Channel Island Lines (CIL), the successor to Huelin Renouf, ended its Southampton-Jersey-Guernsey Lo-Lo service from 19th November when the freight handled by the vessel was transferred to CIL’s trailer-based services using Ferryspeed. Chief Executive Andy Cook said, “It is with considerable regret that our present service model of a mixed Lo-Lo/Ro-Ro offer is no longer viable going forward. With little cost difference between the operations, we are obliged to offer the faster, next day service to all of our customers.” The 2,597gt/2012 built Huelin Dispatch is owned and managed by Dundalk Shipping. The ship had resumed the service on 27th September 2013 after original operator Huelin Renouf went out of business on 20th August 2013. At the end of November, the Huelin Dispatch commenced a new 3 year charter in Sweden.

CIL has invested in a brand-new logistics warehouse at Chandlers Ford, near Southampton from which its UK Southcoast operations will be centred, with its Bristol operations continuing to service cargo from North UK to the Channel Islands and UK freight to both North and Southern Ireland. From 5th November FerrySpeed chartered the 1,512gt/1992 built Shetland Trader to operate a Portsmouth-Jersey/Guernsey service, thus bringing the Lo-Lo service full circle back to Portsmouth from where it relocated from to Southampton in January 2009.

European Seaways looks set to receive into its fleet the 26,463gt/1990 built New Golden Bridge II (above), which has been purchased from Weidong Ferry Co. by the Arkoumani family. The 186.5m long ship departed from Incheon in early November bound for Greece as the Golden Bridge and is most likely to serve between Brindisi and Greece.

Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) has chartered out the 44,307gt/1997 built Rhapsody (former SNCM ferry Napoleon Bonaparte) to serve as a floating hotel all winter season in the Bahamas. The charter agreement is with Norwegian Cruise Line through which the 1996 built ferry will be deployed from mid-November to February as an accommodation vessel for NCL’s personnel relocated there whilst several ships from NCL’s fleet are dealt with in turn at the Grand Bahama shipyard. The Rhapsody will therefore play host to some of the crews plus staff in charge of the NCL fleet technical management.

Hellenic Seaways’ 13,955gt/2007 built Nissos Chios transferred from her homeport of Piraeus to the Gibraltar Strait on 31st October to serve Africa Morocco Link’s Algeciras-Tangier Med route for two weeks. The 1,782-passenger/530 lanemetre capacity ship then moved onto a 3-month charter with Balearia on the Dénia-Ibiza-Palma service.

Irish Ferries’ 50,400gt Ro-Pax newbuild W.B Yeats returned to the FSG Shipyard at Flensburg, Germany, on the morning of 7th November after her sea trials, which had commenced on 29th October. The trials had been delayed when the ship suffered engine damage at the shipyard. The incident was understood to have taken place on 16th October when a water-cooling circuit valve was deliberately closed, subsequently damaging one of her four engines. A criminal investigation is underway into the cause. Meanwhile the 50,938gt/2001 built Ulysses was again withdrawn for attention to an ongoing issue on 29th October. The 34,031gt/1997 built Isle of Inishmore switched to the Dublin-Holyhead service in place of the Ulysses and the 31,914gt/1987 built Oscar Wilde covered the Rosslare-Pembroke Dock route. The 8,403gt/2001 built Dublin Swift visited Larne after concluding her first season on the Irish Sea and then went to Belfast for winter lay up on 25th October. During October the Oscar Wilde also operated additional Holyhead-Dublin sailings as a 3-ship service and still offered the services to France, albeit from Dublin rather than Rosslare.

LD Seaplane, a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, has been employing the 24,688gt/2003 built Stena Forecaster (above) on the Airbus Industries service between Montoir de Bretagne and Mobile, USA, since June with a round trip every 28 days carrying four A320 aircraft. The charter concludes in December and the 21,801gt/2014 built Wedellsborg will take her place in January, potentially meaning a return to the North Sea for the ‘Forecaster. The former Frijsenborg, now the 21,966gt/2016 built Spirit of Montoir, is the Wedellsborg’s sister and has served Airbus since May 2018 sailing from Tunis, Naples, Cadiz, Pauillac and Saint-Nazaire.

Moby Lines and Tirrenia have been given the go-ahead for a “reverse merger” project after Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meetings held on 17th October 2018. Moby could then be merged into CIN with immediate effect. The headquarters of the group is expected to be moved back from Milan to Cagliari, in Sardinia. On 14th June 2019 Moby Lines will open a new Piombino-Bastia seasonal service (June-September) with the ship to be used identified as the 11,907gt/1975 built Moby Kiss.

