Tallink’s newest vessel MEGASTAR has exceeded its expectations and the group is considering ordering a MEGASTAR II, writes ERR.
Supply and demand, staying competitive as an industry, supply chain logistics and its role as marine fuel – the upcoming LNG Conference 2018 will cover everything that is relevant to the topic of LNG in Europe and the Baltic region. The event, hosted by Port of Helsinki and Tallink, will be held on 7 and 8 June 2018 at the Helsinki City Hall and on board Tallink’s MEGASTAR ferry.
Tallink Grupp’s Q1 sees a healthy growth in the rolling traffic.
- Vehicles 222,370 = +2.3%
- Cargo units: 90,687 = +8.2% (growth most significant on Estonia-Finland +12.9% and Latvia-Sweden +62.6%)
- Passengers went down a bit: 1,930,449 = -0.5%
The reason for the slight drop in passengers is that for almost ten weeks only one instead of two vessels was operating the Turku-Stockholm route.
On a positive side, Estonia-Sweden and particularly Latvia-Sweden routes are developing very well and the passenger numbers are increasing.
Tallink’s STAR and MEGASTAR were awarded the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Chain of Custody certificate at the end of 2017 for providing sustainably sourced seafood on board.
Photo: The Chef’s Kitchen © Tallink Grupp
DFDS CEO Niels Smedegaard handed over ECSA Presidency to Panagiotis Laskaridis, Member of the Board of the Union of Greek Shipowners and CEO of Laskaridis Shipping Co. Ltd. and CEO of Lavinia Corp.
Mr Panagiotis will start his two-year term as ECSA’s new President from January 2018. Mr Smedegaard will remain Board Member representing Danish Shipping.
Claes Berglund of the Swedish Shipowners and Director Public Affairs and Sustainability, from Stena AB will start as ECSA’s Vice-President in January.
Photo: ©Stena Irish Sea
AS Tallink Grupp transferred the ownership of two of its previously chartered-out ships, SUPERFAST VII and SUPERFAST VIII, to Stena North Sea Limited who purchased the ships from the Group earlier this year.
The ownership transfer follows the sale agreements between Baltic SF VII Ltd and Baltic SF VIII Ltd, both subsidiaries of AS Tallink Grupp, and Stena North Sea Limited, concluded in July 2017.
From 2006 to 2011, Tallink operated the two Superfast ferries between Finland and Germany. In spring 2011 Tallink then signed an agreement with Stena Line Ltd on the charter of the two vessels. They were transferred in August of the same year. Since then the two ferries have been operating in British waters.
The transaction is worth EUR 133.5 million.
Photo: ©Stena Irish Sea
Tallink loses fairway dues dispute in Finnish court
On December 8, the Finnish Supreme Court has made a judgment on AS Tallink Grupp and its group company AS Hansatee Cargo appeal to the Helsinki Court of Appeal 8 August 2016 judgment on fairway dues dispute against Finnish state.
Pursuant to the Supreme Court judgement the appeal was not granted to refund to the shipowners the fairway dues, charged in excessive extent in the years 2001-2004, with interests.
Photo: AS Tallink Grupp / Meyer Turku / Helfoto Oy
In November 2017 AS Tallink Grupp transported:
- Passengers: 692,506 (+5.9%)
- Cargo units: 34,041 (+15.7%)
- Cars: 76,120 (+0.4%)
Q3 in figure
- 2.9 million passengers (+2%)
Revenue EUR 282.7 million (EUR 273.6 million) +3.3%
EBITDA EUR 75.4 million (EUR 67.1 million) +12.3% - Net profit EUR 47.8 million (EUR 42.8 million) + increased by 11.7%.
In Q3, the Group’s revenue and operating result were impacted by following operational factors
- After the rerouting of ships in December 2016, carriage capacity increased on a number of operated routes.
- During June and August, one cruise ferry operated the Tallinn – Helsinki route in contrast to two cruise ferries in last year.
- Increased competition on Tallinn – Helsinki route.
Tallink, in partnership with Port of Tallinn and Transiidikeskuse AS, has re-routed its ro-ro SEA WIND. It now operates from Muuga Harbour instead of the Tallinn Old City Harbour.
This move means that more than 40,000 lorries per year will be removed from Tallinn city centre, reducing congestion and pollution. The journey from Muuga to Vuosaari (Finland) is also six nautical miles shorter.
Muuga Harbour, which is Estonia’s largest and deepest cargo port, is located just outside Tallinn, 16km from Tallinn city centre. Muuga Harbour has 29 berths, three of which have been specifically built for ro-ro type vessels.
Transiidikeskuse AS is a specialised Estonian container and general cargo terminal operator in Muuga Harbour.