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STENA ESTRID has successfully completed her sea trials, meaning delivery is a step closer.  After some finishing touches she is expected to be delivered during November.  She should be in service early in the new year after the long voyage from China and all the usual training, drills, etc needed with a new ship. 

https://www.niferry.co.uk/stenas-new-successful-seatrials/

See link for details, but the gist is hauliers are calling for a dedicated facility for trucks to park should there be congestion issues at Dublin Port

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/hauliers-want-trucker-toilets-parking-in-case-of-brexit-delays-at-port-1.4017451

NEW AMSTERDAM-NEWCASTLE FERRIES TO CREATE MORE VALUE FOR PASSENGERS AND FREIGHT CUSTOMERS


COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 28

DFDS has entered into an agreement with the Italian ferry company Moby to acquire the two combined freight and passenger ferries (ro-pax) Moby Wonder and Moby Aki, for the purpose of raising the customer experience and the capacity for both passengers and freight customers on the Amsterdam-Newcastle route. The ferries are built in 2001 and 2005, respectively.

Moby will in turn acquire the two passenger ferries currently operating on Amsterdam-Newcastle — King Seaways and Princess Seaways, built in 1987 and 1986, respectively.

"The new ferries are ideally suited for our Amsterdam-Newcastle route. Their modern onboard facilities and higher car-deck capacity will allow us to grow revenue by fulfilling the growing demand from high-yield car passengers. To freight customers, we will be able to offer increased capacity that can remain constant throughout the year", says Peder Gellert Pedersen, EVP and Head of DFDS' Ferry Division. 

The agreement is expected to be completed in the second half of October 2019. DFDS will subsequently bareboat-charter King Seaways and Princess Seaways from Moby until January and February 2020, respectively.

Meanwhile, the acquired ferries from Moby will be refurbished to suit the Amsterdam-Newcastle route. This includes commercial and technical investments on board as well as port investments. The refurbished ferries are expected to be deployed on Amsterdam-Newcastle during the first quarter of 2020.     

The freight capacity will increase around 40% on a full-year basis. The car capacity will increase around 5% on a full-year basis supported by a cabin configuration that is well suited to the requirements of holiday-makers travelling by car.

In 2018, Amsterdam-Newcastle carried more than 600,000 passengers, 122,000 passenger vehicles and 350,000 lane metres of freight.

The capacity increase will provide an opportunity to accommodate further growth in trade and travel, including a large tourism flow, between UK and Continental Europe.

Renewal supports WIN23 strategy and ambitions
In June 2019, DFDS launched the WIN23 strategy driven by four strategic pillars. The renewal of Amsterdam-Newcastle is a key part of the fourth pillar: Creating more value for passengers.

"I'm very pleased to already be able tick off an important milestone of our WIN23 strategy. We now have a strong set-up to continue to grow the route", says Torben Carlsen, CEO of DFDS.


Revised outlook 2019
The expected completion in October 2019 of the sale of the two ferries is estimated to entail an accounting profit of around DKK 100m to be recognised under Special items in Q4 2019. The full-year outlook for Special items is thus increased to
DKK 70m from previously DKK -30m.   

The investment in the renewal, including proceeds from the sale of Princess Seaways and King Seaways, is expected to amount to around DKK 1.0bn of which DKK 650m is expected to be paid in 2019. The remaining DKK 350m is expected to be paid in 2020. The investment includes a substantial investment in refurbishment.

The investment outlook for 2019 is therefore changed to around DKK 3.4bn from previously DKK 2.8bn.

Seatruck-owned CLIPPER RANGER is on her way to Canada!  She is replacing C.T.M.A. VOYAGEUR (ex ANDERIDA).  Initially she is on a one year charter but there is an option to purchase.  The main reason for this seems to be that CTMA are still in the process of negotiating an extension to their contract beyond the end of next March.  Ranger will join the former ST PATRICK II and LEINSTER/ISLE OF INISHMORE/ISLE OF INISHTURK in the CTMA fleet.

More at  https://www.niferry.co.uk/seatruck-ro-ro-clipper-ranger-on-her-way-to-canada/

Brexit protestors are to stage a "go slow" on the A55 in protest at the proposed delay to brexit.  They had originally planned to blockade the port instead.  These are the same people who organised the fuel protests a number of years ago (they have even renamed their facebook page - it isn't a new page as some of the press are reporting).

