On 27th February Canadian shipbuilder Davie held a keel laying ceremony for the Armand-Imbeau II, marking the beginning of the hull assembly for this first of two LNG powered sisterships under construction at Davie for the Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ). The two ferries for the Tadoussac-Baie-Sainte-Catherine route are being built at a total cost of $125 million for year-round navigation on the Saguenay Fjord. This first ferry is scheduled to be delivered in autumn 2015, followed by the second, the Jos-Deschênes II, four months later.

Bahamas Express has taken delivery of the 20,238gt/2010 built S.F. Alhucemas (above) from Spanish operator and parent company Balearia. The 1,000 passenger/126 car capacity ship arrived at Port Everglades on 9th February and later replaced the smaller 463-passenger catamaran Pinar del Rio on the Freeport service. The Balearia Group operates the service in partnership with the Capo Group. Bahamas Express began operations at Port Everglades in December 2011 and runs four days a week to Freeport. Plans include adding a thrice-weekly service from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau during the first quarter of 2015.

Bangladesh Ferry Capsizes: On 22nd February yet another ferry accident struck in Bangladesh after a collision. At least 33 people died when a passenger ferry capsized after colliding with a trawler on the River Padma with more than 100 people aboard. Rescuers managed to save at least 50 passengers. Police seized the trawler and arrested two of her crew. The ferry was heading to Paturia from Daulatdia in Rajbari, located on the opposite bank of the river and 136 km (85 miles) northwest of Dhaka. A similar accident on 13th February killed at least seven passengers in southern Bangladesh.

The 30,318gt/1981 built SNAV Toscana, formerly Color Line’s Peter Wessel, departed from Naples at the beginning of March bound for Lerwick, Shetland to supplement the floating accommodation already at the port (the Bibby Stockholm, Kalmar and Sans Vitesse). The 169m ferry arrived on 7th March and will remain at Lerwick’s Holmsgarth 5 terminal until late May on charter to Petrofac in support of the Shetland Gas Plant project.

Navirail has finally purchased a vessel for the Hanko-Paldiski service. They have been dependent upon charters and this has reportedly been problematic, with some of the vessels taken back by their owners at short notice. The new vessel is not the Liverpool Seaways as hoped originally, but the former Finnsailor, now named Sailor and reflagged to Estonia.

The former Stena Line HSS Discovery was placed up for auction in Curacao on 9th April as her owners are reported as bankrupt. The high tech craft was never used since being taken away from Belfast when sold by Stena Line.