FährNews Aktuell – Issue April 2023

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the April edition of FährNews Aktuell in 2023. This month has once again seen some very exciting developments in the ferry industry. Today’s topics include the chartering of two Tallink ships, a new catamaran for the Gotland service and the delivery of the MOBY FANTASY.

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

https://youtu.be/FHeKTxdYSnc

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

1 Tallink Grupp charters out STAR and ISABELLE

[1] Tallink Grupp has signed a contract with Irish Continental Group plc for the long-term charter of the Ferry STAR. The vessel will be chartered for 20 months with the possibility to extend the charter for 2+2 years and will also be provided with a purchase option.

The Estonian-flagged shuttle ferry STAR was put into service on the Tallinn-Helsinki route in 2007 and has been operating on this route between the Estonian and Finnish capitals ever since. Since MYSTAR entered service last December, it has been offering a shuttle light concept service between the two capitals, with reduced daily departures and a slightly reduced service on board.

The STAR has been chartered to Irish Continental Group plc from May 5, 2023 and will initially enter service as OSCAR WILDE for Irish Ferries on the Rosslare in Ireland and Pembroke in Wales route at the beginning of June, replacing the BLUE STAR 1 chartered by Blue Star Ferries for the busy summer period.

“We have been looking for alternative uses for our STAR ship for some time, and the search became even more focused as the arrival of our new shuttle MYSTAR approached last year. There has been a lot of interest in chartering the vessel in recent years and I am delighted that we have now secured a good deal with Irish Continental Group plc. This type of alternative work for our ships was and is a good solution that strengthens our company and increases revenue after a long period of crisis,” says Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp.

The last departure of STAR this spring will be from Helsinki to Tallinn on the evening of May 1, 2023. Passengers who have purchased tickets for STAR departures after May 1 will be contacted and given alternative travel options on the company’s other ships.

[2] Tallink Grupp has also signed a contract with the Canadian company Bridgemans Floatel LP for a multi-year charter of the vessel ISABELLE with an option to purchase. The Latvian-flagged ISABELLE, which was in service on the company’s Riga-Stockholm route before the Covid pandemic and has been accommodating Ukrainian refugees in Tallinn since April 2022 under a charter agreement with the Estonian government, will be chartered to Bridgemans from July 1, 2023. Tallink Grupp’s current contract with the Estonian Social Insurance Institution ends in June 2023. There are currently around 900 Ukrainian refugees still living on board the ship. The Estonian authorities have plans for alternative accommodation for the refugees after the contract with Tallink ends.
“We are very excited about this new contract for our ship ISABELLE – a deal that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our bottom line. In recent years, chartering our ships has provided us with a good alternative source of income and an important buffer in times of difficult travel restrictions. Our ships and crews have proven to be invaluable partners at global summits as well as in the relief efforts related to the war in Ukraine. And there are many reasons why chartering ships with long-term contracts makes good business sense for us. First and foremost, it is a combination of the ongoing economic uncertainties, low consumer confidence and significant pressure from rising costs, such as the wage increases due to the recently signed new collective agreement, the slower than expected recovery in passenger numbers and lower demand,” says Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp.

The ISABELLE is expected to remain in Tallinn for refurbishment before sailing to Canada later this year.

2 New catamaran planned for Gotland service

[3] The Swedish Rederi AB Gotland, also known as Gotlandsbolaget, and the well-known Australian shipyard Austal have signed a letter of intent for the construction of a new catamaran for Gotlandsbolaget with the working title GOTLAND HORIZON X. It is already known that the Ferry is to be powered by multi-fuel or fossil-free fuel (such as hydrogen). A maximum speed of 35 knots and a capacity of 1,650 passengers and 450 cars are planned. The ship will also have an energy-efficient hull, minimized weight, optimal energy management and streamlined designs throughout the ship. As with the two fast ferries GOTLANDIA and GOTLANDIA 2 recently sold by Gotlandsbolaget, the GOTLAND HORIZON X will mainly be used during the summer months. The crossing time between the island of Gotland and the Swedish mainland should be possible in less than 3 hours.

3 CRUISE SMERALDA chartered to Finnlines

[4] The Grimaldi Group’s Ferry CRUISE SMERALDA was chartered out by Grimaldi Euromed to its sister company Finnlines. From the Italian port of Gioia Tauro and after a stopover in Antwerp, the CRUISE SMERALDA, built in 1997, arrived in Vlissingen in the Netherlands in the 2nd week of April before sailing on to Malmö in Sweden.

[5] The Ferry will successively represent the Finnlines vessels FINNTRADER and FINNPARTNER, which will go into dock for maintenance and renovation work. She will thus be deployed on the Malmö-Travemünde route.

[6] The CRUISE SMERALDA was built as IKARUS for the Greek Minoan Lines and sold to the parent company Grimaldi Lines in 2016; it has a maximum capacity of 1,528 passengers and 2,195 track meters for vehicles

[4] and has recently been deployed on routes in the western Mediterranean and to/from North Africa.

4 Delivery of the MOBY FANTASY

[7] The Guangzhou shipyard has delivered the first of two Ferries of the new generation of the Italian shipping company Moby, the MOBY FANTASY. The MOBY FANTASY will leave China in the coming days and make its way to the Mediterranean, where it will enter service in the summer on the Livorno-Olbia route. With a length of 237 m, a width of 32 m and a gross tonnage of 69,500, the MOBY FANTASY is the largest passenger ferry ever built in the world, according to Moby. It has a capacity of 3,000 passengers and 3,850 loading meters for vehicles. The new flagship of the Moby fleet will arrive in the port of Livorno in mid-May. Compared to conventional Ferries, which are used on similar routes, the MOBY FANTASY produces over 50% fewer emissions. The MOBY FANTASY’s sister ship, the MOBY LEGACY, will follow later in the year.

