Samsø Rederi’s LILLEØRE delivered

LILLEØRE © Samsø Rederi

Chinese Afai Southern Shipyard has delivered the 35m high-speed catamaran LILLEØRE. As of April 2021, the vessel will operate for Samsø Rederi, connecting Samsø with Aarhus.

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Royal Caribbean disposes of EMPRESS and MAJESTY OF THE SEAS

MAJESTY OF THE SEAS is the last Sovereign Class vessel to leave the Royal Caribbean Group fleet. © Maritime Photographic

Royal Caribbean International has sold its EMPRESS and MAJESTY OF THE SEAS to undisclosed buyers. In a press release, Royal Caribbean states that the new owners, based in Asia-Pacific, will release details for future sailings at a later time, hinting that the ships have most likely not been sold for scrap.

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OPTIMA SEAWAYS earmarked as temporary third ship for new Dunkerque-Rosslare service

OPTIMA SEAWAYS will leave the Karlshamn-Klaipeda route after Christmas and is set to return to the Baltic in late January. © Frank Lose

DFDS has announced that OPTIMA SEAWAYS will be the third ship to operate its new ‘Brexit proof’ six times weekly Dunkerque-Rosslare service, temporarily joining the time-chartered VISBY and KERRY.

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Keel of FINNECO I laid as first steel is cut for FINNECO III

Keel laying of FINNECO I took place on Wednesday 16 December. © Finnlines

All three GG5G Class freighters for Finnlines now find themselves in different construction stages following the keel laying ceremony for FINNECO I and the first steel cutting for FINNECO III, which both took place on 16 December at Nanjing Jinling Shipyard’s Yizheng facility.

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Stena Line announces new names of lengthened Visentinis

The STENA MERSEY will emerge as STENA SCANDICA from her 36m lengthening and conversion in Turkey. © Stena RoRo

Stena Line has announced the new names for the STENA LAGAN and STENA MERSEY which will be introduced on the Stockholm Norvik/Nynäshamn-Ventspils route following their 36m lengthening and conversion at Sedef Shipyard in Turkey.

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Trasmediterránea up for sale? Again?

© Marc Ottini

Is the company up for sale? Grupo Armas Trasmediterránea was created by the acquisition of Cia Trasmediterránea by Naviera Armas in 2018. This brought together the largest and third largest ferry companies in Spain. Naviera Armas financed the purchase by issuing short-term bonds to the value of EUR 300 million, due for repayment in 2024. The company had previously issued bonds to the value of EUR 230 million in 2016, used for refinancing and reducing mortgages on their existing fleet.

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New Maltese fast ferry operator Ponte Ferries buys BONANZA EXPRESS

BONANZA EXPRESS - seen here still displaying its Fred. Olsen Express livery - has been renamed HSC ARTEMIS and repainted in the Ponte Ferries livery. © Christian Costa

The first high-speed ferry that inaugurated Fred. Olsen Express’s Canary Islands fast ferry service back in 1999, BONANZA EXPRESS, has been sold to new Maltese start-up ferry operator Ponte Ferries.

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KERRY and VISBY to operate DFDS’s new Dunkerque-Rosslare route

VISBY will be time-chartered by DFDS for their new six times weekly Dunkerque-Rosslare route. © Frank Lose

Next week (week 51), DFDS expects to announce the names of the three ro-pax ferries that will guarantee its new Dunkerque-Rosslare route, starting on 2 January. Ahead of the official announcement, a DFDS spokesperson has confirmed to Shippax that VISBY and KERRY are two of the three ships that will operate the six times weekly France-Ireland route.

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Press Releases

These press release news are published “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

Echandia Marine is building the battery systems for the world's largest fleet of electric ferries in India

Cochi Ferry © Echandia Marine

In a first step, Echandia has signed an agreement with Siemens for 23 modern electric ferries for the South Indian city of Kochi's public transport. In the next step, it will be about 45 vessels to ultimately amount to 78 electric ferries. As a result, the city will have the world's largest fleet of electric ferries. In the first round, 23 ferries will be built to connect the city and its 10 islands via 38 different stops.