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/brexit-campaigners-call-holyhead-port-15976840

This of course comes at a time when things are still recovering from Storm Gareth and with Storm Hannah on the way threatening to create more delays/cancellations.

Brexit protestors are to stage a "go slow" on the A55 in protest at the proposed delay to brexit.  They had originally planned to blockade the port instead.  These are the same people who organised the fuel protests a number of years ago (they have even renamed their facebook page - it isn't a new page as some of the press are reporting).

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/brexit-campaigners-call-holyhead-port-15976840

This of course comes at a time when things are still recovering from Storm Gareth and with Storm Hannah on the way threatening to create more delays/cancellations.

Brexit protestors are to stage a "go slow" on the A55 in protest at the proposed delay to brexit.  They had originally planned to blockade the port instead.  These are the same people who organised the fuel protests a number of years ago (they have even renamed their facebook page - it isn't a new page as some of the press are reporting).

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/brexit-campaigners-call-holyhead-port-15976840

This of course comes at a time when things are still recovering from Storm Gareth and with Storm Hannah on the way threatening to create more delays/cancellations.

Brexit protestors are to stage a "go slow" on the A55 in protest at the proposed delay to brexit.  They had originally planned to blockade the port instead.  These are the same people who organised the fuel protests a number of years ago (they have even renamed their facebook page - it isn't a new page as some of the press are reporting).

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/brexit-campaigners-call-holyhead-port-15976840

Not sure if this is better in news or discussion - please move if appropriate!

P&O's head of buying and merchandising was interviewed recently.  Among the topics was the potential return of duty free where she made an important point - if duty free returns it could bring with it the return of quotas.  Of course if the U.K. is a third country outside the EU and it's trading area then those quotas will likely be quite restrictive - far from the return of the booze cruise it could be the nail in the coffin!  She says P&O do quite a bit of business from people taking advantage of having no quotas and going to France to purchase alcohol, something which could stop if quotas are imposed.

Of course it's only one possible scenario, but interesting to here a different perspective that isn't just newspaper speculation.  I'm not sure any other senior manager in the ferry industry has actually gone on public record over duty free in any detail?

It's quite a long (and very retail sales related) interview, but here's the link anyway.

https://www.trbusiness.com/video-channel/retailer-operator/nicola-tompkins-head-of-buying-merchandising-po-ferries/153533

The current non-EU duty free allowance is 16l of beer, 4l of wine and a litre of spirits.  Tobacco allowance is 200 cigarettes (or equivalent such as 50 cigars)

https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb/blog/travel-advice/how-much-duty-free-can-you-bring-into-the-uk/

Would there be enough margin on a bottle of whiskey and 200 cigs say to significantly lower ticket prices?  How many people realistically are going to lug around 16l of beer around a ferry to get their moneys worth? 🤔

[entire]

Brittany Ferries figures have been released and give us our first real indication of how CONNEMARA is doing. As alluded to previously it looks like she hasn't had a great first season. Her passenger figures to Spain have been bundled in with UK to Spain rather unhelpfully (why hide them?), but doing some rough sums if we give her credit for the entire increase in traffic on all Spanish routes we are looking at an average of 280 passengers per sailing (in the PEAK season!!!). Her sailings to France have only added less than 4000 passengers over 3 months (again assuming she is responsible for the entirety of the increase. Freight volumes across the network are down 5% with no individual breakdown unfortunately). They also haven't been giving figures to shippax for Cork to Spain either, but they would need to be carrying a lot more freight than they are between Cork and Roscoff for which I have seen figures! Hopefully the only way is up for the route(s).

The former Larne to Troon fast craft EXPRESS has been sold to Greek interests for service from Rafina.  She is currently in Las Palmas following the conclusion of her summer charter to ARMAS

https://www.niferry.co.uk/former-larne-to-troon-catamaran-sold-again/

Since the last fleet movements thread hasn't been updated in nearly 4 years, I created a new one!

As noted in the Stena thread, STENA PRECISION and STENA PERFORMER will be returning to Seatruck at the end of August/start of September.  In line with the requirements in the charter contract, they will be dry docked and repainted into Seatruck colours. 

After regaining their original names of SEATRUCK PRECISION and SEATRUCK PERFORMANCE the "Heysham max" vessels will replace CLIPPER PENNANT and SEATRUCK PANORAMA on the growing Warrenpoint - Heysham route.  Current speculation is that one of the displaced Warrenpoint vessels will replace CLIPPER RANGER at Dublin which would in due course free her up for charter elsewhere (CalMac has been suggested but whether that happens or not remains to be seen) and allow further growth on the successful and rapidly expanding Liverpool route. 

