Shippax News Bulletin – 30
- In association with Interferry
Dear Subscriber,
Please find below the headlines of the news added to the Shippax website during week 30.
Photo above: Bye bye CALAIS SEAWAYS? With next week’s introduction of the Stena E-Flexer Class CÔTE D’OPALE, DFDS will withdraw CALAIS SEAWAYS from its three-ship Calais-Dover route. Completed as PRINS FILIP in 1992, CALAIS SEAWAYS is probably one of the most versatile Channel ferries ever built, having operated Ostend-Dover, Ostend-Ramsgate, Zeebrugge-Dover, Calais-Dover, Le Havre-Portsmouth, Boulogne-Dover, and Dunkerque-Dover. CALAIS SEAWAYS’s first appearance on the Calais-Dover route was as P&OSL AQUITAINE in late 1999, returning to the route as NORMAN SPIRIT in early 2012. DFDS hasn’t yet communicated on the future of the vessel. (Photo: Laurens Holthof)
Have a nice weekend!
FRS to quit Huelva-Canary Islands
VOLCAN DE TINAMAR will be handed back to Armas. © Philippe Holthof
FRS Spain, the German-Spanish ferry operator, has announced that they are withdrawing from the Huelva-Canary Islands route, and that the last sailing will be tomorrow, 29 July from the Canary Islands, arriving on the 30th in Huelva.
The company announced that they were ending operations on this route, on arrival of VOLCAN DE TINAMAR in Huelva.
Lengthened STENA SCANDICA introduced in the Baltic
The lengthened STENA SCANDICA has now officially been introduced between Stockholm Norvik/Nynäshamn and Ventspils. © Stena Line
After a period of drydocking in Klaipeda, the recently lengthened Visentini Class STENA SCANDICA has joined the standard Visentini Class STENA FLAVIA on the Stockholm Norvik/Nynäshamn-Ventspils service following last night’s first commercial sailing from Ventspils.
MSC Cruises, Fincantieri and Snam to develop the world’s first hydrogen-powered oceangoing cruise vessel
© Ivan Sarafatti - MSC Cruises
Work is underway to design and build the world’s first oceangoing hydrogen-powered cruise vessel. Three leaders in their fields have joined forces in this ambitious project – MSC Cruises, Fincantieri and Italian energy infrastructure company Snam.
The trio have signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) to determine the conditions of the design and construction of the world's first oceangoing hydrogen-powered cruise ship. The new ship would allow for zero emissions operations in certain parts of the world and use a new hydrogen bunkering system.
CMA CGM to start weekly Marseille-Barcelona-Casablanca ro-ro service
CMA CGM's new weekly Marseille-Barcelona-Casablanca ro-ro service will be operated by the 16.5-knot AKNOUL. © Frank Lose
Starting on 24 August, CMA CGM will inaugurate a new weekly Marseille-Casablanca ro-ro service with a call in Barcelona on the southbound leg.
The French operator will employ the 1,278-lanemetre AKNOUL which normally operates Marseille-Algeria. Aimed at bypassing the long road haul to Gibraltar, AKNOUL will sail from Marseille on Tuesdays at 18:00, arriving in Barcelona on Wednesdays at 08:00. Following a six-hour stop at the Spanish port, AKNOUL then continues to Casablanca where it arrives on Fridays at 12:00. Direct return sailings from Casablanca to Marseille are on Saturdays at 19:00 with a 07:00 arrival on Tuesdays.
Top 20 conventional ro-pax operators
Top 20 ferry operators conventional ro-pax fleet gross-ton, freight lanemetre capacities and passenger capacities, as of 1 April 2021.
Fincantieri delivered MSC SEASHORE, MSC Cruises’ first Seaside Evo Class ship
MSC SEASHORE © Fincantieri
Fincantieri’s Monfalcone Shipyard delivered MSC SEASHORE to MSC Cruises. MSC SEASHORE is the first of two cruise ships in the new Seaside Evo Cass which, at 339m, is the longest cruise ship in the company’s fleet.
The Seaside Evo Cass is an evolution of the Seaside Class, which comprises the 2017- and 2018-delivered MSC SEASIDE and MSC SEAVIEW. More than 40% has been redesigned and enhanced in this new class, together with a 16m extended length. This gives the Seaside Evo Class an additional 200 cabins and a total of 13,000m² of outdoor space.
Polish Ocean Lines acquires HATCHE
HATCHE will be reflagged and renamed, becoming POL STELLA. © Marc Ottini
Having purchased the 3,663-lanemetre Danish-built QEZBAN last year, Polish Ocean Lines (POL) is about to snap up its sister ship HATCHE, expected to be officially taken over from Turkish owners Alternative Transport tomorrow, 27 July.
The Flensburger Class QEZBAN was renamed POL MARIS following its acquisition in September 2020 with the 2009-built HATCHE to be renamed POL STELLA. Both ships are chartered by Stena Line, serving Europoort (Rotterdam)-Killingholme – to become Europoort-Killingholme in January 2022.
As with the sale of QEZBAN, the charter of HATCHE/POL STELLA is not affected by the change in ownership.
Grimaldi starts twice weekly Zeebrugge-Cork service
EUROCARGO BARI will continue to call at Antwerp on Saturdays, arriving at 7:00 and leaving for Zeebrugge and Cork again at 12:00. © Marc Ottini
Grimaldi Lines’ twice weekly Antwerp-Cork ro-ro service, started in early May, has become a Zeebrugge-Cork service with the 3,810-lanemetre EUROCARGO BARI continuing to serve the group’s Antwerp Euroterminal (AET) hub once a week.
