VISBORG debuts for Destination Gotland

© Energigas Sverige

With much fanfare, Destination Gotland’s LNG-powered VISBORG started its regular service on the Visby-Nynäshamn route this morning (28 March).

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Keel laid of DFDS’s fourth super-freighter

© DFDS

Hot on the heels of the floating out of DFDS’s third 6,700-lanemetre ro-ro freighter from the building dock, the keel of yard number JLZ9160411 was laid on 27 March. This is the fourth unit in the six-ship series from Jinling Shipyard.

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First steel cut for Saga Cruises’ SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE

© Saga Cruises

A steel cutting ceremony has been held at the Meyer Werft in Papenburg for SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE, the second bespoke-built boutique newbuilding for UK-based Saga Cruises.

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RED JET 3 acquired for Croatian service by new start-up

RED JET 3 has been bought by Adriatic Fast Ferries, a new start-up © Alan Blunden

Red Funnel has sold FBM Marine 33m catamaran RED JET 3 to Adriatic Fast Ferries in Croatia. The 173-seat ferry was delivered to the cross-Solent operator in 1998. 

Confirming the acquisition, Alan Klanac, a director of newly created Adriatic Fast Ferries, said, "I recently started the company, with Ralph Axelson of Nordic HSC of Sweden [both partners indirectly control the company on a 50-50 basis], with the aim of developing a dedicated fast ferry service for passengers travelling between airports and their summer destinations.

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New ro-pax link across the Aegean to slash travel time between Italy and Turkey

Overland travel time from Italy’s Ancona to Turkey’s Izmir is set to be cut from many days to just 36 hours with the introduction of a new sea link between Greece’s Lavrion and Turkey’s Cesme ports.

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VIKING SKY arrives in Kristiansund for inspection and main propulsion repairs

VIKING SKY hit the international headlines on 23 March © Christian Costa

Viking Ocean Cruises’ 47,842gt VIKING SKY, which ran into trouble off the west coast of Norway on 23 March after total propulsion failure, arrived at NorSea’s Vestbase offshore oil and gas base on 27 March for inspection by the Norwegian Maritime Authority and repairs to the vessel’s main propulsion system. 

The Norwegian Maritime Authority (Sjøfartsdirektoratet) says that low oil pressure directly caused the engine failure onboard VIKING SKY “for the present.

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Tallink signs firm contact with RMC for new Tallinn-Helsinki Shuttle ferry

The newbuild will represent an improved version of the highly successful MEGASTAR. The latter vessel has carried over 4 million passengers since being introduced in late January 2017. © Tallink Grupp

Just over five months after signing an LoI, Tallink Grupp has firmed up the contract with Rauma Marine Constuctions (RMC) to build a new LNG-powered ro-pax ferry for its Tallinn-Helsinki Shuttle service.

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Scottish Government buys two ro-ro freighters

HILDASAY and sister HELLIAR will join the CMAL stable © Marko Stampehl

The 1,057-lanemetre HELLIAR and HILDASAY, on charter to NorthLink Ferries for its Northern Isles lifeline routes from Aberdeen to Kirkwall, Orkney and Lerwick have been purchased by the Scottish Government.

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Brittany Ferries to long-term charter third E-Flexer from Stena RoRo

A third E-Flexer will join the Brittany Ferries fleet in 2023 © Brittany Ferries

Stena RoRo has recently exercised one more option of its E-Flexer series under construction at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China. The ninth ship – known as yard number W0272 – will be long-term chartered (with a purchase option) by Brittany Ferries, the French operator which earlier signed long-term bareboat charter agreements for two Mk I E-Flexers to be introduced as GALICIA and SALAMANCA, respectively.

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Third DFDS super-freighter floated out

Jingling's yard number JLZ9160410 (410 in short) was recently floated out © DFDS

DFDS’s third 6,700-lanemetre freighter under construction at Jingling Shipyard has been floated out of the building dock and pulled to the outfitting quay on the Yangtze River.

DFDS hasn't officially revealed the ship's name and trade yet, but it is understood that she's named HOLLANDIA SEAWAYS, indicating that she might be introduced between Vlaardingen and Immingham.

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RFI ordered new rail ferry at San Giorgio del Porto and T. Mariotti

The newbuild will be similar to the 2013-built MESSINA © Frank Lose

The partnership established by T. Mariotti and San Giorgio del Porto has landed a EUR 48 million order for a new railway ferry to be introduced by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) between Messina and Villa San Giovanni/Reggio Calabria when completed in June 2020.

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STENA EUROPE arrives in Tuzla to begin three-month life extension

According to Stena, STENA EUROPE will remain in service on the Irish Sea for many more years to come © Frank Lose

Stena Line’s 38-year-old ro-pax STENA EUROPE arrived at Turkish shiprepairer Gemak Shipyard Tuzla on 23 March to begin her major three-month life extension project.