Regardless of what happens I'm sure any Seatruck vessels which become available will be in demand!

12 JUN 2018
Press Release 12th June 2018 3pm 

Irish Ferries Regrets to Announce Further Delay to W.B. Yeats

German shipbuilder, Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft & Co.KG (FSG), has advised Irish Ferries of a further delay to the delivery of the W.B. Yeats

New ship was due to commence sailings between Ireland and France from the 30th July 2018

Irish Ferries regrets to announce that, due to extraordinary circumstances beyond its control, the delivery of the W.B. Yeats has been further delayed by FSG. Because of the uncertainty caused by this additional delay, Irish Ferries has no option but to cancel all the planned sailings to France for W.B. Yeats this Summer, with the ship now likely to commence sailing with Irish Ferries on Dublin / Holyhead as scheduled in September. Irish Ferries is contacting affected customers this afternoon to inform them of the cancellations, offer them alternative travel options, and apologise for the disruption to their travel arrangements.

Approximately 6,000 bookings will be impacted by this issue.  Customers affected are being offered a number of alternative travel options e.g. alternative direct sailings on the Oscar Wilde, or a 'land-bridge' option i.e. sailing to the UK (from either Dublin or Rosslare) and then to France (Customers who choose the land-bridge option, will also be reimbursed the cost of their fuel requirements from the port of arrival in the UK to the port of arrival in France).If alternative travel arrangements do not suit, customers will, of course, be entitled to a full and immediate refund of all monies paid.

Irish Ferries was previously forced to cancel July sailings for the W.B. Yeats when they were informed in April by FSG, of the initial delay.  Approximately 2,500 bookings were impacted by the earlier cancellation, however, 95% of those chose to switch to Irish Ferries' other cruise ferry, the Oscar Wilde.

Irish Ferries very much regrets the inconvenience these cancellations cause our customers and hopes that as many as possible will choose to be accommodated via the company's alternative arrangements and continue with their holiday plans. As valued customers of Irish Ferries, we are offering each affected customer a €150 voucher which can be used on any of our Ireland-France routes next year.

Irish Ferries is contacting customers directly, however, any customers who wish to contact Irish Ferries can call +353 (0) 818 300 400 or email customersupport@irishferries.com.

Stena Line are introducing the MV Arrow tonight on a single round trip Monday to Friday to offer additional capacity on the Holyhead to Dublin route.  She will layover at Holyhead during the day.

Stena Adventurer will go to dry dock for refit from Tuesday 6th March until Tuesday 20th March 2018.
During this period, cover will be provided by Stena Horizon in Stena Adventurer's scheduled time slots. The Arrow will provide additional trips prior to Stena Adventurer's refit period, starting 22nd February, from Holyhead. Arrow will sail ex Holyhead at 22:30hrs daily (excl. Sat) and from Dublin at 06:00hrs daily (excl. Sun). These additional sailings will operate until Stena Adventurer returns from refit

Irish Continental Group plc : Irish Continental Group plc invests €165.2 million to build a new cruise ferry for Dublin - Holyhead route

Released : 02 Jan 2018 07:00

Company Announcement

Irish Continental Group plc invests €165.2 million to build a new cruise ferry for Dublin - Holyhead route

Irish Continental Group plc ("ICG") has entered into an agreement, with the German company Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesselschaft & Co.KG ("FSG"), whereby FSG has agreed to build a cruise ferry for ICG at a contract price of €165.2 million.  Upon completion, it will be the largest cruise ferry in the world in terms of vehicle capacity.

The cruise ferry will accommodate 1,800 passengers and crew, with capacity for 5,610 freight lane metres, which provides the capability to carry 330 freight units per sailing.  Overall, it will effectively be a 50% increase in peak freight capacity compared to the MV Ulysses.

The Agreement between ICG and FSG provides that the cruise ferry is scheduled for delivery before Mid-2020. Twenty percent of the contract price will be paid in instalments during the construction period. The balance of 80% will be paid on delivery.  ICG intend to utilise credit facilities to finance the cruise ferry.  The pre-delivery instalment payments to FSG will be protected by means of bank guarantees.

