CMAL unveils three-year corporate plan for new vessels and major port infrastructure development

The 1986-built LOCH STRIVEN is one of the older ships in the 36-ship CMAL fleet. © Maritime Photographic

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) has unveiled an ambitious three-year corporate plan (1 April 2020-31 March 2023) which will see the investment in new ferries and major port infrastructure developments.

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Armas-Trasmediterránea closes various offices

The fact that Trasmediterránea has not operated between Alcudia (Mallorca) and Ciutadella (Menorca) for a while now, it comes as no surprise that the company has now closed its offices there, making all shore staff redundant.

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Baleària’s 2019 financials released

Baleària, the ferry and transport group led by Adolfo Utor, has released its traffic figures for 2019. Passenger volumes increased by 3%, to 4,480,000. Vehicles carried were down from 1,209,000 cars in 2018 to 1,064,000, a drop of 12%. Meanwhile freight lanemetres carried increased from 5,800,000 lanemetres to 6,111,000, an impressive increase of 5%. The financials reported are equally impressive. Revenues were up by 19%, from EUR 381,400,000 to EUR 452,000,000. The net profit was up by 5%, from EUR 27,400,000 to just under EUR 29,000,000.

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Tests reveal 121 positive COVID-19 cases on quarantined ferry

EL. VENIZELOS seen alongside the port of Piraeus' southern breakwater on 9 April 2020. © George Giannakis

ANEK Lines’ ferry EL. VENIZELOS remains berthed alongside the southern breakwater of Piraeus’ Grand Harbour after 121 passengers and crew tested positive for the Coronavirus.

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Irish government to provide up to EUR 15 million to keep critical ferry routes open

Irish Ferries' Dublin-Cherbourg service, operated by W.B. YEATS, and Stena Line's Rosslare-Cherbourg service, operated by STENA HORIZON, are regarded as critical routes by the Irish government. © George Giannakis

In a major initiative to support ferry services strengthened by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the Irish government is providing up to EUR 15 million to keep five critical ferry routes open – routes operated by Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries and Stena Line from the Irish ports of Dublin and Rosslare.

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Stena Line axes Trelleborg-Sassnitz route

The Trelleborg-Sassnitz route, operated by the 1989-built ro-pax SASSNITZ, has become a victim of COVID-19. © Marc Ottini

Stena Line plans to discontinue another passenger-oriented ferry route as the COVID-19 crisis keeps affecting the ferry group’s revenues heavily.

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FLANDRIA SEAWAYS is undergoing sea trials

FLANDRIA SEAWAYS left Jinling's Yizheng shipyard on 5 April and is expected back on 10 April. © DFDS

As the Coronavirus starts to wind down in China, life is slowly returning to normal. This also applies for the country’s shipyards, with DFDS’s fifth 6,695-lanemetre mega ro-ro freighter – understood to be named FLANDRIA SEAWAYS – having left Jinling’s Yizheng shipyard for sea trials on 5 April.

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Algérie Ferries’ BADJI MOKHTAR III floated out

BADJI MOHTAR III seen being shifted to the outfitting quay following her 5 April floating out. © GSI

Without much fanfare, Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) floated out Algérie Ferries’ (ENTMV) 1,800-passenger and 600-car capacity BADJI MOKHTAR III on 5 April at 10:00am local time.

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FINBO CARGO returns to service

FINBO CARGO is back in service, currently operating in freight-only mode. © Joonas Kortelainen

Eckerö Line’s FINBO CARGO returned to service on 6 April on the Vuosaari (Helsinki)-Muuga (Tallinn) service after undergoing conversion to full 1A Ice Class at Oresund Drydocks in Landskrona.

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Virtual steel-cutting ceremony for Tallink’s MYSTAR

Ready for the first steel cutting of MYSTAR: RMC's CEO and president Jyrki Heinimaa (right) and Marko Paloluoto (left), RMC's project manager for MYSTAR. © RMC

With the first steel cutting, construction of Tallink’s new 50,000gt ro-pax ferry for the company’s Tallinn-Helsinki Shuttle service started at Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) today, 6 April. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, Tallink Grupp representatives were not present in Rauma, participating via an online live streaming connection.

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Sea Lines opens new Black Sea ferry line

The new Karasu-Constanta service was inaugurated last week. SEA PARTNER will call at the Romanian port on Thursdays. © Marc Ottini

In a move to shift cargo from land to sea, Åland-headquartered single ship ferry operator Sea Lines has added a new Black Sea ro-ro service that connects Karasu, Turkey with Constanta, Romania.

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Deliveries of Spanish high-speed craft delayed by Coronavirus lockdowns

The Coronavirus crisis is further delaying the delivery of ELEANOR ROOSEVELT. © Baleària

Various deliveries awaited by Spanish ferry operators are being delayed as a result of work being stopped worldwide by authorities, due to the Coronavirus.

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Armas-Trasmediterránea Group brings in financial specialists

© Philippe Holthof

The Bloomberg News Agency reports that Armas-Trasmediterránea Group, owners of both Naviera Armas and Cia Trasmediterránea, have appointed Houlihan Lokey, a specialist financial agency, to advise them on restructuring the group debts.

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Estonia considering state aid for Tallink

Part of the Tallink fleet seen laid up in Tallinn on 19 March. © Kaupo Kalda

In an interview with national media, Estonian Finance Minister Martin Helme has voiced the plan of the state to buy a stake in Tallink to ensure the company makes it through the ‘Coronavirus crisis’.

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Press Releases

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BC Ferries adjusts service to Southern Gulf Islands

BC Ferries is adjusting service levels on routes to the Southern Gulf Islands for the next 60 days to protect the health and safety of communities and ferry workers, ensure the resiliency of the coastal ferry service, and better match ferry service to current demand.

