Acciona Trasmediterranea’s 16,686gt/ 2003 built Super Fast Galicia (above) was renamed Ciudad de Ibiza prior to entering service on the Valencia-Ibiza route in June and will offer capacity for 200 passengers. The company’s chartered 31,910gt/ 1986 built SNAV Adriatico (formerly the Koningin Beatrix) returned to Naples in June in preparation for her season on the Naples-Palermo service for GNV.

Atosim Lampung Pelayaran PT’s 12,365gt/1988 built Ro-Pax ferry Mutiara Sentosa I (above) suffered a fire on 19th May whilst the Indonesian-flagged ship was underway from Surabaya to Balikpapan in the Masalembo waters of East Java. A total of 192 survivors were rescued by the National Search and Rescue Agency of the Republic of Indonesia. After two days of search and rescue operation for potential missing persons, the operation was termitermi- nated on 21st May. The cause of the fire is believed to have been a gas cylinder from one of the passenger vehicles that exploded while on the ferry’s car deck. Initially the vessel’s crew members tried to extinguish the fire caused by the blast but were unable to do so due to the extent of the blaze and velocity of the flames spreading. So, the captain ordered all passengers to abandon ship using either lifeboats or life jackets. Preliminary numbers indicated that the vessel had 178 people aboard, yet 197 were rescued! Alas this latest incident reportedly claimed the lives of 5 people, whilst others were reported missing, and again highlights the rather casual approach to safety and passenger tallies.

BC Ferries’ 8,728gt/2017 built Salish Raven arrived at her new home in British Columbia on 7th June after her 41 day delivery voyage of 10,440 nautical miles from Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdansk, Poland. The ship then proceeded to BC Ferries’ refit facility in Richmond the next day to prepare for operational service in the Southern Gulf Islands in the autumn. The artwork created to adorn Salish Raven, designed by Musqueam Nation’s Thomas Cannell, will be applied on the ship here in B.C. The Salish Orca, BC Ferries’ first dualfuel vessel, was introduced into service on the Powell River – Comox route in May and has been well received by customers. The Salish Eagle, the second Salish Class vessel, started service on the Tsawwassen- Southern Gulf Islands route in late June. The 107-metre Salish Class ships will carry 145 vehicles and up to 600 passengers and crew. The vessels feature two car decks and have a service speed of 15.5 knots. Each ship is powered by three Wartsila 8L20DF engines.

Brittany Ferries has confirmed the long held belief that the 27,541gt/1992 built Normandie (above) will transfer to the Portsmouth-Le Havre route in 2019 when the newbuild is delivered to the Portsmouth- Caen route. The company signed a new ten-year deal with Portsmouth International Port to continue using the port during a meeting aboard the Bretagne on 17th May. The port had recently announced a £9 million investment programme in one of the berths used by Brittany Ferries which will be replaced after 25 years of service.

Conferry of Venezuela is in serious difficulty and looks likely to cease trading. A myriad of vessels are laid up in Puerto La Cruz including partially submerged fast ferries and the former Truckline/Brittany Ferries sisterships Purbeck and Coutances, now the Maria Rosario and the Rosa Eugenia (2,736gt/built 1978).

DFDS Seaways’ new Ro-Ro vessel Tulipa Seaways was named at FSG Flensburg on 9th June 2017. The Tulipa Seaways is the second large Ro-Ro freight vessel built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft for the DFDS fleet. The ship will be delivered during the autumn and will enter service between Rotterdam and Immingham. At the event, Mrs. Tutte Østergaard named the ship before the vessel (minus her superstructure, added once at the fit-out quay) was launched. The Tulipa Seaways and her sistership Gardenia Seaways are 210m long and offer capacity for 262 trailers/ 4,076 lanemetres.

Finnlines’ 29,841gt/1999 built Finneagle returned to the Savona-Barcelona-Tangier Med route from 2nd June allowing the 29,968gt/1997 built Cruise Smeralda to join the 32,728gt/2001 built Cruise Olbia on the Olbia-Livorno service. The 31,730gt/2001 built Zeus Palace will operate the seasonal Olbia-Civitavecchia route.

Irish Continental Group announced in May that it had entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the sale of the 22,365gt/1995 built Ro-Pax ferry Kaitaki to the New Zealand ferry operator KiwiRail. The agreed consideration of €45 million was payable in cash comprising an initial 10% deposit with the balance payable upon delivery which, under the MOA, was completed by 8th June 2017. The Kaitaki which was commissioned by and delivered to ICG in 1995 as Irish Ferries’ Isle of Innisfree and became surplus to ICG’s operational requirements following delivery of the Ulysses in 2001. The ship was then chartered to P&O Ferries as their third Pride of Cherbourg, passed to Stena Line briefly as the Stena Challenger in 2005 and then passed to KiwiRail as the Challenger to later be renamed Kaitaki. In the last financial year ended 31st December 2016 the charter of the vessel generated operating profits of €2.1 million and had a year-end net book value of €16.1 million. The vessel remained on charter up to the date of delivery and the proceeds of the sale will be used for general corporate purposes. The ICF/Irish Ferries’ newbuild’s keel laying ceremony took place at FSG Flensburg on 12th June 2017.

