Farewell To A Loyal Servant

The final departure of the RMS St. Helena from Cape Town to St. Helena Island took place at 1730 on 24th January. A nostalgic time as another chapter in maritime history came to an end. Bagpipes, played during the ceremonial departure and the paying off-pennant was handed over before the vessel exited the Duncan Dock. The RMS St. Helena then departed on her final voyage from St. Helena Island to Cape Town on 10th February having served the island since 1990 and completed 268 voyages prior to her decommissioning. In addition to carrying passengers in comfort, the working ship has been a lifeline to St. Helena carrying all the Island’s goods and supplies. The faithful ship will be sold on once her services are no longer required.

A Launch & A Disposal For Irish Ferries

The completed hull of the new Irish Ferries cruiseferry W. B. Yeats, christened by Ms. Rikki Rothwell, was launched at midday on 19th January at the shipyard of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) in Flensburg, Germany where the vessel is being built (above). Fully painted in Irish Ferries livery, and bearing the name W. B. Yeats on her bow and stern, the hull took to the water to await the addition of the superstructure sections that were arriving in prefabricated form aboard barges from Poland. The ship’s profile was complete by 9th February after each accommodation module was craned into position. The €150 million, 54,985gt ferry will arrive in Dublin during July 2018 when she will enter year-round service on the Ireland-France and Dublin-Holyhead routes.

A new ship for Brittany Ferries, the Honfleur, will also be built by FSG plus a second, even larger cruiseferry for Irish Ferries to be delivered in 2020 at a contract price of €165.2 million. Intended for service on the Dublin to Holyhead route, this second new vessel will be the largest cruise ferry in the world in terms of vehicle capacity with accommodation for 1,800 passengers and crew.

On 30th January Irish Continental Group plc. announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Agreement for the sale of the 5,989gt/1999 built High Speed Craft Jonathan Swift to Balearia Eurolineas Maritimas S.A. She will be replaced in the Irish Ferries fleet by the 8,403gt/2001 built High Speed Craft Westpac Express, which was recently redelivered following a period of 20 months on external charter. She underwent a refurbishment programme in Belfast in the New Year to bring her up to Irish Ferries passenger service standards. The Epsilon went to Harland & Wolff, Belfast for 20 days from 5th February for her annual refit. The Oscar Wilde deputised for the ship on the Dublin-Cherbourg/ Holyhead services having completed her own refit at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead.

DFDS Newbuilds Announced

DFDS announced on 12th February that, owing to an expected requirement for a 30% increase in capacity on its Baltic route network (6 services), two new Ro-Pax ferries have been ordered for delivery & deployment on one of the routes connecting Lithuania with either Sweden or Germany in 2021. The ships are designed to each carry 4,500 lane metres of freight and passenger vehicles as well as 600 passengers, will be equipped with exhaust scrubbers and will be built by Guangzhou Shipyard International Co. Ltd. at their Nansha Yard in China.

New Spirits

TT-Line Company Pty Ltd. and Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft GmbH & Co. KG (FSG) announced on 9th January that they had signed a Letter Of Intent for the construction of new ships (above) to replace the current 29,338gt/1998 built Spirit of Tasmania sisterships. These vessels were built as Superfast Ferries’ Superfast IV and Superfast III respectively at the Kvaerner-Masa Shipyard in Finland. TT Line expects to place an order for the new vessels in the first half of the 2018 calendar year and for them to be delivered in time to commence operations on Bass Strait in 2021.

HGV Fire Aboard Stena Britannica

On 17th January a fire broke out aboard the 64,039gt/2010 built Stena Britannica whilst she was underway towards Harwich International Port. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service were called at 0420 to Parkeston Quay after being alerted by the Coastguard. A fire had been found in a refrigerator lorry on a lower deck and this had spread to a number of surrounding vehicles. Several lorries were destroyed as a result and the ferry suffered smoke damage.

Stena Line management attended the keel laying ceremony for its new E-Flexer Ro-Pax ferry, Hull No. W0293, on 2nd February at the Avic Weihai Shipyard in China. The new vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2019 and 2020 and will be about 50% larger than today’s Ro-Pax ferries that they will replace on the Irish Sea. The newbuilds are 214.5m long with a 27.8m beam, 6.4m hull depth and capacity for 3,100 lanemetres of freight, 120 cars and 1,000 passengers. Power will be provided by two 12,600kW V12 4-stroke diesels with a service speed of 22 knots.

After refit and a new coat of Stena Ro-Ro livery, the 24,688gt/2003 built Stena Forerunner departed Damen Shiprepair in Schiedam to replace the chartered 16,342gt/2012 built Severine on the Rotterdam Europoort-Harwich service. During the Stena Horizon’s refit (20th February-19th March), the Rosslare-Cherbourg route will be covered by the 21,171gt/2004 built Stena Carrier.

New Direct Ireland-Spain Route for Brittany Ferries

On 16th January Brittany Ferries announced a new Cork-Santander service starting April 2018 and offering two return-sailings a week. This will be the first time there has ever been a ferry service linking Ireland and Spain. The announcement came as Brittany Ferries celebrates its 40th year of services to Ireland. To be called Connemara, the 27,414gt/2007 built ship will follow the successful économie model that the company has established on services from the UK to France & Spain aboard the Etretat and Baie de Seine (above). As well as opening a new route, the Connemara will add capacity to the Roscoff service. The Stena Ro-Ro ship currently operates as the Asterion on the Venice-Igoumenitsa-Patras service and Brittany Ferries will charter the vessel for an initial period of two years.

LNG Newbuild For Baleària

On 18th January Baleària announced a €200m order for two new LNG ferries with Italian shipbuilder Cantiere Navale Visenti. The first of these two sisterships, which will be called Hypatia de Alejandria (above), is expected to enter service around the Balearic Islands after delivery in February 2019. The sustainable ships with energy efficiency-oriented technology and intelligence will be equipped with solar panels, LED lighting and trim control, among other features. The 186.5m, 24 knot ships will have capacity for 810 passengers, 2,100 lanemetres for freight and 150 cars.

Green Newbuild For Wightlink Launched

On 7th February, Wightlink’s new environmentally friendly ferry Victoria of Wight went down the slipway at the Cemre shipyard in Yalova, Turkey to cheers from Wightlink staff and hundreds of shipyard workers. She will become the company’s flagship on the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route. The ship will arrive in the Solent during the summer ready for the training of 11 crews before she enters service. The new terminal building at the Portsmouth Gunwharf terminal officially opened on 8th January.

New Quartet For Msc Group Operators

On 11th February came the news that GNV and Moby Lines have each ordered two 64,000gt, 2,500 passenger and 3,765 lanemetre capacity ferries from Guangzhou Shipyard in China. GNV is the MSC Group’s Genoa, Italy-based ferry business and the leading operator in the Mediterranean. GNV is to receive the first and third vessels and Onorato Armatori (Moby Lines) will receive the second and fourth. Additionally, the two companies will hold options for an additional two vessels each.

Grandi Navi Veloci’s 35,222gt/1996 built ferry Fantastic came into contact with the 47,842gt/2015 built cruise ship Viking Star in the port of Barcelona on 13th January. The ferry drifted stern first into the side of the cruise ship docked at Terminal B at around 1400 local time.