Shippax News Bulletin – 49
Viking Line confirms sale of ROSELLA
ROSELLA © Dietmar Hasenpusch
Viking Line have confirmed the sale of ROSELLA to Greek Aegean Sealines Maritime Co (Aegean Speed Lines) as part of its fleet modernization programme.
ROSELLA has served in Viking Line’s fleet since 1980 and will now sail under a Greek flag and serve the Aegean Sea with its new owner.
Mississippi river cruise concept by Knud E. Hansen
The Mississippi river cruise concept by Knud E. Hansen is an 100-metre river cruise vessel for operation on US rivers for itineraries of a range up to 14 days with maximum 220 passengers onboard. The design of the vessel will be based on green technology and the vessel can be fueled with eFuel and ships systems are designed for zero discharge.
Short-term charter extension agreement signed for Tallink's ISABELLE
ISABELLE © Jukka Huotari
AS Tallink Grupp and Estonian Social Insurance Board have signed a short-term time-charter extension agreement for the vessel ISABELLE. The vessel will continue its charter to the Estonian authorities from 8 December 2022 for another six months with an 1+1 month extension option.
Rauma shipyard will deliver MYSTAR to Tallink on 7 December 2022
© RMC
Tallink Superfast Ltd, a subsidiary of AS Tallink Grupp, took delivery of the new fast passenger ferry MYSTAR from Rauma Marine Constructions shipyard on 7 December.
MYSTAR arrived from its last sea trial last weekend. The results of the trial were good, and the previous technical findings were sorted out. The newest vessel in the Baltic Sea, MYSTAR, have therefore now been delivered to Tallink.
The first commercial voyage of MYSTAR will take place on 13 December 2022, departing from Tallinn to Helsinki at 1.30 pm local time.
Stena AB Q3 2022 financial results
Stena AB released its Q3 financial report for 2022, showing revenues from the ferry operations increased to SEK 5,611 million (SEK 3,800 million), while EBITDA ended at SEK 2,126 million (SEK 1,565 million).
The report also confirmed the sale of the ro-pax CONNEMARA to New Zealand’s Bluebridge in October.
Corsica Linea’s A GALEOTTA delivered
© Corsica Linea
Corsica Linea have received its latest fleet addition, the LNG-powered A GALEOTTA. Official handover of the vessel from the Visentini shipyard was on 6 December.
Designed by NAOS Ship & Boat Design, the vessel will become Corsica Linea’s new flagship on the company’s Marseille to Ajaccio/Bastia route.
Yard No. 238 at Visentini measures 206.6m length o.a., 28.2m beam and has a full load draught of 6.7m.
Viking Line chooses Finnish flag for VIKING XPRS
© Jukka Huotari
Viking Line Abp has decided to register VIKING XPRS in the Finnish Register of Ships. The vessel, which began service in 2008, has been registered in Estonia since 2014.
The decision to register the vessel in Finland was made in order to make it easier to recruit staff and enable the company to administer all of its staff without any intermediaries. The goal is to have the reflagging work completed during the first quarter of 2023.
China Merchants Energy Shipping signs LOI for up to six 9,000 CEU capacity, methanol-capable PCTC’s
China Merchants Industry Holdings has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with state-owned China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) for up to six 9,000 CEU capacity, methanol-capable PCTC’s, in a deal worth USD 597 million. The newbuildings will be operated by CMES’ subsidiary China Merchants Guangzhou RoRo Shipping Co Ltd (CMRORO).
Moby Lines PRINCESS ANASTASIA about to return to service in the Mediterranean as MOBY ORLI
PRINCESS ANASTASIA © Jukka Huotari
Following an extensive drydocking and upgrade project at the Palumbo Messina Shipyard in Sicily, Moby Lines former Baltic cruise ferry PRINCESS ANASTASIA is set to return to service in the Mediterranean, on a route yet to be specified, as MOBY ORLI.
Tenders invited for uncompleted third cruise ship originally intended for Swan Hellenic
Helsinki Shipyard has started to invite tenders for the uncompleted third cruise ship originally intended for Swan Hellenic.
Naikai Zosen delivered RYUKYU EXPRESS 7 to A Line
© Naikai Zosen
Naikai Zosen’s Innoshima shipyard delivered RYUKYU EXPRESS 7 to Amami, Kagoshima-based Marue Ferry (A Line) on 2 December 2022.
RYUKYU EXPRESS 7 is set to enter service on the Tokyo-Nagoya-Shibushi (Kagoshima)-Naha (Okinawa) route from Tokyo on 8 December 2022.
AS Tallink Grupp Statistics for November 2022
In November 2022, AS Tallink Grupp transported 378,540 passengers, which is a 7.6% increase compared to November 2021. The number of cargo units decreased by 5.6% to 33,502 units and the number of passenger vehicles increased by 5.1% to 52,688 units in the same comparison.
BALTIC PRINCESS operates from Turku to Stockholm in the summer season of 2023
BALTIC PRINCESS © Jukka Huotari
Tallink Silja’s BALTIC PRINCESS returns to the Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm route for the summer season: from 22 May 2023 to 3 September 2023. The ship has been operating on the Turku-Långnäs-Kapellskär route since September 2022, and the 22h-cruises will continue from Turku on the current schedule until 21 May 2023, and again after the summer season from 4 September 2023.
China’s GSI floated out MOBY LEGACY and starts construction of the first of GNV’s new ro-pax ferries
MOBY LEGACY © Moby
In the space of a matter of days, China’s Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) has floated out one large newbuilding ro-pax ferry for Italian operator Moby Lines and started the construction of the first of a series for operation by another Italian operator, Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV).
The second of two new large ro-pax ferries building for Italy's Moby Lines, MOBY LEGACY, was floated out on 1 December, sistership to MOBY FANTASY, floated out in early November 2021 and about to be delivered shortly. Both vessels have been contracted to service Moby Lines' service from mainland Italy (Livorno) and Sardinia (Olbia).
Meanwhile, GSI has also started the construction of the first of two 218m ro-pax ferries for MSC, which will be operated by Italy's GNV and delivered late 2024 / early 2025.
VIKING GRACE welcomed its tenth million passenger
VIKING GRACE launched a new era on its Turku–Stockholm route in 2013. The climate-smart vessel, which rejuvenated the traditional cruise experience, has now served ten million passengers. Today sister vessels VIKING GRACE and VIKING GLORY are the only ones to offer a maritime link from the centre of the former Finnish capital to the heart of Sweden.
How Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells Could Save the Maritime Sector, Reports IDTechEx
It is becoming prosaic to say there is no ‘silver bullet’ for marine decarbonization. But it might be fitting to say ‘multiple silver bullets’ are emerging since between batteries, fuel cells (FC), green hydrogen, green ammonia, e-methane and carbon capture, decarbonization across all marine subsegments might just be possible. IDTechEx sees green fuels as one of the most promising solutions to decarbonize large sea-going vessels.
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