What’s up St Peterline?

By | 2017 Newsletter week 47 | No Comments

Managing director of the ferry operator Moby SPL LTD Sergei Kotenev gave an interview to Russian online media ‘Expert’.

Some highlights

  • The company went from two ferries to one. This required creating a new, complex timetable.
  • Depending on which crossing, guests can stay up to 72 hours without a visa in St.Petersburg. The new element is an overnight stay on board. This initiative is successful, but not as much as SPL would like. Therefore, next year SPL plans to create a new schedule with a two-week cycle. If necessary, SPL (Moby Lines) can supply the second vessel.
  • International sanctions against Russia did only affect the visits to St. Petersburg slightly. Sergei Kotenev says that prices are very attractive for foreign visitors.
  • No relaxation of visa procedures for Russians expected in the actual political climate. However, the Russian passenger is important. Average age 35-55 years.
  • Main target markets are Scandinavia, Germany and China.
  • St. Petersburg as the cultural capital not only of Russia, but of the world. Destination with huge potential, however the political situation makes it necessary to adjust business plans every year, every quarter.
  • If business booms Moby can easily transfer a ship from the Med to the Baltic.
  • For a while SPL ran the services from the Marine Façade terminal. Since this is a passenger-only terminal the ferry operator had to move to Maritime Station where ferry cargo is accepted.
  • In winter ice-class ships are needed, and these are hard to find. A dedicated vessel should be build. Kotenev says that “we have a project for a cruise ferry, which is designed to travel more than the traditional five days.”

Ports of Ostend and Ramsgate welcome new cross Channel freight ferry operator

By | 2017 Newsletter week 41 | No Comments

Seaborne Freight will start to operate an Ostend – Ramsgate ro-ro freight service as from March, using three ships. There will be six departures a day.
Target group is accompanied freight, which means the line goes in competition with Dunkerque, Calais and the Channel Tunnel, but not with nearby port of Zeebrugge.
Four years ago Ostend and Ramsgate lost their ferry links when TransEuropa Ferries went bankrupt. Especially for Ostend, which has a long history of cross-Channel ferry services, this is excellent news.
What do we know so far?

  • The people behind Seaborne Freight have many years of Channel ferry experience (Sealink, SeaFrance, MyFerryLink).
  • One of the ships is the former ro-pax trainferry SEAFRANCE NORD PAS-DE-CALAIS. She has been operating as FRS-owned AL ANDALUS EXPRESS between Motril and Tanger-Med, and is now at anchor near Cadiz.
  • The two other ships have not been revealed yet.
  • In Ostend the service will operate from the former TransEuropa Ferries terminal.

Photo: AL ANDALUS EXPRESS ex SEAFRANCE NORD PAS-DE-CALAIS © FRS

Who is going to take Alan Klanac’s place at Jadrolinija?

By | 2017 Newsletter week 36 | No Comments

The decision to install a new Board at the state-owned ferry operator Jadrolinija still hasn’t been taken. CEO Alan Klanac’s four-year mandate expired already in May but has been extended.
Croatian sources report that up to twenty candidates were in the running to replace Mr Klanac.
Jadrolinija is in an important phase of its history, with several routes being tendered out to other operators, and with the need to renew tonnage.