 409,000 (306,000) (*private passengers and professional drivers)
- The number of private passengers has more than doubled on the route between Finland and Sweden via Åland Islands (Naantali–Långnäs– Kapellskär) after the introduction of two new Superstar vessels.
Click on the cover to access the report
Finnlines’ EUR 500 million Green Newbuilding Programme was completed in February this year when Finncanopus entered service. That programme was 3 new RoRo- and 2 new RoPax vessels, all very “green” ships.
In its half-year report two items caught our attention:
- Small-capacity vessels or ferries without the proper environmental requirements will be sold
- Finnlines is currently evaluating another EUR 400–500 million Green Investment Programme on the Finland–Germany route (Helsinki–Travemünde route).
DFDS will leave the space charter agreement with P&O Ferries covering the Channel’s Dover-Calais route.
With P&O Ferries’ recent agreement to enter into an additional and separate space charter agreement with the third ferry operator on Dover-Calais, Irish Ferries, the terms of a continuing space charter arrangement would change.
The space charter agreement was entered into in May 2021 and will end when the contractual notice period is complete at the end of August 2024.
Source: DFDS
Both RoRo ships ALF POLLAK and MARIA GRAZIA ONORATO will be redelivered by the long-time charterer Fratelli Onorato Armatori (Moby) to the owner Siem (Seven Yield Pte Ltd., a company in the SIEM Group).
Sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Ferry Shipping News that a legal dispute between the two companies has been closed with an agreement.
MARIA GRAZIA ONORATO and ALF POLLAK are to be renamed respectively LONGSTONE and LISMORE.
SIEM Ship Management now takes care of the management.
Moby subchartered the vessels to DFDS, which is likely to remain the commercial operator of the ships. Currently the vessels operate on the routes between Turkey and France/Italy.