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The Ocean Cleanup Prepares for Series Production of Interceptor - partners with Konecranes

Interceptor © The Ocean Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, and Konecranes, a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, announced a partnership to design, manufacture, and service The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor™, which is designed to extract plastic from rivers before entering the ocean. This is an important step as the non-profit organization prepares to tackle the world’s 1000 most polluting rivers.

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BC Ferries’ fourth battery electric-hybrid vessel launches

Following the successful launch of its third battery electric-hybrid Island Class vessel in October, BC Ferries’ fourth Island Class ferry launched early Thursday morning, entering the water at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.
Work will continue on the new ship until scheduled sea trials in April. Following successful sea trials, the vessel will make its way to Point Hope Maritime in Victoria in fall 2021 for final preparations. The yet-to-be named ship is the fourth in a series of six Island Class vessels joining the BC Ferries fleet, and the second assigned to the Campbell River – Quadra Island (Quathiaski Cove) route. Two-ship service is scheduled to begin on the route in 2022, replacing the existing Powell River Queen.

Lindblad Expeditions And Island Conservation Launch Galápagos Island Relief Fund

Lindblad Expeditions, a global provider of expedition cruises, and Island Conservation, an international not-for-profit conservation organization, have launched the Galápagos Island Relief Fund to provide immediate financial relief for the people of the Galápagos Islands who have been devastated by the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Danish ship interior design studio Steen Friis Design appoints Bente Medelbye Hansen as new Design Director

With a constantly changing market for ship interior design and new trends in passenger travel and on-board hospitality, OSK Group is changing the management in Steen Friis Design to continue to best serve our clients within our segments of passenger ships.

BC Ferries and the BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ Union reach five-year collective agreement, marking 22 years of labour stability

BC Ferries and the BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ Union announced the ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement they reached on October 22, 2020. “The agreement negotiated between the parties has been accepted by our membership,” said Graeme Johnston, BC Ferry & Marine Workers’ Union President. “Our Union acknowledges we are in difficult times, and we are hopeful our commitment to helping the ferry system weather these difficult times will be recognized in better times come the wage reopeners.”

Wight Shipyard Co completes refit for Wightlink

The Wightlink FastCat catamaran WIGHT RYDER 1 underwent its annual refit at the Trafalgar Shipyard in mid-November in a fast and efficient turnaround taking under three weeks. “This is another example of how British engineering is winning through, even in these challenging times,” said Jo Daly, COO, WSC. “Our team undertook the work with the professional approach that people expect from the WSC, the project was delivered to the highest of standards both within the timeframe and to budget.”

P&O Ferrymasters and DP World begin rolling-out integrated maritime and logistics services

P&O Ferrymasters and its parent company DP World today (16 December) announce the completion of their first common carrier agreement, to integrate their global maritime and logistics services into a unified customer proposition. The announcement follows DP World’s acquisition of P&O Ferrymasters in February 2019 and marks the launch of a global rollout of carrier agreements, to combine their multimodal networks, exploit and deploy their global operational coverage and provide comprehensive service packages to customers.

RINA’s Greek fleet operation centre casts off

RINA opened its Fleet Operating Centre (FOC) in newly expanded offices in Piraeus. The new centre will allow the ship classification society to manage RINA classed vessels even more accurately and efficiently all over the world. The move, together with the relocation of the Deputy EVP for the Marine Business, Massimo Volta, to Athens, is part of the company’s long-term strategy to further strengthen its presence in Greece.

Stena Line launch new freight connection between Luxembourg and Sweden

From 11th January 2021 ferry company Stena Line together with the multimodal service provider CFL multimodal and the ports in Rostock and Trelleborg will offer a new intermodal rail and ferry connection from Bettembourg in Luxembourg via their ferry route from Rostock to Trelleborg in Sweden. The combination of sea and rail is a cost-effective and sustainable transport solution that offers great capacity and flexibility as well as a CO2 reduction of 1.75 tons per unit compared to road transport.

