Interferry newsletter

The US ferry BADGER has been given a deadline before which she has to convert her machinery, or she will be stopped in 2012 due to dumping coal ash in Lake Michigan. BADGER is one of few remaining coal-fired ferries still in active service. The city of Ludington, which is connected with Manitowoc on the other side of the lake by the ferry service, has been seeking a USD 14 million federal grant to repower the historic ferry, built in 1953, to diesel engines. Competing fast ferry operator Lake Express (Milwaukee - Muskegon) says that should the coal-fired ferry get grants, it would "provide an unfair market advantage". Both companies are reluctant to provide statistics of their services, however latest figures points in the direction of 100,000 passengers a year each. BADGER as well as the catamaran LAKE EXPRESS are also able to carry vehicles.
 

LD Lines is ending its Dover-Boulogne passenger service as an estimated 40% overcapacity on the cross-Channel routes fuels a rates war. P&O Ferries has already warned of possible job losses, while state-owned SeaFrance continues to trade after being placed in administration by a French tribunal which is assessing two alternative strategies for the company. LD Lines, the Louis Dreyfus Armateurs subsidiary, will operate its last Dover-Boulogne passenger ferry on September 5, but LD Lines is examining whether to launch a reduced frequency freight-only service on the route.

DFDS Seaways is replacing its single passenger and freight ferry between Scotland and Belgium with two freight only ro-ro ships from December. The Copenhagen-based operator blamed poor passenger numbers for the change on the Rosyth-Zeebrugge route, which DFDS inherited from Norfolkline, the former AP Moller-Maersk ferry subsidiary it acquired last month. It is understood that the two replacement ro-ro vessels — upping the frequency from three to four times a week — will come from within DFDS Seaways’ existing fleet, each with around 2,000 lane metres. They have not been named. In a statement, DFDS Seaways said: “The route’s current ro-pax product concept has proven not to be financially viable due to insufficient passenger demand, while demand from freight customers has met expectations.”

Another Zanzibar Ferry from IncatCrowther

Danish operator, Nordic Ferry Services, has firmed up a contract with Sietas Werft in Hamburg for a third sister vessel to the two already ordered. The first of the three will be placed in the Samsö traffic, while the other two will ply Spodsbjerg - Tårs. The capacity is 600 passengers and 122 cars.
 

The Italian government has reiterated its commitment to privatising state-owned ferry company Tirrenia di Navigazione in one piece, rather than splitting it up. Transport minister Altero Matteoli told Bloomberg that both he and the company’s administrator remained determined to sell the bankrupt company as one entity, following the breakdown of talks between the government and prospective buyer Mediterranea Holding. Rome’s court of bankruptcy subsequently ruled on August 5 that the company was technically insolvent, and approved “emergency financial provisions” to keep its vessels sailing. Parts of the company have already been broken off. Subsidiaries have been given to the regional governments of Campania, Tuscany and Sardinia, and its remaining subsidiary is Siremar, operating services between Sicily and the Italian mainland, while the parent company also runs service from Italy to Sardinia, Corsica and Albania. Overall Tirrenia has a fleet of 62 ferry, ro-pax and freight vessels.

Rescuers have brought 70 passengers to the shore after a ferry sank in stormy weather in eastern Indonesia, leaving 10 dead and one missing. 'Hastina III' capsized at 0900 local time (0100 GMT) on Monday after a huge wave slammed into the wooden ship, sending panicked passengers running to one side. The provincial governor ordered the police to question the vessel's operator over claims that it was crammed with passengers beyond capacity, causing it to capsize. A spokesman for the National Search and Rescue Agency said the ferry had been carrying 88 passengers despite only 60 being listed on the boat manifest.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands with a 235 million population is heavily dependent on ferries as a main source of transportation, but fatal accidents are common due to poor safety record and overcrowding. In January last year, 335 people were killed when an overcrowded ferry sank off Sulawesi island. And in December 2006, a ferry went down in a storm off the coast of Java, killing more than 500 people.

The financial holding company of the Italian state, Fintecna, has announced it has decided against the privatisation of ferry operator Tirrenia. The decision follows the failure of the only declared bidder for the group, Mediterranea Holding di Navigazione, to meet the deadline by which a contract had to be signed. Tirrenia, which has been in the red for a number of years, employs 3,500 staff and operates ferry services between major Italian ports as well as to Sicily, Sardinia, Tunisia, Albania and Croatia. Its fleet includes several freighter vessels. Mediterranea Holding, which made an offer of €25 million (US$33m) for Tirrenia, as well as taking on its debts estimated at €520 million, had asked for more time to negotiate with its banks but Fintecna turned down the request.
 

Aulminium Boats Australia Scoops Award

The Hawaii Superferry's two decommissioned vessels -- the Alakai and Huakai -- are sitting in a Norfolk, Virginia shipyard waiting to be sold in a court-ordered auction more than a year after the ferry operator filed for bankruptcy. The two catamarans are in the possession of the U.S. Maritime Administration -- a federal agency that provided a $140 million loan to Hawaii Superferry in 2005 -- and will be sold to the highest bidder once the bankruptcy court that is handling the case sets an auction date. Agency officials said they expect the court to set a sale date soon.