GSI Shipyard launched GNV POLARIS

GNV POLARIS © GSI

GSI Shipyard launched the first of GNV’s new ro-paxes. Named GNV POLARIS, it will become 218-metres long and have a capacity for 1,500 passengers and 3,100 lanemetres of freight. Delivery is expected at the end of this year. Three more sister ships will follow, the last two being LNG-powered.

READ THE FULL STORY

MSC Group bought MOBY SHARDEN and MOBY VINCI

MOBY VINCI © Frank Lose

Shipping Italy reports that the two sisters MOBY SHARDEN and MOBY VINCI have been bought by the MSC Group, for service by GNV. The price for the pair is EUR 109 million.

Stena Line’s URD for Maritima Peregar charter

URD © Sebastian Ziehl

Maritima Peregar has chartered Stena Line’s URD for a one-year period, starting at the end of January. A purchase option is available. Maritima Peregar will use it between Malaga and Tangier Med.

PRIDE OF CANTERBURY sold for recycling

PRIDE OF CANTERBURY © Frank Lose

P&O’s 1991-built PRIDE OF CANTERBURY has been sold for recycling in Aliaga, Turkey.

4.9 million passengers travelled with Viking Line in 2023

VIKING GLORY © George Giannakis

A total of 4,897,494 (4,945,564) passengers sailed on Viking Line’s vessels in 2023. During the period June-August, there were nearly 1.8 million passengers. The company reached similar levels to the year before even though capacity was reduced, with fewer vessels than the year before. 

READ THE FULL STORY

Karin Orsel takes the helm as ECSA President, with Mikki Koskinen appointed Vice-President

Karin Orsel and Mikki Koskinen

Karin Orsel has been appointed the first female President ever in the history of ECSA, starting on 1 January 2024 for a two-year term, with Mikki Koskinen joining as the new Vice-President. She succeeds Philippos Philis, who has held the position since January 2022.

READ THE FULL STORY

Bunker One and Color Line collaborate on switch to biofuel

SUPERSPEED 1 © Anders Martinsen

For almost one month, Bunker One has supplied B100 biofuel to Color Line’s SUPERSPEED 1 and 2 ferries travelling between Hirtshals in Denmark and Larvik and Kristiansand in Norway. With this switch to biofuel, Color Line’s two passenger ferries have reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 85% on average through the biofuel quantities used.

READ THE FULL STORY

CADENA 4 sold to the Spanish MoD

CADENA 4 © Frank Lose

CLdN has sold its CADENA 4 to the Spanish MoD, who have renamed it EL CAMINO ESPANOL. CADENA 4 was chartered to Baleària & Fred. Olsen Express for service between Las Palmas and Huelva, which has now been taken over instead by the short-term chartered SEATRUCK PACE.

READ THE FULL STORY

Tallink Grupp publishes 2023 December and Q4 passenger and cargo statistics

MYSTAR © George Giannakis

Tallink Grupp has published its 2023 Q4 and December passenger and cargo statistics, which reveal a total annual 4.5% increase year-on-year in passengers carried across all group vessels. During the full year 2023, Tallink Grupp transported a total of 5,705,600 passengers across all the company’s routes which is a 4.5% increase compared to the full year 2022 (5,462,085 passengers in 2022).

READ THE FULL STORY

Wuchang Shipbuilding to build three wind-assisted ro-ro vessels for Louis Dreyfus Armateurs

The order for three new 170-metre ro-ro vessels, supported by wind-assisted rotor sails and powered by dual-fuel engines capable of running on maritime diesel oil and e-methanol, has now been placed at China’s Wuchang Shipbuilding. 

In October 2023, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) was selected by Airbus to renew its entire fleet of chartered vessels that transport aircraft subassemblies between production facilities in Europe and the United States.

READ THE FULL STORY

Maersk launches new weekly ro-ro service to the Port of Tunis Rades

Maersk announced a new transport solution connecting the growing Tunisian market to its mainliner services to and from Europe, Middle East and Asia. The new weekly service started recently and is operated with a dedicated ro-ro vessel between the Port of Rades and the connecting hub port of Cagliari in Italy. The weekly service also offers a connection between Morocco and Tunisia.

READ THE FULL STORY

Norled secured a contract for the Haugesund-Utsira route

Norled secured a contract for a route between mainland Haugesund and the small island of Utsira. The contract starts 1 May 2025, and stretches for 20 years with the possibility of being extended by another 5+5 years. Breeze Ship Design has been appointed to design the new double-ender that will operate fully electric and have a capacity for 179 passengers and 29 cars.

READ THE FULL STORY