This cruise ferry will be designed and built to the highest standards of cruise shipping, and equipped with efficiency, comfort and capacity in mind.  Emissions scrubber technology (included in the above price) and ballast water systems will meet current and known future environmental regulations and will deliver optimal fuel consumption while minimising related costs.  The cruise ferry will be powered by four main engines delivering 33,600 KW of power which will ensure a high degree of service reliability equal to the MV Ulysses which is currently the most reliable ship to ever operate on the Irish Sea.

The cruise ferry is being built specifically for Irish Ferries Dublin - Holyhead services.  It is expected to replace the schedule of the MV Ulysses, which in turn will replace the currently chartered vessel MV Epsilon in the fleet.  This will allow for the deployment of the W.B. Yeats (arriving Mid 2018) full-time on the direct Ireland - France route alongside the MV Oscar Wilde.  The cruise ferry will also adhere to Ice Class specification which allows for a wide geographic area of operation.

Freight capacity will be provided over five decks.  Uniquely, the vessel has been designed for three tier freight bow loading to allow for efficient loading/unloading and quick turnaround times.  Passenger facilities will be spread over three decks.  In addition to a superb choice of bars, restaurants (to include both á la carte and self-service options), special provision has been made for premium Club Class passengers, with a dedicated lounge featuring private access direct from the vehicle decks.  A choice of state-of -the-art entertainment options and cinemas, dedicated facilities for freight drivers, as well as many retail outlets will ensure that all passengers will be comfortable and engaged throughout their journey.

This new cruise ferry provides Irish Ferries with a significant increase in both its freight & tourism carrying capacity on the fast-growing Dublin - Holyhead route.

Cruise Ferry Particulars

  Cruise Ferry Details Ulysses
Gross tonnage (estimated) 67,300t 50,938t
Deck capacity
Trucks (maximum)
Trucks (effective peak capacity)
or
Cars (maximum) 

330
300



1,500 

241
200



1,342
Passenger Capacity 1,800 1,850
Passenger Cabins 152 96
Engine/output (4 engines) 33,600 KW 31,200 KW
Speed 22.8 knots 22.0 knots
Referring to the announcement Eamonn Rothwell, Chief Executive Officer, commented that;

"This investment underpins the confidence the Group has in the markets in which we operate. Alongside the recent investment in the MV W.B. Yeats, it brings our total investment to €315m for these two vessels designed for our operations on the Irish Sea.  The construction of a cruise ferry of this size will offer both additional capacity and an enhanced experience for both our tourism and freight customers.  This infrastructural investment enhances "the bridge" to the UK & Continental Europe that is a vital part of the continued success of Ireland's open economy."

02 January 2018

END

http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/icg1/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=500&newsid=962216

As reported on the NI Ferry (and shipping) Enthusiasts facebook group yesterday, STRANGFORD FERRY has been sold to the owners of the Arranmore (Red) Ferry for further service on their route from Burtonport to Arranmore Island.  She has already been repainted in their red livery.  Scott Mackey has some pictures on the aforementioned facebook group as well as on NI Ferry site.

NI Ferry (and Shipping) Enthusiasts: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NIFerryEnthusiasts/
NI Ferry Site article: https://wp.me/p8Bfsp-1tP

Tallink Grupp
Company Announcement

Tallinn, 2017-07-12 19:01 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sale of the Superfast vessels

The subsidiaries of AS Tallink Grupp, Baltic SF VII Ltd and Baltic SF VIII Ltd have concluded the sale agreements with Stena Ropax Limited for M/S Stena Superfast VII (ex name Superfast VII) and M/S Stena Superfast VIII (ex name Superfast VIII). Value of the deal is 133.5 million euros. The vessels will be delivered to the buyer in December 2017. Until then vessels continue operations in the UK waters according to the charter agreements concluded in August 2011 by Stena Line Ltd.

The cash flow from the sale of the vessels will strengthen the group's financial position. The profit from the sale of the vessels is not significant to the consolidated results of AS Tallink Grupp.

