FerryNews News – Issue May 2023

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the May issue of FährNews Aktuell in 2023. This month again saw many very exciting developments in the ferry industry. Today’s topics include the launch of the Polferries newbuilding, various new charter contracts and the impending insolvency of ANEK Lines.

So stay tuned until the end to make sure you don’t miss anything!

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And here is the entire May issue of FährNews Aktuell once again for you to read:

1 Stena Line takes over ferry and RoRo port in Ventspils

[1] Stena Line announced on May 9 that it has taken over the operation of the ferry and RoRo terminal in the Latvian port of Ventspils. Stena Line is thus continuing a series of investments in the Baltic Sea region, including the acquisition of improved ferries and the creation of new ferry routes.

Stena Line has already been operating a route between Ventspils and the Swedish port of Nynäshamn since 2012.

[2] The commitment in Latvia enables the shipping company to further expand in the region, not least due to Latvia’s growing importance as a maritime nation with increasing trade volumes.

[1] “The Baltic Sea is an important growth region for Stena Line, and our investment in Ventspils shows how committed we are to developing our business with Latvia,” says Niclas Mårtensson, CEO of Stena Line. He continues, “With this strategic move, we have secured a long-term position in an important part of our European network, and I look forward to working with our customers and partners to expand further in the region.”

The acquisition of the ferry and RoRo port operations is subject to the approval of the competition authorities. Commercial details of the agreement are not disclosed.

2 Launching for Polferries newbuilding

[3] Construction of the latest Visentini-class ferry destined for Polferries has been launched at Cantiere Navale Visentini in Italy and is scheduled to enter service in the second half of 2024. The ship is initially to be chartered out to Polferries by a subsidiary of the shipyard for a period of 10 years, with a purchase option to 6 years. The new building is 216m long, 28m wide and offers space for vehicles to 3000 loading meters. Up to 1000 passengers can travel on to ferry, it also has the possibility of being powered by LNG.

The ship belongs to the latest version of the Visentini class and is very similar to A GALEOTTA, recently commissioned for Corsica Linea. You can read more about the new Polferries building in last year’s August issue.

3 MANXMAN delivered

[4] The new ro-pax ferry MANXMAN was delivered to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company by South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. The MANXMAN is to be used primarily to Douglas-Heysham route, which connects the Isle of Man with England via the Irish Sea. Seasonal departures are also planned from Dougles to Belfast in Ireland and Liverpool to England. The MANXMAN is intended to serve as a larger replacement for the BEN-MY-CHREE. It has a capacity of 949 passengers, while the BEN-MY-CHREE can carry only 630 passengers.

[5] According to the shipping company, the latter will continue to be available as a reserve ship.

[4] The MANXMAN measures 133m in length and 32m in width, which is the maximum dimensions to call at the port of Heysham in England.

[6] Exact details of the loading meters are not known to us at present, but it should be possible to transport up to 300 cars, and the general loading capacity should be increased by approx. 10% compared to the BEN-MY-CHREE.

[5] Despite its limited dimensions, the ship has considerable facilities, with various lounges, a bar, a café and a cafeteria, as well as areas for children and families and travelers with pets, and a diverse range of cabins.

[4] Currently, the ferry is still to its delivery voyage to Europe, which began on Saturday, May 13 and is expected to take a total of about 30 days, followed by a stopover on the south coast of England for final outfitting.

4 Baleària charters VISBORG

[7] The Spanish ferry company Baleària has chartered the VISBORG from Destination Gotland. This will operate between Almeria in southern Spain and Nador in Morocco. The VISBORG, built in 2003, arrived in Almeria, Spain, on May 15 to a transfer trip from Klaipėda.

[8] The 195m long and 25m wide ferry was built in 2003 and has a capacity of 1500 passengers, as well as 1600 lane meters for vehicles.

We do not know at this time how long the VISBORG will remain in service with Baleària.

5 CAP DE BARBARIA delivered

[9] Let’s stay with Baleària for a moment. The new ferry CAP DE BARBARIA, which will operate for Baleària between Ibiza and Formentera, was delivered by the shipyard Armon de Vigo. The hybrid-electric ferry enables emission-free arrival and stay in port and is prepared for operation with hydrogen. Baleària will use the CAP DE BARBARIA as a test laboratory for the use of green hydrogen on a small scale.

The CAP DE BARBARIA is 82 meters long, 15.5 meters wide and can sail at speeds of up to 14 knots. On 240 lane meters it can transport about 14 trucks as well as 390 passengers. Designed as a double-ended ferry, the vessel’s 360-degree electric azimuth propulsion system allows for great maneuverability during docking, casting off and maneuvers. The ship has an energy storage system with lithium batteries that enables a self-sufficient stay in port of up to twelve hours. In addition, the ferry can be supplied by shore power.

6 Corsica Linea charters CALLISTE

[10] Corsica Linea will charter the ferry KALLISTE for three months, from June 15 to September 15, from La Méridionale for additional trips to Algeria from Marseille and Sète. The Algerian ports of call are Bejaïa, Skikda and Annaba. The KALLISTE is currently being overhauled in Santander and prepared to its deployment.

[11] The ferry, put into service in 1993, has a length of 165m, a width of 29m, a capacity for 500 passengers and 2340 lane meters for vehicles.

7 New line at Seajets

[12] Seajets reports opening a new North Aegean route in summer 2023. This route is scheduled to be operated by CHAMPION JET 1 from July 04, 2023 to August 31, 2023. The new line connects the port of Thessaloniki with the island of Limnos and the island of Lesbos. Departure from Thessaloniki is every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 7:00 am, return is scheduled for 10:00 pm the same day.

[13] Seajets now operates a total of 10 domestic Greek routes with the new line.

