PORTS

By | 2021 Newsletter week 3 | No Comments

Port of Zeebrugge: Growth of 3% in 2020

Zeebrugge stayed 100% operational during the pandemic. Roro traffic suffered because of the reduced handling of new cars. This drop was compensated by a strong growth in container traffic, LNG and solid bulk.

The port took a lot of initiatives to be Brexit-proof and invested twice as much into new infrastructure.

Modal shift: the port sees an important growth of rail connections, and estuary waterway connections went up 4.2%

CLdN

  • Added a call in Zeebrugge on the route Leixões – Rotterdam, allowing cargo to be transferred to Esbjerg and Göteborg.
  • Zeebrugge – Dublin: from 2 to 3 sailings with so-called “Brexit busters”
  • Zeebrugge – Cork: new route
  • Zeebrugge – Santander: ships VALENTINE en CELANDINE = +40% capacity

P&O Ferries

  • End of ropax service Zeebrugge – Hull, means end of accompanied freight

DFDS

  • Introduction of FLANDRIA SEAWAYS on 4 October 2020, Zeebrugge – Göteborg

Read the full report

https://portofzeebrugge.be/en/news-events/port-zeebrugge-3-growth-2020

FERRY SHIPPING

By | 2021 Newsletter week 2 | No Comments

Stena Line’s Newest Ship Debuts on Rosslare-Cherbourg instead of Belfast-Liverpool

Stena Line’s brand-new STENA EMBLA will make its Irish Sea debut on the Rosslare-Cherbourg service.  Originally scheduled for service on the Belfast-Liverpool route, due to the current Brexit related shift for direct routes and increasing customer demand, Stena Line has decided to temporarily deploy her on Rosslare-Cherbourg.

The first sailing will be from Rosslare on 14 January 2021.

STENA EMBLA will make three weekly return trips between Rosslare and Cherbourg, which alongside the STENA FORETELLER will see Stena Line operate 12 crossing per week between Ireland and the Continent.

Ferry Shipping News understands that route vessel STENA HORIZON needs maintenance. If she will return on the route is so far unclear.

Stockpiling Boosted DFDS December Freight Figures

By | 2021 Newsletter week 2 | No Comments

DFDS December volume report: Freight up 28% boosted by stockbuilding ahead of brexit

  • Freight lane metres (,000):
  • December 3,594 (2,810) = +28%
  • Full year 40,886 (41,280)= -1.0%
  • Passenger (,000):
  • December 78 (370)= -79.0%
  • Full year 1,498 (5,116)= -70.7%

North Sea volumes were boosted by stockbuilding ahead of Brexit, especially on the routes between Netherlands and the UK but also between Sweden and the UK.

Volumes on the English Channel were likewise boosted by the stockbuilding.

Baltic Sea volumes were above 2019 adjusted for the closure of the Paldiski-Hanko route.

Mediterranean volumes were above 2019 driven by higher volumes on all main corridors.

DFDS: Three Ships for Dunkerque-Rosslare & Baltic Reshuffle

By | 2020 Newsletter week 51 | No Comments

France-Ireland

As announced earlier, DFDS starts a new ferry service on 2 January 2021, between Rosslare and Dunkerque.

The ships will be:

  • VISBY (chartered from Destination Gotland)
  • KERRY (chartered from Stena RoRo)
  • OPTIMA SEAWAYS (owned by DFDS, and currently operating on Karlshamn-Klaipeda, only for 1 month on new route)

In the Baltic:

  • PATRIA SEAWAYS will move from the Paldiski-Kapellskär route to replace OPTIMA SEAWAYS on the Karlshamn-Klaipeda route. There will be no changes to crewing or flag.
  • SIRENA SEAWAYS will be able to maintain the necessary capacity on Paldiski-Kapellskär for the expected volumes at the beginning of the new year.
  • OPTIMA SEAWAYS is planned to return to the Karlshamn-Klaipeda route, and PATRIA SEAWAYS to the Paldiski-Kapellskär route, end of January.

DFDS ‘Ark’ Fleet Reshuffle

By | 2020 Newsletter week 50 | No Comments
  • ARK FUTURA will leave the Ark (*) cooperation during December 2020, and this has triggered a reshuffle in the fleet.
  • MAGNOLIA SEAWAYS and FINLANDIA SEAWAYS will join the Ark fleet.
  • FINLANDIA SEAWAYS will be reflagged from the Lithuanian flag to the Danish flag from January 2021.
  • MAGNOLIA SEAWAYS will enter the Ark fleet in 2022.
  • ARK FUTURA becomes FUTURA SEAWAYS
  • The seven ships that will be part of the Ark cooperation are thus ARK DANIA, ARK GERMANIA, SUECIA SEAWAYS, MAGNOLIA SEAWAYS, BRITANNIA SEAWAYS, FINLANDIA SEAWAYS.

(*) The ARK Project is a Danish–German collaboration that ensures Danish and German military access to, and availability of, capacity for maritime transport in accordance with the nations’ own obligations to NATO.

Volvo Cars, DFDS and Lineas Deliver Faster and More Sustainable Transport Thanks to New Train Terminal in North Sea Port

By | 2020 Newsletter week 49 | No Comments

From now on, cars from Volvo Cars in Ghent will get to their final destinations faster and more sustainably. At a new train terminal near Mercatordok in North Sea Port, cars are loaded onto and off ships and onto and off trains.

This collaboration between the Volvo Cars plant, DFDS and the Belgian rail freight operator Lineas efficiently brings together the different modes of transport (ship, train, truck). Thanks to the extensive use of rail transport, the throughput time from factory to final destination is now up to 30% faster.

Danish Defence and DFDS Enter into New Agreement

By | 2020 Newsletter week 48 | No Comments

DFDS and the Joint Movement and Transport Organisation (JMTO), which provides strategic transport for Danish military missions, have entered into a new 6-year agreement.

Seven freight ferries will be made available for the transport of military materiel and equipment in connection with NATO preparedness, participation in military exercises and operations, and humanitarian crises.

On a day-to-day basis, the ferries will be deployed on DFDS’ routes, and will be made available to the military when and to the extent requested by the Danish Defence.

The agreement is also linked to the ARK project, a Danish-German cooperation project, which ensures access to and availability of maritime transport capacity for Danish and German defences in accordance with the nations’ own obligations to NATO.

The ships are: ARK DANIA, ARK GERMANIA, SUECIA SEAWAYS, MAGNOLIA SEAWAYS, BRITANNIA SEAWAYS and FINLANDIA SEAWAYS. The last ship in the agreement will be one of several ships from the DFDS fleet, to be selected according to need.