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Fred. Olsen and Armas announce names of new fast craft

BAJAMAR EXPRESS and BANADEROS EXPRESS are the names of the 117m Fred. Olsen Express trimarans © Austal

Fred. Olsen Express, the fast ferry operator in the Canary Islands, has announced the names to be given to its two new high-speed trimarans on order at Austal. Naviera Armas, for its part, has revealed the name of its new 111m high-speed catamaran.

Meanwhile, and not to be left out, competitor Naviera Armas has announced that its new Incat-built wave piercing catamaran will be named VOLCAN DE TAGORO, in honour of the newest volcano, which erupted under the seas, between October 2011 and February 2012, just off the Island of El Hierro.

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Finance

Slightly stronger 2018 for Color Line

Color Line released its 2018 full-year results, showing a slight increase in both turnover and EBIT. Turnover ended at NOK 5,141 (NOK 4,968), with EBIT ending at NOK 686 (NOK 630).

Rederi AB Gotland published its 2018 year-end results

Rederi AB Gotland which – in addition to Destination Gotland AB, its ferry arm – also includes property management, hotel operations and Stockholms Reparationsvarv AB together with Nya Skärgårdsbolaget AB, has released its year end result for 2018. Turnover reached SEK 2,492 million (SEK 2,413 million), and profit after financial items amounted to SEK 270 million (SEK 508 million).

Carnival Corporation first quarter earnings

Revenues for the first quarter of 2019 were USD 4.7 billion, higher than the USD 4.2 billion in the prior year. Carnival Corporation announced U.S. GAAP net income of USD 336 million, or USD 0.48 diluted EPS, for the first quarter of 2019, compared to U.S. GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2018 of USD 391 million, or USD 0.54 diluted EPS. 

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

Design of Toll’s TASMANIAN ACHIEVER II and VICTORIAN RELIANCE II wins prestigious industry award

Toll’s new Roll On Roll Off (RoRo) cargo ship, TASMANIAN ACHIEVER II, has won the 2018 Shippax RoRo Technology award on 13 March, 2019. The award was announced at the 2019 Shippax Ferry Conference, held on board SILJA SERENADE, sailing between Stockholm-Helsinki-Stockholm from 12 - 14 March.

MacGregor receives EUR 19 million orders for port, cruise and PCTC equipment

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has received orders to provide linkspans, cruise access equipment and RoRo solutions for pure car truck carriers (PCTC) from Europe and Japan. The total order value is approximately EUR 19 million. The orders were booked into Cargotec's first quarter 2019 order intake, with delivery of the MacGregor equipment planned to start during the fourth quarter 2019 and completed during the second quarter 2022.

Femern A/S launches major construction works on the Fehmarn tunnel

The political parties behind the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link project have decided to initiate a number of large construction activities in Rødbyhavn on Lolland.

GE and Nedstack Partnership Sets Sights on Zero Emission Cruise Vessels

GE’s Power Conversion business and Nedstack, a leading fuel cell manufacturer, are collaborating on developing hydrogen fuel cell systems for powering zero-emission cruise vessels. This partnership brings together GE’s recognized expertise in cruise electrical power and propulsion solutions plus system integration capability, with Nedstack’s extensive experience in megawatt-scale hydrogen fuel cell technology. The result will be highly efficient fuel cell solutions that enable a zero-emission cruise industry.

Interferry seeks step change innovation in call for conference papers

A call for papers addressing transformational change has been launched by global trade association Interferry ahead of its 44th annual conference in London this October.

ABB wins contract to power the first Chinese-built cruise vessel

In a historic deal with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (SWS), ABB will supply a comprehensive power and propulsion package for China’s first domestically built cruise ship.

Wasaline has launched a mobile application – for a more efficient way of travel

Wasaline has launched a mobile application to make booking and travelling easier. The mobile app is developed together with Carus, who also delivered the booking system along with the web booking system to Wasaline. In order to make the web booking more user-friendly Wasaline has during the past development process updated the web booking system to a new Carus Standard Web.

Davie Shipbuilding Welcomes Federal Budget 2019

Davie Shipbuilding welcomes the decision of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Transportation Minister Garneau to build three new ferries for Eastern Canada, as announced in the Federal Budget 2019.

Stena Line installs Japanese sleeping pods

In line with the continuous efforts to develop attractive and ground-breaking products and services to customers, Stena Line has installed Japanese sleeping pods on its MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN and SKÅNE vessels, operating between Rostock in Germany and Trelleborg in Sweden.

Update on the regulatory process: Closing of MacGregor's TTS acquisition postponed to Q2 2019

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, announced on 8 February, 2018 that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the marine and offshore businesses of TTS Group ASA. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals from the competition authorities in Germany, South Korea and China. MacGregor announced the approval from the German regulator on 6 November 2018 and the approval from the South Korean regulator on 27 December 2018.