ABB Marine & Ports opens new lab to stress-test cyber threats to shipping

ABB Marine & Ports’ cyber security laboratory opens at key moment in shipping’s digital development as stricter maritime cyber security rules enter force on January 1, 2021
In line with the guidelines set out by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the new laboratory features hardware and software systems developed to help shipowners and operators combat the maritime industry’s growing cyber security risks. Customers are now being invited for virtual demonstrations of the laboratory’s systems and capabilities.

ALMACO and Genano announce partnership

ALMACO and Genano have signed an agreement to become preferred partners in providing the marine and offshore industry with patented air decontamination technology that improves overall passenger and crew health by removing airborne impurities, including the novel coronavirus, of all sizes.

Evac launches its next-generation Evac Optima 5S vacuum toilet for the marine and hospitality markets

The Evac Optima 5S vacuum toilet is the latest addition to Evac´s vacuum collection system range and, with a noise level of only 66 db(A), is up to twice as quiet as other solutions on the market. It also includes new features to improve hygiene such as a new sealed seat cover and an optional antimicrobial seat to provide extra protection against a wide range of bacteria.

Eckerö Line's FINLANDIA switches to shore power in the port of Tallinn

Finnish Eckerö Line's FINLANDIA will start to use land-based electricity at night in the port of Tallinn instead of its diesel-powered auxiliary engines. Switching to shore power is an environmental act that both improves air quality and reduces noise in the port environment. The project was part of the EU-funded Twin-Port III project to, among other things, improve the ports' energy efficiency.

PrimeServ to Retrofit Greenest-Ever SCR System for German Cruise Ship

MAN Energy Solutions’ after-sales division in Augsburg, Germany– MAN PrimeServ Augsburg – has developed an SCR solution that will be retrofitted aboard the AMADEA, a cruise ship chartered by PHOENIX Reisen GmbH Bonn (Germany) and managed by BSM Cruise Services. Also known as ‘Das Traumschiff’, the AMADEA is well-known in Germany as the main filming set for a very popular television series.

Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry announces tender opportunity for subsidised ferry link between Cyprus and Greece

The Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry (SDM) has announced the launch of a tender process to reinstate a maritime passenger link between Cyprus and Greece, subsidised by State funds.
Following the massive expression of support from the general public, a policy decision by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus has been taken to put into motion the process of re-establishing the ferry connection, which previously operated until the year 2000.

ION wins competitive tender to supply Marlin SmartPort to 17 of CalMac Ferries' ports and ferry terminals

ION Geophysical Corporation's Edinburgh-based Software group today announced the award of a competitive tender to supply Marlin SmartPort™ as a port management information system to CalMac Ferries Ltd. CalMac Ferries Ltd is the UK's largest ferry operator, managing 29 routes to over 50 destinations across 200 miles of Scotland's west coast and operator of 27 ports and harbours across the length and breadth of Scotland. ION's Marlin SmartPort solution will provide port management services to 17 of CalMac's harbours, including the major ferry port at Oban and the commercial cargo port at Perth, over an initial four-year term.

Cruise ships in Stockholm will soon connect to onshore power

Ports of Stockholm has been awarded funding from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the EU for investing in onshore power supply. This is an environmental initiative that will significantly reduce carbon dioxide and air pollutant emissions from cruise ships in Stockholm and throughout the Baltic Sea.

Nick Brown appointed to UK Chamber of Shipping Supervisory Board

The UK Chamber of Shipping is delighted to announce Nick Brown, Lloyd’s Register’s (LR) Marine and Offshore Director and the incoming Group CEO from 01 January 2021, has been appointed to the Supervisory Board of the UK Chamber of Shipping.