FährNews Aktuell – Issue May 2023

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the May edition of FährNews Aktuell in 2023. This month has once again seen many exciting developments in the ferry industry. Today’s topics include the launch of the Polferries newbuild, 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!

https://youtu.be/NmCnuQlEbKY

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

1 Stena Line takes over Ferries and RoRo port in Ventspils

[1] Stena Line announced on May 9 that it has taken over the operation of the Ferries and RoRo terminal in the Latvian port of Ventspils. In doing so, Stena Line is 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 been operating a route between Ventspils and the Swedish port of Nynäshamn since 2012.

[2] The commitment in Latvia enables the shipping company to expand further 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 takeover of the Ferries and RoRo port operations is subject to the approval of the competition authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose the commercial details of the agreement.

2 Launching of new Polferries building

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

The ship belongs to the latest version of the Visentini class and is very similar to the A GALEOTTA, which was recently put into service for Corsica Linea. You can find more information about Polferries’ newbuilding in last year’s August issue.

3 MANXMAN delivered

[4] The new ro-paxFerry MANXMAN was delivered to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company by the South Korean Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. The MANXMAN will primarily be used on the 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 to Liverpool in England. The MANXMAN will serve as a larger replacement for the BEN-MY-CHREE. It has a capacity of 949 passengers, while the BEN-MY-CHREE can only carry 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 corresponds to the maximum dimensions to be able to call at the port of Heysham in England.

[6] We do not currently know the exact loading meters, but it should be possible to transport up to 300 cars, and the general loading capacity should be increased by around 10% compared to the BEN-MY-CHREE.

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

[4] The Ferry is currently still on its delivery voyage to Europe, which began on Saturday, May 13 and is scheduled to take around 30 days in total, 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. It will operate between Almeria in southern Spain and Nador in Morocco. The VISBORG, which was built in 2003, arrived in Almeria in Spain on May 15 after a transfer voyage from Klaipėda.

[8] The 195m long and 25m wide Ferry was built in 2003 and has a capacity of 1500 passengers and 1600 track meters for vehicles.

We do not currently know how long the VISBORG will remain in the service of Baleària.

5 CAP DE BARBARIA delivered

[9] Let’s stay with Baleària for a moment. The new Ferry CAP DE BARBARIA, which will operate between Ibiza and Formentera for Baleària, was delivered by the Armon de Vigo shipyard. The hybrid-electric Ferry enables an emission-free journey to and from the 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 travel at a speed of up to 14 knots. It can transport around 14 trucks and 390 passengers in 240 loading meters. Designed as a double-ended ferry, the ship’s 360-degree azimuth electric propulsion system allows for great maneuverability when docking and casting off as well as during maneuvers. The ship has an energy storage system with lithium batteries that allows it to remain in port for up to twelve hours. The Ferry can also be supplied with shore power.

6 Corsica Linea charters KALLISTE

[10] Corsica Linea will charter the Ferry KALLISTE from La Méridionale for three months, from June 15 to September 15, 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 in preparation for its deployment.

[11] The Ferry, which was commissioned in 1993, has a length of 165m, a width of 29m, a capacity for 500 passengers and 2340 loading meters for vehicles.

7 New line at Seajets

[12] Seajets reports on the opening of a new North Aegean route in summer 2023, which will be operated by CHAMPION JET 1 from July 4, 2023 to August 31, 2023. The new route will connect the port of Thessaloniki with the island of Limnos and the island of Lesbos. The departure from Thessaloniki will be every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m. and the return is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. on the same day.

[13] With the new line, Seajets now operates a total of 10 routes within Greece.

8 BLUE STAR CHIOS replaces PREVELIS

[14] “The tireless worker”, as the PREVELIS is known among Greek Ferries fans, is leaving the Piraeus – Rhodes route after more than 14 years. She will be replaced by the BLUE STAR CHIOS, which will operate the route until October 31. The replacement will significantly shorten the duration of the crossing due to the higher speed of the BLUE STAR CHIOS. In addition, a stopover on the island of Milos will no longer be necessary.

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

9 Impending insolvency of ANEK Lines

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

At the same time, ANEK’s management points out that the merger between Attica and ANEK is considered imperative due to the company’s accumulated problems. As the Competition Commission’s decision is not expected before the fall, ANEK is facing difficult times. The company itself states in the Board of Directors’ report for the 2022 financial year that “the company’s liquidity 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 that has been pursued for many years within the framework of a joint venture established by the two shipping companies.

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

1. Due to its financial difficulties, the allegedly ailing company will be forced to exit the market in the near future if it is not taken over by another company.
2. Apart from the notified merger, there is no other acquisition option that is less harmful to competition.
3. The company in difficulty will inevitably cease to operate on the market without a merger.

All three conditions have been met in the case of ANEK. The decision now lies with the Competition Commission.

We will definitely keep you up to date on how the whole story continues.

10 FährNews News to read

Finally, a message on our own behalf: From now on, you will have the opportunity to read the entire issue of FerriesNews Aktuell in writing, retroactively to the April issue. This is made possible by a new cooperation between FährNews and ferry-guide.com. From now on, you will find our issues of FährNews Aktuell in written form under the “News” tab at ferry-guide.com. If you want to be one of the first to be informed when the script is online, sign up for the free newsletter. This way you will always be up to date.

That’s it for the May 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, take a look at the latest issue of FährNews Aktuell. Among other things, it dealt with 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 Ferries and RoRo port operations in Ventspils ››› ferry-guide.com”, Ferry-guide.com, May 12, 2023. https://ferry-guide.com/news/stena-line-uebernimmt-faehr-und-roro-hafenbetrieb-in-ventspils/ (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 από την Επιτροπή Ανταγωνισμού – HANIA.news”, May 7, 2023. https://hania.news/2023/05/07/%ce%b1%ce%b3%cf%89%ce%bd%ce%af%ce%b1-%ce%b3%ce%b9%ce%b1-%cf%84%ce%bf-%ce%bc%ce%ad%ce%bb%ce%bb%ce%bf%ce%bd-%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%ce%b1%ce%bd%ce%b5%ce%ba-%ce%b5%ce%bd-%ce%b1%ce%bd%ce%b1%ce%bc%ce%bf%ce%bd/ (zu

You can find this and other episodes of FährNews Aktuell on the FährNews YouTube channel.