Shippax Newsletter– week 39

This week Shippax visited BALTIC QUEEN in Stockholm to plan for our conference onboard it in May next year. The ship just returned after spending two weeks at the BLRT Repair Yards for refurbishments and upgrades and looks fantastic! You will find photos from that on our social media, LinkedIn and Facebook

Many news this week about various sail technologies it seems...

Have a great weekend

MacGregor ro-ro equipment for two of the world´s first PCTCs using methanol

CMES © Deltamarin

MacGregor has been chosen to deliver ro-ro equipment for two of the world's first methanol-fueled PCTCs for China Merchant Energy Shipping to be built at China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. in China.The order was booked into Cargotec’s 2023 third quarter orders. The vessels are to be delivered to the owner between the third and fourth quarter of 2025.

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Torghatten Nord sells RØST to the Icelandic government

RØST © Torghatten Nord

Norwegian ferry operator Torghatten Nord has sold its 1991-built ro-pax ferry RØST to the Icelandic government for an undisclosed price. The ferry has already arrived in Iceland to start its service.

RØST will replace the 1979-built ferry BALDUR on the year-round service linking Stykishólmur-Flatey-Brjánslækur, on the west coast of Iceland. This service is operated by Eimskip Seatours.

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bound4blue to install three suction sails on VILLE DE BORDEAUX

VILLE DE BORDEAUX © bound4blue

Airbus will equip one of the vessels it uses to transport aircraft subassemblies, chartered from shipowner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, with a wind-assisted propulsion technology that captures wind energy to generate thrust and, therefore, delivers savings in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The eSAIL®, developed by the Spain-based firm bound4blue, creates as much as six to seven times more lift than a conventional rigid sail.

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P&O Ferries reported strong summer traffic

P&O PIONEER © Julien Carpentier

P&O Ferries saw rises across its network during the summer. From June to August 2023, a 71 per cent increase was seen in freight volumes on the Dover-Calais route compared to the summer of 2022, equalling to a market share of 46 per cent. An overall 35 per cent growth in freight volumes across all routes was also seen.

As well as the increases in freight, P&O Ferries also received a boost in passenger numbers. Summer holiday passengers flocked to the new P&O PIONEER as the Dover-Calais route saw a 48 per cent increase in passengers compared to the previous year, with 1.3 million passengers travelling across the Channel with P&O Ferries from June to August.

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Discover Ferries welcomes a new Chair and Vice Chair

Abby Penlington, Director; Jo Harvey, Vice Chair; Peter Griffiths, Chair and Nigel Wonnacott, former Chair

Industry body, Discover Ferries, has appointed Peter Griffiths and Jo Harvey as the new chair and vice chair. The organisation represents 13 passenger ferry operators to proactively promote ferry travel to consumers and share industry best practice.

Peter Griffiths is responsible for brand and marketing at Caledonian MacBrayne, the UK’s largest ferry fleet which services 50 routes with 35 vessels on the west coast of Scotland.

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Wingsail designer and manufacturer AYRO secures EUR 19 million series B financing round

CANOPEE © Jifmar Group / Tom Van Oossanen

AYRO, the designer and manufacturer of the OceanWings® wingsail solution announced the close of a EUR 19.2 million series B round, led by Blue Ocean, managed by SWEN Capital Partners, which brings the total funding for the company to over EUR 30 million.

In July, AYRO installed four 40 metre high / 363 m2 OceanWings® 363 wingsails on the CANOPEE, a vessel dedicated to transporting Ariane 6 space launch system components from Europe to French Guiana, which will enable a 30% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions over its regular route.

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Brittany Ferries announces the use of the Wisamo inflatable sail prototype on MN PELICAN

The crew of the MN PELICAN is preparing to use, starting this week, the Wisamo (Wing Sails Mobility) inflatable sail prototype from the Michelin group. The wing is expected to be used for 6 to 8 hours over a 30-hour crossing. The Wisamo inflatable sail is a wing measuring 100 m² which was installed on the ship in November 2022.

The Michelin Group estimates that the wing will reduce the ship's fuel consumption by up to 20% on average. The trials in the Bay of Biscay will focus more on the efficiency and functioning of the prototype.

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Meyer Werft starts production of ASUKA III cruise ship for NYK Cruises

ASUKA III steel cut ceremony © Meyer Werft

Construction of the new LNG-powered cruise ship for NYK Cruises, a company of the Japanese shipping group NYK, has now begun at Meyer Werft with the symbolic steel cutting ceremony. The ship will be named ASUKA III and is scheduled for delivery in 2025.

The 52,200 gt ASUKA III will have a length of 230 metres and a width of 29.8 metres, it will offer space for 744 passengers.

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Gotlandsbolaget invests in biogas on Gotland

Gotlandsbolaget invests and becomes a partner in EnergiSkiftet Sverige AB on Gotland. The investment lays the foundation for continued aggressive growth of the biogas investment on Gotland and enables increased access to biogas. EnergiSkiftet Sverige AB is a parent company of Biogas Gotland, BroGas and Gotlands Fastbränsle and Gotlandsbolaget thereby becomes a minority owner.

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