Industry News
News from Europe
Apr 30, 2010
From ShipPax Information
Sweden
Stena Line has purchased a 51% in the port of Karlskrona Hamn for SEK 127.5m. Commenting on the purchase, Stena Line said that as majority owner they now have a better possibility to expand the port's activity as a future hub for traffic to the Baltic States and Russia. Later this year. the the STENA GERMANICA and STENA SCANDINAVICA will use the port on Stena's Gdynia route.
Germany
Flensburger shipyard has launched CEMIL BAYÜLGEN. It is the last in a series of 14 ro-ro vessels for Turkish operator UN Ro-Ro. Due for delivery in July, the 3,735 lanem vessel will most likely operate on the Istanbul to Trieste service.
Spain
Austal Launches Ferry for Malta
Apr 28, 2010
From Austal
The Jean de la Valette will operate between Malta and Italy for Virtu Ferries. The 107 metre catamaran has the capacity to carry 800 passengers and 156 cars at a speed of approximately 39 knots powered by four MTU engines. In August it is scheduled to join Virtu Ferries’ existing 68 metre Austal vehicle ferry Maria Dolores. Managing Director Francis Portelli said the company was impressed with the speed of construction and quality of workmanship.
Virtu Ferries have been operating high speed ferries between Malta and Sicily since 1988. Venezia Lines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Virtu Ferries, has run a six month seasonal service between Venice and eight Adriatic ports in Slovenia and Croatia since 2001. Two high speed passenger ferries are deployed on this service, with a third to be introduced this year. Another high speed vehicle-passenger ferry operates between Bari (Italy) and Durres in Albania.
Alaska Yard Launches Multi-Functional Ferry
Apr 21, 2010
From Marine Log
Alaska Ship & Drydock, Ketchikan, Alaska, has launched what could well be the world's most unusual ferry. For a start, the Susitna is being funded by the Office of Naval Research Sea Warfare and Weapons Department. To be operated on Cook Inlet services by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, which will own it, Susitna will have three distinct modes of operation: a catamaran mode for high speeds; a small-water-area-twin-hull (SWATH) mode for stability in high sea states; and a shallow-draft landing-craft mode that provides substantial buoyancy for maneuvering in shallow water. In addition, the Susitna will be the world's first ice-breaking twin-hulled vessel. The ship is designed with a center "barge" that can be hydraulically raised and lowered, while the buoyancy of its catamaran hulls can be adjusted while under way. ONR also is interested in the vessel's transformational hull form as a technology demonstrator to support Navy sea basing and expeditionary warfare concepts.
The Sustina has a length of 59m with capacity for 100 passengers and 20 vehicles. Four MTU diesels provide a speed of 20 knots. It is expected to enter service this fall.
Ferries Allowed to Exceed Passenger Limits
Apr 20, 2010
From Lloyd’s List
Exemption for Dover Straits
Britain’s Department for Transport is allowing Dover ferry operators to carry passengers in numbers that would normally be illegal under rules against overloading, in a bid to repatriate travellers stranded by the aviation crisis. French authorities are understood to have made similar provisions for French concerns. The decision was made necessary by last week’s eruption of a volcano in Iceland, forcing the cancellation of the vast majority of airline flights across Europe because it is unsafe to allow jet engines to take in the resultant dust.
All this is possible under a get-out clause in chapter III of Solas, which states: “[An] administration may, if it considers that the sheltered nature and conditions of the voyage are such as to render the application of any specific requirements of this chapter unreasonable or unnecessary, exempt from those requirements individual ships or classes of ships which, in the course of their voyage, do not proceed more than 20 miles from the nearest land.”
New CEO for Bornholmstrafikken
Apr 16, 2010
From ShipPax Information
In Denmark John Steen-Mikkelsen is leaving his position as COO of Scandlines and will become Bornholmstrafikken’s new CEO. Scandlines has been in the news lately with the resignation of CEO Michael Hassing and the ordering of two new ferries.
Interferry Member News Release
Apr 14, 2010
Deltamarin Wins Design and Engineering Contract for Norwegain Ferries
EU Dispute over Passenger Rights
Apr 7, 2010
From Lloyd’s List
The European Commission is “deeply concerned” by attempts to water down European Union legislation on maritime passenger rights. Changes introduced by national governments to the draft legislation lowered the level of protection for passengers and reduced “considerably” the number of ships to which the law would be applicable, the commission said.
Behind the protests are attempts by governments, in particular Mediterranean states, to exempt large numbers of small vessels from the draft regulation obliging ferry operators to provide passengers with accommodation in certain cases of denied boarding. Governments also want to exempt ferry companies from compensating passengers under “exceptional circumstances” if crossings are delayed. While the changes go too far for the commission, for the Greek government they do not go far enough. Athens, concerned the proposed law will hit small island operators, wants a wider set of exemptions introduced.
Interferry Member News Release
Apr 1, 2010
Aluminium Boats Australia delivers One2Three designed cat to Sunferries
Stena Tests Air Cushion Concept
Mar 31, 2010
From Marine Log
Stena Teknik is using a 15m long ship prototype to evaluate the extent to which an air cushion can reduce the friction between a ship's hull and the water. Named Stena Airmax the 15 m technology demonstrator is a prototype for a 182 m full scale ship. The large scale model, which weighs around 25 tons, has been developed following very good results achieved in tests with small ship models. Five years ago, Stena Teknik initiated a development project in order to find a method of reducing a ship's water resistance, thus radically reducing energy utilzsation and fuel consumption. "The results of the tests carried out are very promising. Depending on the type of ship and speed, we expect energy savings of 20-30 percent, " says Ulf G. Ryder, President and CEO of Stena Bulk.