Molslinjen’s 109m long Express 4 was launched on 18th October following the roll-out and joining of the hull and superstructure in August. The 1,000-passenger capacity/40 knot and 12,450gt vessel is now undergoing final preparations to begin sea trials as part of the acceptance and handover process. Construction commenced construction in April 2017 and handover is scheduled for January 2019. New sister company Bornholslinjen has come under fire for problems surrounding the new ferry services to Bornholm since 1st September with what have been described as sporadic sailing patterns whilst various teething issues were ironed out.

Nor Lines, a subsidiary of the Samskip Group, has moved one of its services to Gdansk from Swinoujscie. The decision was determined by logistical factors as Gdansk has the better transport connections. The route is being served by multi-purpose vessels equipped with a Ro-Ro side ramp, 50t capacity cranes and the ability to ship refrigerated, palletised, containerised, ro-ro and project cargo. From Gdansk the ships call at Tromsø in northern Norway with additional calls to Norwegian and Danish ports. The route opened mid-October and the first vessel to call at Gdansk was the 3,538gt/2007 built Silver Lake.

SMS announced on 16th October that it had completed the refit of Brittany Ferries’ 6,581gt/2000 built Normandie Express in Cherbourg on the Ports of Normandy Authority’s Rolls-Royce syncrolift. Over a three-week period, SMS undertook the docking which followed on from the refit of the Condor Rapide earlier in 2018.

Stena Line announced on 19th October that the hybrid trial aboard the 29,691gt/1996 built Stena Jutlandica had been running for a month. The trial has surpassed expectations with stage one involving switching to electrical operation to reduce the use of diesel generators, as well as for manoeuvring and powering the bow thrusters when the ship is in port. In Phase Two, battery power will be connected to two of the four primary engines, which means that the Stena Jutlandica will be able to run on electrical power for about 10 nautical miles inside the archipelago out to Vinga Lighthouse (Gothenburg, Sweden). During Phase Three, all four main engines will be connected to the batteries and the ship will be able to cover the 50 nautical miles between Sweden and Denmark solely on electrical power. A number of positive effects have already been noted after just one month. Phase One has saved approximately 500t of fuel and prevented 1,500t of CO2 emissions. This corresponds to the annual emissions from approximately 600 cars. Work on Phase Two has begun and the goal is for implementation within approximately three years.

The 21,104gt/2004 built Stena Freighter looks set to be undergoing a major conversion programme to become a rocket landing pad vessel for new owner Blue Origin after sale by Stena Line. Not quite the expected use for a 2,715 lanemetre capacity Ro-Ro ship!

Tallink Grupp and Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) have signed a letter of intent for a new environmentally friendly Ro-Pax ferry with a value of approximately €250 million. The new 2,800 passenger capacity Tallink Helsinki-Tallinn Shuttle ferry will be built at RMC’s Rauma shipyard with planning due to commence in the second quarter of 2019 with the construction process following in 2020. The vessel will be delivered to Tallink at the end of 2021.

TESO’s 8,311gt/1990 built Ro-Pax ferry Schulpengat departed lay-up at Terneuzen, The Netherlands, bound for a shipbreaker in Ghent on 31st October having completed her career with TESO on 21st January 2018. The ship had been for sale for some time but no buyer was found to continue her use as a ferry.

Windermere’s Bowness Bay-Far Sawrey car ferry was running again from 27th October having been out of action since a fire broke out in May leading to the evacuation of 80 passengers. The damaged engine, electronics and safety control systems have been refurbished.

Woolwich Ferry newbuild Ben Woollacott departed from the Remontowa Shipyard in Gdansk on 19th October bound for the River Thames and sistership, the Dame Vera Lynn, followed on 31st October. She caught up with the Ben Woollacott as the latter reportedly stopped off at the Voith Schneider factory en route. The duo arrived on the River Thames on 6th November together after completing their delivery voyages from Gdansk via the Baltic Sea, Kiel Canal and North Sea. They went to Tilbury Docks as site works installing the new high-tech mooring system they will use at Woolwich and North Woolwich piers continue. The second old ferry to be towed away from Woolwich, bound for breaking at Gardet de Bezenac, Le Havre, France by the 327gt/2014 built tug TSM Kermor on 25th October was the James Newman. The tug quickly returned for the Ernest Bevin. The last of the 1963 built trio was dragged away to her doom on 31st October.