Aran Ferries has been awarded the new contract to provide a passenger service between the three Aran Islands and Ros an Mhíl on the mainland, along with a road transport service between Ros an Mhíl and Galway city for the period 2017-2022. This contract was effective from 1st December 2017 to 30th November 2022. Under the contract, return sailings will be provided between Inis Mór and Ros an Mhíl and Inis Meáin/Inis Oírr and Ros an Mhíl every morning and afternoon, seven days a week, with additional early afternoon sailings on Sundays from May to September. In addition, the price of a return ticket for islanders will be capped at €10 (adult fare). The total cost of the contract is €5.9 million.

Atlantico Line’s 748gt/2013 built Mestre Simao ran aground off the port of Madalena on the island of Pico in the Azores on 6th January in bad weather (above). The vessel was arriving from Faial prior to continuing on to Sao Jorge but came to grief after a suspected engine failure when heavy seas subsequently pushed her ashore. The 61 passengers and 9 crewmembers were safely evacuated but the ship suffered considerable hull damage on the rocky coastline.

Austal Limited announced on 28th December that long-standing client and French Polynesia’s leading commercial ferry operator, SNC Aremiti (part of the Groupe Degage), had awarded an AU$30 million contract to Austal to design and build a new 49m high-speed passenger catamaran ferry.

This will be the fifth vessel that Austal has delivered to French Polynesia since 2002. Austal has previously designed and built four vessels for the Groupe Degage comprising two 69m monohull cruise vessels, a 56m vehicle passenger catamaran ferry, and an 80m vehicle passenger catamaran ferry. This Austal design features seating capacity for 620 passengers and garage space for up to 30 motorbikes, small vehicles and cargo. With a top speed of 36 knots it will be fitted with Austal’s Ride Control System to improve seakeeping and provide greater passenger comfort on the Papeete-Moorea route in French Polynesia. The new ferry will be designed in Australia and construction of the vessel will commence at Austal Philippines during 2018, with delivery scheduled for July 2019.

BC Ferries’ 2,679gt Northern Sea Wolf (above), the vessel acquired for the new route from Port Hardy to Bella Coola, transitted the Panama Canal on 1st December having departed from Piraeus, Greece, on 3rd November on the 10,097 nautical mile delivery voyage. The ship’s next call was Manzanillo, Mexico. The Northern Sea Wolf was built in 2000 and will accommodate a minimum of 35 vehicles and 150 passengers and crew. Upon arrival in British Columbia the ferry will undergo a major upgrade at Esquimalt Drydock from December 2017 to April 2018, following a competitive bidding process. BC Ferries has awarded two major contracts to Esquimalt Drydock, the first is a $2 million docking contract for underwater components and the second is an $18 million contract, also involving other local contractors and suppliers for the interior and safety upgrades. The major upgrade will include dry docking, interior and exterior painting, overhauling the propulsion engines and gearboxes, installing new electrical generators, upgrading the switchboards, installing new navigational equipment, and upgrading shipboard safety equipment and systems. BC Ferries will also update crew and passenger areas and amenities by adding a full galley, a dedicated dining area, a newly configured seating lounge and prime outdoor viewing areas on the upper outer decks.

Blue Star Ferries has developed a 145m long, 1,400 passenger and 1,000 lanemetre capacity LNG-fuelled newbuild design that employs cutting-edge technology to achieve reductions in total propulsion energy demand. HydroComp of the U.S.A has been co-operating with NAP Engineering, Helengi Engineering and Blue Star Ferries. The project, co-funded by the EU, has the name Poseidon Med II.

Caremar’s 1,397gt/1980 built and 72m long ferry Driade (above) caught fire near Ischia, Italy after departing Naples bound for Casamicciola prior to Christmas. The fire began in the engine room and disabled the vessel. Rescue craft were dispatched to her aid, the 12 passengers were evacuated and the ferry was towed back to Naples whilst the crew contained the blaze.

Commodore Shipping (now trading as Condor Ferries) celebrated its 70th anniversary in autumn 2017. Services began in September 1947 and the name lives on via the ferries 11,166gt/1996 built Commodore Goodwill and 14,000gt/1999 built Commodore Clipper. The 7,606gt/1998 built Arrow returned to the south coast as Condor’s relief vessel for the Christmas/New Year period, arriving back at Portsmouth on 30th November before making her first visit to Poole where she laid over awaiting service. The ship was not actually scheduled to operate from Poole, but moved to Portsmouth if/when required. Condor Ferries announced on 12th December that it had signed a further 3-year charter deal with the IoMSPCo. to have the Arrow available for relief duties at a cost of £1.1 million per year. Strikes in St. Malo over the first two weekends of December created much disruption to Brittany Ferries and Condor Ferries services with no vessels allowed to depart with passengers. Severe storms over the festive period caused service cancellations and the 5,007gt/1997 built Condor Rapide arrived at A&P Falmouth for a well-earned annual overhaul on 6th January.

Detroit World Logistic Maritime has apparently not been authorised to place the freshly refitted former Sealink ferry Le Rif onto the Moroccan services from Algeciras. The 12,175gt/1980 built ship, which began life as the Galloway Princess, remains in Naples awaiting sale or charter.