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s Bank Holiday curse struck again on 27th May when the 12,747gt/1998 built Ben-My- Chree suffered a mechanical failure requiring the cancellation of the 0845 Douglas- Heysham sailing that morning. Engineers hastily completed repairs and the vessel underwent a short sea trial at 1400. Affected passengers were transferred to the 1500 sailing of the 5,743gt/1998 built Manannan to Liverpool, with a coach transfer taking foot passengers to Heysham if required. The Ben-my-Chree departed at 1815 instead of 1945 and returned with the delayed 1415 service traffic departing Heysham at 2345. An additional sailing of the Manannan was provided from Douglas to Heysham at 2230, returning from there at 0200 the next morning.

The 7,606gt/1998 built Arrow (above) was brought in to accommodate any large vehicles which could not be conveyed on the Manannan. The company are to be congratulated once again for the hasty way in which the problem was addressed.

Landsins’12,670gt/2005 built Smyril resumed service in May after her refit so the relief vessel Galaxy (10,553gt/built 1979) departed the Faroe Islands bound for Piraeus on 15th May.

Moby Lines’ 5,435gt/1975 built Moby Love of 1975, ex-King Orry/Channel Entente/ Saint Eloi, and 5,667gt/1966 built Moby Baby (above), ex-Earl Godwin/Svea Drott, are listed for sale as a duo for €1.5 million. Both ships are laid up in Genoa and, if sold separately, the price is €900,000 for the Moby Love and €600,000 for the Moby Baby. The sale of the latter explains the renaming of the Moby Lally to Moby Baby Two for this season. Towards the end of May Portucalence, reportedly based in the Azores, signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase both ships. The two former Moby ships have been replaced in the 2017 fleet by the Moby Kiss and the Moby Niki.

P&O Ferries’ 31,598gt/1987 built Pride of Bruges (above) was out of service until 16th June following her withdrawal from the Hull-Zeebrugge service with what appeared to be a serious technical issue.

Stena Line commenced its enhanced sailing schedule on the Fishguard-Rosslare service on 23rd May, providing the choice of three day sailings and one extended overnight crossing. Having carried out extensive customer research and feedback, the ferry company reviewed the previous schedule and has introduced a more customer friendly timetable which now comprises of three 3 hour 15 minute daytime crossings making Stena Line’s Fishguard- Rosslare route the shortest and fastest crossing between Ireland and South Wales. This not only creates new opportunities which were not previously available on the market for customers, but also reduces the crossing times on some sailings by 15 minutes. Stena Line’s sailing schedule between Fishguard and Rosslare now departs Rosslare 0800/1810 and Fishguard 1310/2345. The night sailing from Fishguard is timed at 4hrs 15mins to provide extra rest time for HGV drivers but the other three sailings are 3hrs 15mins. Quite what the faithful 24,828gt/1981 built Stena Europe will make of her demanding new workload remains to be seen.

Following continued growth on the Gdynia- Karlskrona service, a fourth vessel will be introduced on 28th August in the form of the 7,616gt/1979 built Gute (above) on a timecharter from Gotlandsbolaget. The vessel will complement the Stena Vision, Stena Spirit and Stena Baltica with the major focus on Stena Line’s freight operation. The introduction of the 138m long/18 cabin Gute will add 8 trips a week and the vessel has a freight capacity of 865 lanemetres.

Saaremaa Shipping Co. has sold the former P&O Scottish Ferries vessel St. Ola to Medmar of Italy. Renamed as the Medmar Giulia, the 4,833gt/1971 built ship passed through the Kiel Canal on 29th May during her voyage south and a new career.

The States of Alderney will reportedly offer a subsidy to a new potential passenger and freight ferry service of up to £100,000 a year. The Surface Transport Action Group is to seek expressions of interest from private sector operators and will seek tenders from potential operators later this year. The subsidy will only be agreed on the production of a full business plan. The aim is for a start date of 1st January 2018, plus Alderney’s freight contract is due for renewal this autumn. Meanwhile the trial of a dedicated interisland passenger ferry will not go ahead this summer despite Jersey continuing to work with Condor Ferries on the project after Guernsey pulled out. Discussions continue with Condor Ferries and the States of Guernsey on possible future options. The vessel earmarked for the trials was the 41- seater catamaran Gardian 14 (above), the former Scoot 2.