Following the engine room fire, DFDS decided to have the ship towed to Fayard in Odense, Denmark, where she arrived on May 22. DFDS says it will take several months before the ship is back in service.
Photo: DFDS
Stena Line decided to stop the cooperation with TT Line on the route Rostock – Trelleborg. The two companies worked together for two years on this route, under a swap agreement.
TT Line writes on its website that the cooperation will end on September 15.
The question is now who will bring in most capacity on this route. TT Line writes that, “by utilizing its six vessels to and from Rostock, TT-Line will be able to be more responsive to customer needs for quality and capacity.”
Photo: The lengthening of PETER PAN, seen here in Rostock, is still not finished, after some problems occurred during sea trials. She is due to enter service in June. Photo Mike Louagie
Corvus Energy has been selected by Norwegian Electric System (NES) to supply lithium ion battery-based energy storage systems (ESS) for two new all-electric ferries being built by Havyard for Fjord1. The ferries will operate on the Magerholm-Sykkylven route.
This follows a previous order in November 2017 to supply the ESSs for three similar newbuilt Fjord1 ferries that will operate on the Hareid-Sulesund route.
Rolls-Royce and Finferries have signed a collaboration agreement to develop solutions to optimize the safety and efficiency of marine operations through developing the technology for decision supporting systems, and to demonstrate remote and autonomous ferry operations.
A key focus of the collaboration will be a new research project, called SVAN (Safer Vessel with Autonomous Navigation).
Deltamarin wrote an article about Viking Line and their efforts to operate in a more environmental-friendly way. Main focus is on the use of wind energy as an additional source of thrust on board their vessels.
Fresh Money For The New Halmstad Ferry Terminal
Stena Line can start to operate its ferry from Halmstad instead of Varberg as from this autumn. The port management committee has approved an additional budget of SEK 126 million to build a new ferry terminal in Halmstad.
Stena Line signed a ten-year agreement for its ferry service to Grenaa in Denmark.
Photo: STENA NAUTICA leaving Varberg. Soon it will be Halmstad instead. © Mike Louagie
Virtu Ferries Not Happy With Government Decisions
Virtu Ferries, the operators of the fast catamaran service between Malta and Sicily, launched a legal challenge contesting the selection of Islands Ferry Network Ltd by the Gozo Ministry. The latter has been selected as partner to Gozo Channel.
According to Virtu, the selected company, which was officially registered just a few days before the public announcement, did not have the necessary experience and resources to carry out such a service.
Virtu is also challenging a tender issued by Transport Malta that is connected to the provision of Malta-Gozo ferry services and the provision of government subsidies for the operation.
The Barreras shipyard in Vigo has entered into a preliminary agreement to build two of the new vessels for Havila, the company that is going to operate a part of the Norwegian coastal express service, now run by Hurtigruten.
Two other ships will be built by the group’s own shipyard Havyard in Norway.
The ships have to be ready in 2021.
Barreras states in a newsletter that the contract price for the LNG-powered ships is around €200 million per ship.
A ferry service from Rosyth is not dead in the water, according to a local Member of Parliament. DFDS recently decided to pull the plug from the Zeebrugge – Rosyth service.
The administrative court of Lille (France) has condemned the French State to pay €480,000 to the port of Calais. The port has suffered losses due to the non-intervention of the police to end the blockage of the ferry terminal by MyFerryLink strikers in 2015.
The police said it did not intervene because of the migrant crisis at the same time.
