Shippax News Bulletin – 1
AS Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) operational volumes for 2022 full year and Q4
In 2022, 7 million passengers and 18 million tonnes of cargo passed through the harbours of Tallinna Sadam. The annual number of passengers increased by 98%, or 3.5 million passengers, recovering from the movement restrictions related to the pandemic. Compared to last year, the cargo volume decreased by 21%, or 4.6 million tonnes, due to the implementation of sanctions on Russian and Belarussian cargo.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries delivered SUNFLOWER KURENAI, Japan's first LNG-powered ferry
© MHI
Japan's first LNG-powered ferry, SUNFLOWER KURENAI, has been delivered by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shimonoseki Shipyard to Ferry Sunflower, a subsidiary of MOL, and is set to enter service 13 January on the 12-hour Osaka-Beppu route.
SUNFLOWER KURENAI is the first of two ro-paxes which Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) ordered from Mitsubishi Shipbuilding. Her sistership named SUNFLOWER MURASAKI will be delivered in May 2023.
Viking Line ends an exceptional year with confidence in the future
VIKING GLORY © Viking Line
Year 2022, like the previous year, continued to be exceptional for the whole world, as well as for Viking Line. In total, nearly 5 million passengers traveled on Viking Line's vessels in 2022, an increase of 114 percent from the previous year.
In March, the new VIKING GLORY, began its traffic. The ship has been very popular and will reach the 1 million passenger milestone after less than a year in traffic.
P&O PIONEER and MOBY FANTASY getting ready for delivery
P&O PIONEER and MOBY FANTASY © GSI
P&O PIONEER and MOBY FANTASY are currently located at the new Guangzhou Nansha International Cruise Terminal and are getting ready for the long delivery voyage back to Europe. At 230m, P&O PIONEER is now the world’s longest double-ended ferry and will serve for P&O Ferries on the Dover-Calais route. MOBY FANTASY is slightly larger at 237m and will serve for Moby Lines between Livorno and Olbia. Both are built by China’s GSI Shipyard to a design by OSK-ShipTech.
Start of a new weekly ferry service between St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines from mid-January
Bequia Express owns and operates a five-vessel ferry fleet, all small former Norwegian-owned passenger/vehicle ferries, built between 1969 and 1977.
St. Lucia-based tourism company Caribbean Travel Movement (CTM) is to start a weekly passenger/vehicle ferry service between St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in mid-January. The new service will be operated by chartered vessels from family-owned Bequia Express and other as yet unnamed operators, running between Castries and Kingstown.
Scandlines’ new zero direct emission freight ferry – Construction update
Around Europe, suppliers and partners are building, testing and digging for the many different products and solutions that will be part of Scandlines' new zero direct emission ferry, PR24 (Puttgarden-Rødby 2024) for the Fehmarn Belt.
Two-thirds of the steel plates for PR24 have now been cut at the Cemre shipyard in Turkey, and the ferry currently consists of eight sections which have already been placed on the bedding. Another 16 sections are under construction.
Scotland’s CalMac in the red again
FINLAGGAN © CalMac
The latest annual report from Scotland’s largest ferry operator, Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), has shown another year-end loss. The DML (David MacBrayne Ltd) Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ending 31 March 2022 has revealed that the state-owned ferry operator recorded a loss of GBP 2.4 million before tax, compared to a profit of GBP 3.3 million before tax the year before.
The year under review saw CalMac carry 4.3 million passengers, 1.4 million cars, 80,574 commercial vehicles and 3,347 coaches. Figures for pre-COVID fiscal year 2019/20 were: passengers 5.5 million, 1.5 million cars, 79,612 commercial vehicles and 10, 876 coaches.
Liberty Lines confirms another three high-speed ferries at Astilleros Armón
Trapani, Sicily-based fast ferry operator Liberty Lines, formerly Utisca Lines, has confirmed another three high-speed ferries at Spain’s Astilleros Armón shipyard, taking its contract with this northern Spanish fast ferry specialist to 12 vessels. In 2022, Liberty Lines ordered nine monohulls from the shipyard, with an option on a further nine vessels.
The 12 hybrid monohulls are being built at Armón's Navia facility and will be delivered between 2023 and 2030.
NCL ordered to pay USD 110 million in damages by US judge for use of Cuban cruise port
2019-built NORWEGIAN ENCORE © Meyer Werft
A US judge has ordered Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCL) to pay USD 110 million in damages for use of a port that Cuba’s government confiscated in 1960. The decision is a milestone ruling for Cuban-Americans seeking compensation for Cold War era asset seizures. It could also open the door for three other cruise lines to pay damages.
SeaLink Sydney Harbour has successfully won a 15-year extension of the Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) Lane Cove ferry service
SeaLink has run the Lane Cove ferry service for 17 years under the Captain Cook Cruises brand providing important public transport access for Lane Cove River residents and school children.
Running up to 12 services a day Monday to Friday during peak commute times, the service connects passengers along Lane Cove River to Balmain, Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, Milsons Point and Kirribilli Wharf. The new contract sees an additional run added to the morning departures to provide commuters with more options during peak travel times.
CLdN emerges as buyer of Color Line’s former ro-ro COLOR CARRIER
CADENA 4 at Denmark's Fayard shipyard © Peter Therkildsen
In late November a MOU was signed for the sale of Color Line’s former COLOR CARRIER to an unknown buyer. This new owner has now emerged as being CLdN.
The 1998-built ro-ro will be renamed CADENA 4 and will provide CLdN with a 1,775 lanemetre freight capacity once handed over later this month.
Tallink Grupp’s 2022 annual passenger figure bounces back after COVID years
MYSTAR © Raul Mee
Tallink Grupp has published its 2022 fourth quarter and December passenger and cargo statistics, which show improvement after the last two COVID years despite the global economic and security challenges and despite six of the company’s vessels being chartered out by Q4 of the year.
During the full year 2022, Tallink Grupp transported a total of 5,462,085 passengers on all the company's routes, which is a 84.4% increase compared to the full year 2021 (2,961,975 passengers in 2021).
SunStone organizational changes
The President of SunStone Ships Inc., Miami, Ulrik Hegelund (52), has, for family reasons, decided to move back to Denmark and will be replaced by Christian Lund (40).
Finnlines’ second new Superstar passenger-freight vessel FINNCANOPUS launched
Finnlines’ ro-pax newbuilding programme proceeds well. The second Superstar vessel, FINNCANOPUS, was launched at the China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai on 30 December. The first, FINNSIRIUS, was launched in August 2022.
The new Superstar class cargo-passenger vessels, i.e. ro-pax vessels, which will enter traffic in 2023, will serve the Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär route between Finland, Åland Islands and Sweden.
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