5 MOBY ZAZA chartered out

[8] Another piece of news concerning the Moby shipping company. The Ferry MOBY ZAZA has been chartered by Società Navigazione Alta Velocità, or SNAV for short, an MSC subsidiary. In the summer, it will be deployed on the reopened route between the ports of Ancona in Italy and Split in Croatia.

The ship will sail from Ancona on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and from Split on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

[9] Built in 1982 for Olau Line, the ship offers 700 loading meters for vehicles and can accommodate up to 1,860 passengers.

6 EL. VENIZELOS is put back into service

[10] From June 30, 2023, the EL. VENIZELOS of the shipping company ANEK Lines will replace the BLUE GALAXY currently operating on the Piraeus – Chania route. The BLUE GALAXY is a former ANEK Lines ship operated by the Blue Star Ferries shipping company. The EL. VENIZELOS will serve this route together with the ELYROS, which also belongs to ANEK Lines. This means that for the first time in 8 years the Piraeus – Chania route will once again be operated by two ANEK Lines ships.

Due to the cooperation between ANEK Lines and the Attica Group, the tonnage capacities of both companies will be shared on several routes within and outside Greece.
The Blue Star Ferry BLUE GALAXY will operate on routes in the Dodecanese Islands during the summer months.

The EL. VENIZELOS was laid up in Perama in the last two years, as there was no use for her during the corona crisis.

For many Greek ferry enthusiasts, the reactivation of the EL. VENIZELOS is a long-awaited wish come true. Not least because the EL. VENIZELOS has an impressive history.

[11] Today’s EL. VENIZELOS was commissioned in 1979 as STENA POLANICA for Stena Line as the sister ship of today’s STENA VISION and STENA SPIRIT.

[12] Due to the long delay in construction, only the first two ships were accepted by Stena Line. The contract for two further ships ordered, including today’s EL. VENIZELOS, was terminated and Fred Olsen Line bought them under the name BONANZA. Fred Olsen Line also terminated the contract and ANEK Lines acquired the incomplete third ship in the series under the new name KYDON II in 1990.

ANEK Lines had the unfinished ship towed to Perama for completion. There, the KYDON II was adapted to the Greek infrastructure and completed.

Upon completion, it was at times the largest ferry in the Mediterranean and is still the largest ferry under the Greek flag today.

[13] The fourth and last ship in the series, the STENA BALTICA, was canceled by Stena Line at the shipyard in 1986. The shell was also sold to a Greek shipping company. She was renamed REGENT SKY, but never went into service as the shipping company ceased operations in 1995. After several changes of ownership, the REGENT SKY, which was 60% complete, was scrapped in Turkey in 2011.

That’s it for the April issue of FährNews Aktuell. If you would like to stay well informed about the world of ferry shipping in the future, please subscribe now to support the channel and make sure you don’t miss anything in the future.

If you would like to find out more about current developments in ferry shipping, please take a look at the latest issue of FährNews Aktuell here on the right. Among other things, it dealt with the aforementioned sale of the GOTLANDIA and GOTLANDIA 2. Enjoy it and see you soon!

7 Sources

• [1] “Tallink Grupp signs long-term charter agreement with Irish Continental Group for STAR”, Shippax. https://www.shippax.com/en/news/tallink-grupp-signs-long-term-charter-agreement-with-irish-continental-group-for-star.aspx (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [2] “Tallink Grupp signs long-term charter agreement with Bridgemans for ISABELLE”, Shippax. https://www.shippax.com/en/news/tallink-grupp-signs-long-term-charter-agreement-with-bridgemans-for-isabelle.aspx (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [3] sandra, “Gotlandsbolaget & Austal: important step in climate journey”, Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/gotlandsbolaget-austal-important-step-in-climate-journey/ (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [4] sandra, “CRUISE SMERALDA transferred to Finnlines”, Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/cruise-smeralda-transferred-to-finnlines/ (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [5] “CRUISE SMERALDA to serve for Finnlines between Malmö-Travemünde”, Shippax. https://www.shippax.com/en/news/cruise-smeralda-to-serve-for-finnlines-between-malmo-travemunde.aspx (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [6] “The ferry site”. http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=9144811&lang=en (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [7] sandra, “MOBY FANTASY delivered”, Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/moby-fantasy-delivered/ (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [8] sandra, “SNAV charters MOBY ZAZA for the Ancona-Split route”, Ferry Shipping News. https://ferryshippingnews.com/snav-charters-moby-zaza-for-the-ancona-split-route/ (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [9] “The ferry site”. http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=8020642&lang=en (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [10] “Δυάδα της ΑΝΕΚ φέτος με ‘ΕΛΥΡΟΣ’ & ‘ΕΛ. ΒΕΝΙΖΕΛΟΣ’ στην γραμμμή Χανιά – Πειραιάς.”, Chania Ships, April 11, 2023. https://www.chaniaships.com/post/δυάδα-της-ανεκ-φέτος-με-ελυρος-ελ-βενιζελος-στην-γραμμή-χανιά-πειραιάς (accessed April 25, 2023).
• [11] “El. Venizelos (ship)”, Wikipedia. April 17, 2023. accessed: April 27, 2023. [Online]. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El._Venizelos_(ship)&oldid=1150309338
• [12] “El. Venizelos”, Wikipedia. March 28, 2023. Accessed: April 27, 2023 [Online]. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El._Venizelos&oldid=232273229
• [13] “Regent Sky”, Wikipedia. March 19, 2023, accessed April 27, 2023 [Online]. Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regent_Sky&oldid=231977181

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