ABB brings fuel cell technology a step closer to powering large ships

ABB signs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hydrogène de France to jointly manufacture megawatt-scale fuel cell systems capable of powering ocean-going vessels.

ABB increases remote support for ships to help customers during the COVID-19 outbreak

At the time when many countries close borders and impose travel restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, ABB has increased the remote availability of technical service teams to help crews from shore.

WE Tech launches Economical Operations Solution for Bore’s new builds

WE Tech received a new order from Wuhu Shipyard, China to deliver its Solution One Economical Operations, consisting of a WE Drive and a variable speed Shaft Generator to three 7000DWT RoLo vessels. The new builds are the first LNG-fuelled short-sea vessels to be operated by Finland based ship-owner Bore Ltd, which will operate in the Baltic and North Sea with Finnish/Swedish Ice Class 1A classification. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in mid-2021.

Finland bans inbound ferry passenger traffic from 11 April 2020 – Tallink Grupp’s vessels MEGASTAR, GALAXY and BALTIC PRINCESS suspend passenger transport to Finland

The Finnish authorities have announced this morning that from Saturday, 11 April 2020, Finland is no longer allowing entry into Finland for ferry passengers to help prevent the spread of the corona virus in the country. The border restrictions in Finland are in place until 13 May 2020 or until further notice from the authorities. Cargo transportation and transport of cargo drivers, crew, essential vessel maintenance staff and shipyard employees will continue on all routes as previously.

Danfoss Editron opens in-house testing facility in Lappeenranta, Finland

Danfoss Editron has opened a new in-house testing laboratory in Lappeenranta, the Finnish city where it is headquartered, following a multi-million EURO investment. The facility will conduct electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and environmental tests, which guarantee the quality of the company’s EDITRON systems to its customers.

Bolidt lights the way to cruise ship creativity

New additions to the Bolideck® range of ship deck covering solutions from Bolidt are illuminating design thinking across the cruise ship and superyacht sectors, with a first delivery of Bolideck® LED leading to follow up orders from several owners.

Austal - business update and response to COVID-19

Highlights
- Operational and financial performance to date largely unaffected by COVID-19.
- FY2020 earnings guidance of no less than $110 million EBIT maintained.
- Payment of unfranked 3 cps interim dividend (totalling $10.6 million) to proceed as
planned.

New measures for ferry sector aimed to protect communities, passengers and crews

The Canadian Ferry Association (CFA) is pleased with the new measures for the ferry sector as announced by the federal government today. The measures are aimed to protect the health and safety of communities, passengers and crews by preventing people with COVID-19 symptoms from potentially spreading the virus while using the ferry system.

Stena Line to furlough 600 employees and make 150 redundant in UK and the Republic of Ireland due to COVID-19

Stena Line has announced that it plans to furlough 600 employees with 150 redundancies across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. This urgent measure is an unavoidable response to the on-going global COVID-19 crisis, that has had a hugely damaging effect on travel and transport across Europe.

Low-Speed, Dual-Fuel Engines Pass 1,000,000 Operating Hours

MAN Energy Solutions reports that its portfolio of two-stroke, dual-fuel engines has accumulated 1 million operating hours.The milestone comes on the back of the 300 engines/6.3 GW sales the company recently announced for the segment – all running on clean fuels such as LNG, LPG, ethane and methanol.

Service levels adjusted due to covid-19 pandemic

BC Ferries is adjusting service levels across multiple routes for the next 60 days to protect the health and safety of communities and ferry workers, ensure the resiliency of the coastal ferry service, and better match ferry service to current demand. The Coastal Ferry Services Contract with the Province of British Columbia has been amended to permit these service reductions.

UK Chamber of Shipping calls for immediate support to keep freight flowing

The UK Chamber of Shipping, the trade association with nearly 200 members, has called for immediate support from the UK government to ensure freight continues to flow into the country.

Passenger transport to Finland continues this week, discussions regarding the restrictions continue next week

According to information received by Tallink Grupp last night, 2 April, from Traficom in Finland, the Finnish authorities have not yet reached an agreement regarding the new restrictions, so passenger traffic to Finland will currently continue.

ShipChain Donates Petaflop of Computer Power to Help Find COVID-19 Cure

Donation amounts to approximately one quadrillion calculations per second.
ShipChain, a blockchain-based logistics solutions provider, announced that it is donating up to one Petaflop of computing power - approximately one quadrillion calculations per second - to assist Folding@Home scientists attempting to find the cure for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contract awarded for Scotland's first LNG bunkering facilities

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has awarded a contract to KC LNG, Kosan Crisplant’s division under MAKEEN Energy, to design and install Scotland’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering facilities at Uig and Ardrossan.

AS Tallink Grupp Statistics for March and the First Quarter of the Financial Year

In March 2020 AS Tallink Grupp transported 279 507 passengers, which is a 59.3% decrease compared to March 2019. The number of cargo units increased by 7.7% to 35 037 units and the number of passenger vehicles decreased by 44.7% to 42 045 units in the same comparison.

Keel laying at Holland Shipyards Group for SFK’s new fully electric ferry

While working on the construction of the first hybrid ferry for Schlepp- und Fährgesellschaft Kiel (SFK), the keel laying for the second, fully electric, ferry took place on Wednesday April 1, 2020 at Holland Shipyards Group’s yard in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, The Netherlands.

EHRENBERG SØRENSEN Kommunikation acquires the Nordic activities of global agency Sopexa

It is a pleasure to inform you that we at EHRENBERG SØRENSEN Kommunikation have acquired the Nordic activities of the global agency Sopexa. We are firm believers in the value of specialisation and besides a continued and dedicated focus on our business areas of transport and tourism, we now increase our focus and ambitions within food & wine in Scandinavia.