Brittany Ferries’ 6,581gt/2000 built Normandie Express (above) is not scheduled to operate to Le Havre in 2016, instead serving only Cherbourg from April- September. 

Corsica Ferries’ 34,414gt/1986 built Mega Andrea (formerly the Silja Festival) made her inaugural crossing with the company from Livorno to Golfo Aranci during the night of 17-18th July. 

Euroferries, a name previously linked to a Ramsgate-Boulogne fast ferry service that failed to materialise using the now Condor Liberation (from as far back as 2009), is again in the headlines following surprising media reports that the troubled Nova Star (above) is to find winter employment on the English Channel from 1st November between Ramsgate and Boulogne. The 27,744gt/2014 built ship has been described in at least one report as a “227,400 tonne vessel” so perhaps the accuracy of that reflects on the overall credibility of the news reports. Now shown as Euroferries Express Ltd., Thanet District Council has confirmed that no such agreement for the ferry port in Ramsgate has been reached with this company. Nova Star Cruises in Canada initially broke the news story concerning their Portland-Yarmouth ferry but have since played down the situation. Euroferries has already failed to launch an advertised service on five occasions so we shall just have to wait and see. No smoke without fire? Time will tell. 

Interislander’s most recent acquisition, the 22,152gt/1998 built Kaiarahi (formerly the Stena Alegra) has encountered problems whilst undergoing refit in Singapore so will not now enter service between Wellington & Picton until October. The ship had been undergoing sea trials after receiving an intensive overhaul when some wear was identified inside the stern tubes. 

The MOL Ferry Co.’s 11,401gt ship Sunflower Daisetsu (above) suffered a fire on 31st July off the coast of Tomakomai, Hokkaido. All except one of the passengers and crew aboard were evacuated safely with a navigation officer declared as missing. The fire was brought under control, extinguished and the ship was taken to port by tugs. Passengers and crew members had already been evacuated but the captain remained on board to co-ordinate rescue efforts before he too was evacuated. 

P&O Ferries’ 22,986gt/1991 built European Seaway (above) returned from Tilbury to Dover in mid-July to operate valuable extra ro-ro sailings to Calais. She made yet another comeback upon re-entering service on 22nd July, 10 days ahead of schedule. The former Stena Line HSS Stena Discovery was delivered to the beaches of Aliaga by tug Amber II on 27th July for scrapping. This leaves just the Stena Explorer remaining following the dismantling of the Stena voyager in Gothenburg. 

Scoot Ferries is the latest cross-Solent operator to take on the existing operators and opened a Cowes to Hamble-Le-rice service using the 12-passenger South Boats catamaran Scoot 1 (above) for Cowes Week (starting 7th August). The service offers a “minibus” or “limousine” alternative to the other ferry services with pre-booked departures from early until late. In September 2015 a Yarmouth-Lymington service will commence with plans for East-West Cowes (2015) and Cowes-Portsmouth (2016). 

Tallink’s new generation LNG powered fast ferry for the Tallinn-Helsinki route was celebrated on the 4th of august 2015 at Meyer Turku shipyard when production commenced. The new ferry will be approximately 212m in length with a gross tonnage of 49,000gt. The ship will operate on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn and is designed for carrying 2,800 passengers. The service speed is 27 knots. The newbuild will be delivered from Meyer Turku early in 2017.