REGINA SEAWAYS had an engine fire, as reported last week. Its cause is still being investigated. The company is getting ready for the ferry’s repair work and is looking for a substitution to compensate the drop in freight capacity.
DFDS Increase Cargo Capacity At The Port Of Trieste
Following the takeover of U.N. Ro-Ro by DFDS, the port of Trieste received on 30 September the first call of the renovated vessel UN KARADENIZ which underwent a 30meters lengthening work at Gemak shipyard in order to obtain a 23% cargo capacity increase.
Today the vessel is 223m long, can transport over 350 trailers and is sailing under the new brand colours.
The same lengthening project was also applied to the sister ship UN AKDENIZ in March 2017, while the two ships CUNEYT SOLAKOGLU and CEMIL BAYULGEN will follow soon.
All those vessels are deployed on the services operated by DFDS and linking Trieste with Turkey, namely Pendik, Ambarli and Mersin for a total of 10 calls per week.
Due to the upgrade in the fleet capacity, the ro-ro terminal in Northern Adriatic controlled trough Samer Seaports & Terminals (company 60% owned by DFDS and 40% by the local agent Samer & Co. Shipping group) is supposed to substantially increase its annual throughput of trailers handled in the coming years.
DFDS has decided to put the (repaired) ro-ro vessel FINLANDIA SEAWAYS on its route between Norway, Zeebrugge and Immingham, instead of the side port/container vessel LYSBRIS SEAWAYS.
DFDS will add Brevik to the port rotation, in addition to the current ports of Fredrikstad and Halden. This means that DFDS will be able to offer quick transport solutions from the continent and the UK to both the east and west shores of Oslofjord.
This service will replace the current ro-ro connection between Ghent and Brevik from the middle of February 2019.
All 12 Turkish-flagged UN Ro-Ro ships will be DFDS-rebranded, and will get Turkish UNESCO world heritage sites as new names for the vessels.
This was decided after Peder Gellert and Selçuk Boztepe launched a competition in which 107 staff participated.
CEMIL BAYULGEN will be the first to be named EPHESUS SEAWAYS in connection with her lengthening and scrubber installation in December.
With the introduction of Project Starlight earlier this year, the management of Copenhagen – Oslo and Amsterdam – Newcastle DFDS cruise routes were moved to ensure maximum focus on the various work streams.
Project Starlight has been created to enhance customer satisfaction, job satisfaction and results for DFDS’ two cruise routes
Kiel’s Ostuferhafen Access Area Restructured
- The Port of Kiel is completely restructuring the access area to the Ostuferhafen, its main cargo and logistics hub. It has begun the partial demolition of a former grain storage facility.
- Result? The demolition along with the integration of adjacent areas will free up 2.8 hectares in the port access area on which expanded hard standing space can be created for trucks, trailers and cars.
- Who benefits? DFDS, SCA, Iggesund, the forwarders (more space) and cruise shipping.
Photo: Tom Körber
On 16 September North Sea Port received the visit of EU Transport commissioner Violetta Bulc. North Sea Port is the company managing three merged ports: Ghent, Terneuzen and Vlissingen.
In Terneuzen, the EU commissioner visited the building site of the New Lock. She was able to see the enlargement of the maritime access to the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal. Europe is supporting this project with a contribution of EUR 48m.
In 2022, the first ship will be sailing through the New Lock.
Ghent is an important base for DFDS.
DFDS will in 2019 invest DKK 300 million to install scrubbers on 12 ro-ro ferries deployed on freight routes in the Mediterranean between Turkey, Italy, Greece and France. The investment will ensure compliance with the new global sulphur rules as from 2020.
Port Of Ghent Connects DFDS’s Northern And Southern Route Network
By connecting the DFDS network with the new routes in southern Europe, DFDS is capable of offering transportation of cargo from North to South and back.
Compared to alternative solutions lead time is reduced with at least 1 day.
The new intermodal connection offers shipping transportation on the Gothenburg – Ghent and Trieste – Pendik/Ambarli/Mersin routes. There will also be a stopover in Patras, Greece.
DFDS will use Bettembourg in Luxembourg as the continental hub for the intermodal connection and has a solid cooperation over railways with CFL. Trailers are shunted from Bettembourg to Ghent over road, a second option via rail is being developed.
Photo: Tom D’haenens Port of Ghent