8 BLUE STAR CHIOS replaces PREVELIS

[14] “The tireless worker”, as the PREVELIS is called among Greek ferry friends, is leaving the Piraeus – Rhodes route to more than 14 years. It will be replaced by the BLUE STAR CHIOS, which will operate the route until October 31. The replacement significantly shortens the duration of the crossing due to the higher speed of the BLUE STAR CHIOS. In addition, a stopover to island of Milos is omitted without replacement.

In the last issue of FährNews Aktuell we reported that EL. VENIZELOS will replace the ferry BLUE GALAXY. A connection with this time’s announcement is quite possible, so the route may again be operated by an ANEK Lines ferry at the end of October. As always, we’ll keep you to.

9 Impending insolvency of ANEK Lines

[15] With the Competition Commission’s decision on the merger of ANEK Lines with Attica Group still pending, there is growing concern about ANEK’s future. At minus 61.4 million euros, the annual financial statements to a clear downward trend.

At the same time, ANEK management points out that the merger between Attica and ANEK is considered mandatory due to the accumulated problems of the company. With the Competition Commission’s decision not expected before the fall, ANEK faces tough times ahead. The company itself states in the report of the Board of Directors for fiscal year 2022 that “the liquidity of the company has deteriorated significantly in recent years due to the loss-making results, which has also led to difficulties in servicing current obligations. The restoration of working capital requires the completion of the corporate transformation through the merger process with the acquisition of ANEK by Attica.”

The Competition Commission is examining the case with great care, paying particular attention to the joint business policy already pursued for many years within the framework of a joint venture established by the two shipping companies.

The competition law of the European Union allows a merger of two companies if one of the two companies is in severe financial difficulties and the following further three conditions are met:

1. The allegedly struggling company’s financial difficulties will force it to exit the market in the near future unless it is acquired by another company.
2. There is no other acquisition option besides the notified concentration that is less harmful to competition.
3. The firm in difficulty will inevitably cease to operate in to market without a merger.

All three conditions are met in the case of ANEK. Now the decision lies with the Competition Commission.

We’ll to keep you posted to how the whole story continues.

10 FerryNews News to read

Finally, a message on our own behalf: Retroactive to the April issue of FährNews Aktuell, you from have the opportunity to read the entire issue again in writing. This is made possible by a new cooperation between FährNews and faehren.net. from faehren.net under the tab “News” you will find our editions of FährNews Aktuell in written form. If you want to be one of the first to be informed when the script is online, please register there directly for the free newsletter. This way you are always to to date.

That’s it for the May issue of FährNews Aktuell. If you want to be well informed about the world of ferry shipping in the future, feel free to leave a subscription now to support the channel and not miss anything in the future.

If you would like to learn more about the latest developments in the ferry industry, take a look at the latest issue of FährNews Aktuell. Among other things, it was about the new catamaran for the Gotland service and the charter of the CRUISE SMERALDA by Finnlines. Have fun and see you soon!

11 sources

• [1] “Stena Line acquires the ferry and RoRo port operations in Ventspils, Latvia and continues expanding in the Baltic Sea,” News Powered by Cision, May 9, 2023. https://news.cision.com/stena-line/r/stena-line-acquires-the-ferry-and-roro-port-operations-in-ventspils–latvia-and-continues-expanding-,c3766891 (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [2] C. Ferry, “Stena Line takes over ferry and RoRo port operations in Ventspils ”’ faehren.net,” Faehren.net, May 12, 2023. faehren.net(accessed May 23, 2023).
• [3] sandra, “New ro-pax for Polferries launched at Cantiere Navale Visentini (VIDEO)”, Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/new-ro-pax-for-polferries-launched-at-cantiere-navale-visentini-video/ (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [4] “Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s MANXMAN delivered,” Shippax. https://www.shippax.com/en/news/isle-of-man-steam-packet-companys-manxman-delivered.aspx (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [5] “New Vessel, Manxman – Frequently Asked Questions”, Steam Packet – Official Blog, October 24, 2022. https://www.steam-packet.com/blog/new-vessel-manxman-frequently-asked-questions/ (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [6] “Manxman ferry (Isle of Man Steam Packet Company) | CruiseMapper”. https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Manxman-ferry-1744 (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [7] “Baleària charters ro-pax VISBORG to operate between Almeria and Nador”, Shippax. https://www.shippax.com/en/news/baleria-charters-ro-pax-visborg-to-operate-between-almeria-and-nador.aspx (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [8] “The ferry site”. http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=9223784&lang=en (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [9] “Baleària’s hybrid electric H2 Ready ferry CAP DE BARBARIA delivered”, Shippax. https://www.shippax.com/en/news/balerias-hybrid-electric-h2-ready-ferry-cap-de-barbaria-delivered.aspx (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [10] sandra, “Corsica Linea to charter KALLISTE for Algeria route from Marseille and Sète”, Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/corsica-linea-to-charter-kalliste-for-algeria-route-from-marseille-and-sete/ (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [11] “The ferry site. http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=9050618&lang=en (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [12] sandra, “New line in North Aegean for Seajets,” Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/new-line-in-north-aegean-for-seajets/ (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [13] “Seajets,” Wikipedia. May 19, 2023. Accessed May 23, 2023. [Online]. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seajets&oldid=1155793200#Current_operations
• [14] sandra, “BLUE STAR CHIOS enters service on the Piraeus-Santorini-Crete-Dodekanissos long run on May 5”, Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/blue-star-chios-enters-service-on-the-piraeus-santorini-crete-dodekanissos-long-run-on-may-5/ (accessed May 23, 2023).
• [15] “Αγωνία για το μέλλον της ΑΝΕΚ εν αναμονή της απόφασης την Επιτροπή Ανταγωνισμού – HANIA.news”, May 7, 2023. %ce%(accessed May 23, 2023).

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