DFDS announced on 21st December that the company’s current terminal operation in Esbjerg, Denmark, would be closed with effect from that day. The Esbjerg port operation services DFDS’ freight route between Esbjerg and Immingham, England. Port terminal services will henceforth instead be provided by Blue Water Shipping in another part of the Esbjerg port terminal. As freight ships have become larger carrying increasingly standardised freight units and the passenger traffic from Esbjerg was closed in 2014, the current terminal operation in Esbjerg is no longer competitive. Moreover, the facilities and location of Blue Water Shipping’s terminal will enhance customer service and operational efficiency. The company was also named the ‘World’s Leading Ferry Operator’ at the World Travel Awards for the seventh year in Vietnam on 10th December 2017. DFDS operates a comprehensive passenger route network, including four routes from the UK to Europe via Dover-Dunkirk, Dover-Calais, Newhaven-Dieppe and Newcastle-Amsterdam. It also offers routes in Scandinavia and across the Baltic Sea, including a cruise ferry service from Copenhagen to Oslo and services from Germany to Lithuania, Sweden to Lithuania and Sweden to Estonia.

FRS has purchased Godby Shipping’s 10,471gt/1999 built Miranda and she was introduced onto the Motril-Tangier Med route in January following arrival at Cadiz for refit on 7th January.

Isle of Wight Council’s new Cowes-East Cowes chain ferry Floating Bridge No.6, originally placed into service on 13th May 2017, was reintroduced to service on 11th December after withdrawal on 4th September pending modifications/trials and a full enquiry. The cost of a temporary passenger launch etc. cost the authority £832,000 during the period of inactivity. A report into the troubled ferry found that crew had insufficient time to familiarise themselves with the £3.2 million vessel. The report also noted that some of the vessel’s main drive wheels now also needed replacing with harder wearing steel parts. The Isle of Wight Council’s scrutiny committee met on 9th January to consider the findings. Further crew training has enabled personnel to bring the ferry closer to shore, reducing the risk of vehicle damage and the report also said that insufficient clearance above the ferry’s chains contributed to it grounding at low tide and independent advisers were exploring how the problem could be resolved. The position of the wheelhouse on the new vessel is also being blamed for problems positioning the ferry at the slipways.

Mann Lines’ Harwich-Turku service was placed in the hands of the 191m long newbuild ML Freya as from 27th December, replacing the 24,688gt/2002 built Stena Foreteller.

Med Star Shipping’s 16,776gt/1978 built Med Star was sold for scrap following her fire earlier in 2017 and, renamed Star, was towed to Aliaga, Turkey, by the tug Christos XXIV for beaching and demoltion. The ship was the former Stena Transporter/Pride of Flanders/Doric Ferry and operated with a passenger module on her top deck for a few years whilst operating Felixstowe-Zeebrugge for Townsend Thoresen/P&O Ferries.

Moby Lines’ 5,435gt/1975 built Moby Love (the former IoMSPCo. King Orry/Sealink St. Eloi) now carries the name Aeolos under new owners, Hellenic Mediterranean Ferries, who moved her to Piraeus to await further service. The 9,274gt/1974 built and 119m long Moby Niki struck an obstruction near Isola Palmaiola, Italy on 11th December. The ship was en-route to Portoferraio from Piombino with 138 passengers aboard when she made contact with an unknown object in the water. The ferry sustained hull damage, but was able to continue her voyage to Portoferraio. The ferry then underwent an inspection and a full investigation was launched.

Molslinjen’s 158m long newbuild Ro-Pax vessel is to be christened Hammershus. The ship will serve the Ronne-Koge and Ronne-Sassnitz services and is named after the ruins of the old castle erected in the 1200s in Bornholm. The ship was floated at the Rauma Marine Constructions shipyard in early January and she is scheduled to enter service in September 2018. The vessel will carry 720 passengers (increased from the original 400) and her delivery to Molslinjen should take place on 27th June. Meanwhile the company that lost the Bornholm contract, Danske Færger (Bornholmer Færgen) has sold the 6,402gt/2000 built fast ferry Villum Clausen to an undisclosed buyer in the Mediterranean region with delivery stated as September 2018.

Stena Line’s 26,904gt/2008 built Stena Flavia suffered engine issues on 11th December upon departing Nynashamn, Sweden, for Ventspils, Latvia. The ship limped to Sodertalje, Sweden, were repairs took around three days to complete. From 4th January the 13,017gt/1996 built Stena Scotia replaced the 16,342gt/2012 built Severine and the 24,688gt/2003 built Stena Forerunner replaced the 16,342gt/2011 built Capucine on the Harwich-Rotterdam service whilst the 15,586gt/2007 built Misana/Misida of Godby Shipping replaced the 10,488gt/1999 built Caroline Russ and Stena Scotia on the Rotterdam-Killingholme service.

Transmanche Ferries’ Newhaven-Dieppe service is to continue to make the 1,690 crossings each year after owners Syndicat Mixte de Promotion de l’Activité Transmanche (SMPAT) awarded the five-year contract to current operator DFDS, starting from 1st January. The cross-channel route had been in doubt since a French court ruled that the service must be put out to tender. More than £80million has been invested or committed to be spent in the area of the ferry port at Newhaven to date, with East Sussex County Council itself committing investment of £13 million in the development of the Newhaven Port Access Road. This funding, along with a further £10 million awarded from the Coast 2 Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (C2C LEP), will improve access to the ferry service and significantly open up land for employment space, creating up to 620 jobs. The route is served by the 18,940gt/2006 built sisterships Cote d’Albatre (above) and Seven Sisters.