Meant to post this a few days ago but I forgot!  Those of you interested in smaller ferries may be interested in this months 'Sea Breezes'.  Scott Mackey has written a piece looking at the vital ferry link between Strangford and Portaferry here I Northern Ireland.  It also features the new build "Strangford II'. There's a shortened version at the link below (quite like how Sea Breezes does these previews).

http://www.seabreezes.co.im/index.php/features/places/2486-strangford-lough-ferry-service

Stena Line refreshes its Rosslare – Fishguard ferry timetable Press Release   •  Apr 03, 2017 12:48 BST Stena Line has just announced a revised timetable on its Rosslare – Fishguard ferry service which will see customers enjoying a choice of three day time sailings and one extended overnight crossing from 22nd May. Following the evaluation of extensive customer research and feedback, Stena Line reviewed the existing schedule and has decided to introduce three, more customer friendly 3 hour 15-minute day time crossings, making Rosslare – Fishguard the shortest and fastest crossing between Ireland and South Wales. From Monday 22nd May, Stena Line will operate the following revised sailing schedule between Rosslare and Fishguard: Departure Arrival Crossing Time Rosslare        Departure: 08:00     Arrival: 11:15     Crossing Time: 3hr15 Fishguard      Departure: 13:10     Arrival: 16:25     Crossing Time: 3hr15 Rosslare        Departure: 18:10     Arrival: 21:25     Crossing Time: 3hr15 Fishguard      Departure: 23:45     Arrival: 04:00     Crossing Time: 4hr15* Ian Davies, Stena Line's Trade Director, Irish Sea South commented: "The new timetable will reduce the crossing times on some of our sailings by 15 mins and provide a greater choice of convenient sailing times and better arrival times. The recent investment in the Stena Europe ship has further enhanced our service offering for 2017, providing new opportunities which currently do not exist in the market for our travel and freight customers." Ian added: "We have conducted a lot of research and spoken with many of our freight and travel customers, listening to what they had to say about our current sailing timetable and ways in which we might improve the service in the future. We believe we have now addressed the points raised and our staff are constantly engaging with customers to ensure a smooth transition. In fact, we have already received positive feedback and believe that the vast majority of our customers will welcome these changes." Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet and the widest choice of routes between Ireland and Britain including Rosslare to Fishguard, Dublin to Holyhead, Belfast to Liverpool, Heysham and Cairnryan with a total of 224 weekly sailing options. Stena Line also offers a direct service from Rosslare to Cherbourg with three return crossings a week. *Overnight sailing time will increase by 15 minutes giving customers a little more time to rest particularly drivers before they disembark.

http://news.stenaline.co.uk/pressreleases/stena-line-refreshes-its-rosslare-fishguard-ferry-timetable-1893581

-Introducing the world's most fuel efficient RoPax vessels-



Last year Stena announced a newbuild contract of four RoPax ferry vessels with a planned delivery schedule during 2019 and 2020.  The contract also contains an option for another four vessels to be ordered.  The four vessels are being built at the AVIC Shipyard in China and the plan is to locate the vessels on the Irish Sea, specifically on Stena Line's routes to and from its expanding Belfast hub.

"The routes to and from Belfast are strategically very important to Stena Line and during the last number of years we have made significant investments in ports and vessels to improve and develop our capacity offering a frequent high quality service for our customers to and from Belfast. Looking ahead, we intend to continue our ambitious development plan for our business in the region and the new vessels are a part of this strategic plan.   During the last few years we have seen a steady growth in freight and passenger volumes and we believe this will continue. Last year was a record year for us when we for the first time carried over 500,000 freight units through Belfast Port.  These new vessels will be the largest ferries ever to operate between Belfast and Great Britain", said Stena Line's CEO Niclas Mårtensson.

Joe O'Neill, Commercial Director, Belfast Harbour commented: "We are delighted that Stena Line is planning for Belfast as the location for its next generation of RoPax vessels in what is a significant investment in and enhancement of Northern Ireland's premier freight and tourism gateway.  Belfast Harbour has worked in close partnership with Stena Line over the last two decades to help it expand its Belfast routes into a flourishing hub and this very welcome investment news comes on the back of a record year for Stena Line's freight business in Belfast Harbour.  We look forward to welcoming the new vessels and the associated benefits they will bring to Belfast Harbour and the economy of Northern Ireland."

The new vessels are being constructed in line with Stena Line's strategic focus on sustainability.

"The new RoPax vessels will be among the most fuel efficient in the world with approximately 25% lower CO2 emissions per cargo unit than current RoPax tonnage.  Our aim is to lead the development of sustainability within the shipping industry and set a new industry standard when it comes to operational performance, emissions and cost competiveness.  The vessels will run on traditional fuel, but are designed to the class notation "gas ready" and are also prepared for scrubbers as well as catalytic converters, giving us flexibility for the future", says Niclas Mårtensson.

Stena Line, Gothenburg
15th February 2017