Financials
Finnlines shows strong performance in the January-June 2021 period
The Finnlines Group’s revenue for January-June 2021 was EUR 270.8 million, an increase of 14.6% compared to the corresponding period in previous year. EBITDA amounted to EUR 71.0 (66.4 in 2020) million.
Tallink Grupp’s Q2 financial report impacted by travel restrictions
Tallink Grupp's Q2 financial report shows that the ferry group remains impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions. The group’s unaudited consolidated revenue ended at EUR 86.1 million (EUR 65 million), while EBITDA was EUR 4.4 million (EUR 2.4 million)
Revenues at euro 3,026 million, up by 28% compared to 1H 2020 (euro 2,369 million).
EBITDA at euro 219 million (+84% vs. 1H 2020) and EBITDA margin at 7.2%, excluding pass-through activities (vs. 5.0% in 1H 2020).
Press Releases
These press release news are published mostly “as is”, i.e. this is how we get it from the senders.
If you want to have your relevant news published, please send it to news@shippax.se
Schlepp- und Fährgesellschaft Kiel awards additional fully electric ferry to Holland Shipyards Group
Previously delivered GAARDEN © Holland Shipyards Group
With the previous delivery of a hybrid and fully electric ferry and a contract for three additional hybrid ferries ongoing, Schlepp- und Fährgesellschaft Kiel (SFK) has just awarded an additional fully electric ferry to Holland Shipyards Group.
The design of the additional ferry, to be named WELLINGDORF, is in line with the previously delivered vessel DUSTERNBROOK. The ferry will measure 24,70 m by 6,50 m and is completely emission-free.
She will entirely be powered by battery power with an installed capacity of 1.092 kWh. Besides the battery pack the vessel has 20 solar panels on the roof to contribute in feeding the on-board electrical system.
Viking Marks Float Out Of Second Expedition Ship
© Viking
Viking® announced its second expedition ship—the 378-guest VIKING POLARIS®—was "floated out," marking a major construction milestone and the first time that the new ship touches water. Scheduled to debut in summer 2022, VIKING POLARIS will spend her maiden season sailing voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica; her identical sister ship, VIKING OCTANTIS®, was floated out last December and is set to debut in early 2022 for journeys to Antarctica and North America's Great Lakes.
Westcon Yards wins Fjord1 contract
Westcon Yards Florø has recently signed a contract with Fjord1 for the hybridization of two passenger ferries; GLUTRA and FANNEFJORD. With this the yard in Florø is positioning itself as Norway's leading supplier of battery-operated ferries.
The contract has a total value of approximately 200 million NOK. The ferries will eventually operate in the ferry connection between Drag-Kjøpsvik and Bognes-Skarberget in Nordland.
Incat Electric brochure
The Incat Electric brochure where you will find a range of vessel concepts from harbour passenger ferries to larger ro-pax.
MEYER WERFT puts together a package for the future
MEYER WERFT has reached an agreement with IG Metall Küste and the shipyard's works council on a package to secure the shipyard location and competitiveness in the longer term. The agreement ends on December 31, 2023. If the general conditions improve significantly in the long term, e.g. through new orders, the agreement will end at the end of the current year. The current workforce size will be adjusted to the market conditions triggered by Corona. The entire MEYER WERFT workforce was informed in detail about the measures in person and online at a works meeting.
British Ports Association welcomes the resumption of international cruise in England
The British Ports Association, which represents all the UK’s key maritime passenger gateways, has responded to the latest international travel advice issued by the Department for Transport.
Inmarsat Maritime Ventures signs FleetBroadband sale agreement with SRH Connect
Inmarsat Maritime Ventures, a subsidiary of Inmarsat, has signed an agreement with SRH Connect (SRH) for SRH to acquire Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband customer base in Greece and Cyprus. The SRH acquisition involves customer contracts purchased by Inmarsat Maritime Ventures from Speedcast at the beginning of this year. SRH already provides customer support for Inmarsat’s Fleet Network Manager portfolio after signing a customer support agreement in March 2021. As part of the sale agreement, SRH will become a formal Inmarsat distribution partner for FleetBroadband and a Value-Added Reseller for Fleet Xpress.
Carnival Corporation & plc announced that Carnival Corporation (the "Issuer") has closed its private offering of $2,405.5 million aggregate principal amount of 4.000% First-Priority Senior Secured Notes due 2028 (the "New Notes").
Rising unaccompanied volumes in UK traffic for DFDS
The half-year shipping volumes in 2021 for the Cuxhaven-Immingham route exceed expectations and gives hope for continued successful development in the second half of 2021.
Following the Corona-related drop by 15% in total freight volumes during the first half of 2020 compared to 2019, Cuxhaven-Immingham can now record an increase of 18% in volumes in 2021.
Grimaldi Lines: from ships to crews, the real covid-free journey
To date, about 90% of the personnel employed on the company's ro-pax vessels have been vaccinated. The 100% target is expected to be achieved by the end of July
The Grimaldi Group has always paid great attention to the protection of the health of its passengers and crews. For this reason, since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Neapolitan company has implemented and constantly updated specific health protocols on all its ro-pax vessels, in compliance with current regulations.
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