Baleària maintains six weekly departures in each direction between the ports of Málaga and Melilla, with ro-pax DÉNIA CIUTAT CREATIVA.
Baleària operates this route through the Alboran Maritime Company, a company owned 50% by Baleària and Marítima Peregar.
The twin-island republic suffers from the absence of a purchased ferry. Their normal-speed ro-pax catamaran GALLEONS PASSAGE is in Cuba for repairs, before being delivered. However, since some countries still have an embargo on Cuba it seems difficult to get spare parts from Australia.
The works have been delayed and now the ferry is only expected back on 16 July.
The vessel is being sold by Sealease Ltd of Hong Kong to Nidco (National Infrastructure Development Company). She was originally built by Guangdong Bonny Fair for Venezuela, with the construction starting in 2016.
Two weeks after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced plans to purchase two new ferries for the inter island seabridge, as well as a navy patrol vessel, both Incat and Austal have submitted proposals to Government.
Proposals for new vessels have been received too from Austal and INCAT
Corsica Linea Tests New Ferry Route
Corsica Linea has been testing a ferry route between Ajaccio (Corsica) and Porto Torres (Sardinia), with ro-pax JEAN NICOLI.
In three days 1,500 Corsican passengers decided to take the opportunity to visit their Italian neighbours.
The test was for passengers only, but there could be a market for freight. At least in one direction. Apparently Sardinian building materials are being exported to Corsica.
Look at the France Info video on YouTube (in French)(Time 1:45)
Corsica Linea has confirmed the long-term charter of ro-pax ferry EUROFERRY CORFU from owner Grimaldi Lines.
She will be flying the French flag, and will sail on the routes from Marseille to Sardina and the Maghreb as from mid-June.
She will be renamed VIZZANOVA.
Only Two Major Ferries Scrapped In The Last Quarter Of 2017
The French environmental organisation Robin des Bois (‘Robin Hood’) has published its 50th quarterly shipbreaking report. Since the start of the publications in 2006, more than 10,000 scrapped ships have been reported.
Some trends:
Only two well-known ferries have been reported as scrapped:
Photo: P&O Ferries’ PRIDE OF FLANDERS in 1995 ©Mike Louagie
In 2015 Collectivité de Saint Pierre et Miquelon awarded the contract for two new ferries to operate between the two Islands and Fortune (Canada) to Damen Shipyards Group.
In close cooperation with the client, Damen designed the Fast RoPax 5510, 55 m long, with a capacity for 192 passengers and crew, 3 trucks or 18 cars.
The vessels named NORDET and SUROIT were heavy-lifted to Canada in November and have recently finished their local sea trials.
Photo: Rendering Damen
TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, operators of Spirit of Tasmania, will order two brand new purpose-built ships to replace the current fleet by 2021. This was announced at a press conference today.
These two new ships will have substantially larger capacity for passengers (from 1,400 to 2,000 pax), passenger vehicles (from 1,000 to 1,714 lane meter) and freight (from 1,800 to 2,500 lane meter).
Chairman Mike Grainger said, “we are going to the best builders of ro-paxes in the world, and the best will be awarded the contract.” The order will be placed next year.
Mr Grainger said the company looked at capacity, customer expectations, operating speed, sea-keeping properties for Bass Strait, capital and operating costs and operational efficiency. No Government cash will be needed.
Built for Superfast Ferries in 1998, the ships in the current fleet underwent a major refurbishment in 2015 and will continue operating until the new vessels are delivered.
Ro-pax NORMAN ATLANTIC took fire in December 2014. The wreck was towed to Bari for investigations and has been there ever since. Because the experts have done their work the several stakeholders have asked the Court to release the ship from her evidential seizure. The ship is moored next to the cruise and ferry terminal, not a pretty sight.
Source: Corriere del Mezzogiorno – Photo: Italian Navy
P&O Ferries carried 14,804 units on its new dedicated lift unit freight service between Zeebrugge and Hull since the launch in May.
P&O Ferries has chartered the 118m container feeder ELISABETH to service the route. The ship makes three round-trips per week between Zeebrugge and Hull, complementing P&O Ferries’ existing ro-pax service between the Belgian port and the Humber.
The Zeebrugge hub rail connectivity has been very beneficial to attract business.
P&O Ferries sees a growing proportion of its cargoes originating in Central and Eastern Europe. Exporters from Britain benefit from onward connectivity to northern Spain and Gothenburg via services operated by lines in partnership with P&O Ferries.
Photo © P&O Ferries
As the first ferry company in the Port of Trelleborg, Stena Line will now be connecting up its two ro-pax vessels SKÅNE and MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN to the electricity grid during calls into port.
Stena Line is a pioneer in this field. Cold ironing is now reality in four of Stena Line’s six ports in Sweden. Throughout Stena Line’s route network, 17% of the ports are connected.
“Planning work is under way to enable us to connect vessels in more of our ports. The objective is for 25% of the ports by 2020 and 7% by 2030,” says Stena Line’s CEO Niclas Mårtensson.
Photo © Stena Line