Baleària and Peregar began a new joint service between Melilla and Málaga on 18th July under the operating name Compañía Marítima Alborán (CMA). There are six Ro-Pax round trips a week plus one weekly Ro-Ro service. CMA will also operate services Malaga-Ceuta/Tangier Med with Ceuta served twice weekly for freight and Tangier Med by Ro-Ro only Mon-Fri and Ro-Pax at weekends. The company is employing the 19,308gt/1992 built and 430 car capacity Ro-Pax Denia Ciutat Creativa and the 6,419gt/1979 built and 1,000 lanemetre capacity Festivo. The Spanish ferry operator is to also invest €60 million in switching to LNG engines in five of its ferries over the next two years. This project is an addition to the two ‘smart ships’ being built in Italy that will be LNG powered. The ferries concerned are the 24,409gt/2002 built sisters Nápoles and Sicilia plus the 29,670gt/2010 built Abel Matutes (above), 20,238gt/2009 built Bahama Mama and the 24,760gt/2008 built Martin i Soler. The first of the ships in the fleet to be adapted for LNG power will be the Nápoles during her scheduled winter overhaul.

Color Line is to purchase the 12,433gt/1998 built Ro-Ro vessel Finncarrier and deploy her on the Oslo-Kiel route from January 2019. A freight only sailing is a new business offering from Color Line. The ship currently operates for Finnlines on the Hull-Helsinki service.

Condor Ferries’ Commodore Goodwill returned to Portsmouth on 27th July fresh from overhaul at A&P Falmouth and with a new steering system installed to enhance manoeuvrability. She also has a new funnel profile. Gone is the unsightly extended funnel to accommodate exhaust scrubbers in favour of her original funnel size. The process to install scrubbers has seemingly been abandoned for the time being. The chartered 7,606gt/1998 built Arrow had operated to the Channel Isles in her absence. Meanwhile the 325gt/2006 built monohull fast ferry Granville of Manche Iles Express was off service for part of July and August, returning to service on 12th August after awaiting parts following a breakdown. During this time the company could not serve Sark, Alderney, Dielette and Carteret. Two substitute sailings to Sark via Guernsey were organised for 5th/8th August.

DFDS had to suspend crossings between Newhaven and Dieppe on 8th/9th July and cancelled the first service on 10th July. The reason was a problem with the ramp in Newhaven. The ship that arrived at Newhaven when the fault arose was forced to return to Dieppe.

Fjord1’s second of the two all-electric/plug-in ferries built by the Turkish Tersan shipyard arrived in Norway during July under tow. Built to a Multi Maritime design, the 3,618gt and 112.5m long Horgefjord has capacity for 399 passengers and 120 cars. The newbuild is slightly shorter than her 122.1m/3,853gt sister vessel Mokstrafjord, delivered earlier in 2018 and also operating on the Krokeide-Hufthamar route.

Hovertravel provided two special flights to the UK Pride event at Ryde, I.o.W, on 22nd July at 1300 from Lee on Solent and 1415 from Southsea. The two 12000TD hovercraft Solent Flyer and Island Flyer have again been suffering from reliability issues. Alas this now causes a bigger disruption to the service since the spare craft, the 1990 built AP1-88 Freedom 90, was removed from the operational fleet on 30th April. There have been repeated calls locally to return a back-up craft to the fleet.

Incat launched hull number 092 on 10th July, a 33m commuter passenger vessel built for Manly Fast Ferries. Named Ocean Adventurer (above), Hull 092 bears the ‘My Fast Ferry’ livery and will join four other Incat built vessels in the My Fast Ferry fleet in Sydney on Harbour commuter services. The craft has been under construction at Incat since late 2017, has capacity for 400 persons and a service speed of just under 25 knots. Manly Fast Ferries was purchased early 2018 by the NRMA who now market the service with the ‘My Fast Ferry’ branding.

Irish Ferries’ Ulysses was out of service in dry dock and H&W in Belfast for much longer than expected. Issues with her starboard controllable pitch propeller began on 24th June whilst in service on the Holyhead-Dublin route.

Kvarken Link AB has invited four shipyards to place bids for the building of a new Ro-Pax ferry for the Umeå (Sweden) to Vasa (Finland) service. The deadline for the offers was 31st August 2018 with delivery planned for April 2021. The Finnish Government will support the project with €25 million, and the EIB (European Investment Bank) will grant the applied loan when the contract is signed. Wasaline currently employ the 17,053gt/1981 built Wasa Express (formerly Sally Star).

The Little Ferry Company started daily services between Alderney (Braye Harbour) and Guernsey (St. Peter Port) on 13th July. The service using the 12-seater catamaran Spike Islander has been very well received so far with demand dictating that some additional sailings have been added.

Nelton, a Polish ship design and engineering company, has been working with Danish shipyard Hvide Sande to develop and design an energy efficient car ferry. The new vessel is destined for Danish ferry operator ÆrøXpressen, and will be named ÆrøXpressen (above), for service in shallow Danish waters between Marstal and Rudkobing. The ship will be approximately 50m overall in length with a beam of 12.5m and capacity for 196 passengers (98 in winter) and 32 cars. Propulsion will be provided by two electric motors powered by a set of batteries and two generators. Electric drive will be used in the ports. Delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Norled of Norway has awarded LMG Marin the contract to design two battery-plug-in ferries for the Festøya-Solavågen connection (Ålesund). The duo will be built at the Remontowa Shipyard and the contract was signed on 11th July. The new ferries will be equipped with an innovative Diesel Electric Hybrid system. The LMG 120-DEH design offers an innovative, and retro, vehicle deck and accommodation arrangement with the passenger lounge located below the car deck.

Polferries 27,744gt/2014 built Nova Star was further delayed for her maiden voyage for the company. Ongoing technical problems have caused the postponement of her debut until 3rd September.

Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ) has taken delivery of the double-ended ferry Armand-Imbeau II from Davie Shipbuilding. The LNG enabled vessel has an icebreaking capability, necessary for year-round operations on the Saint Lawrence River, more specifically the busy Tadoussac–Baie-Sainte-Catherine route near Québec. The 2,500gt, 92m long, 26m beam and 4m draught vessel enters service in October, to be joined by a sister vessel, the Jos-Deschenes II.

Solent Steam Packet celebrated the 30th anniversary on 28th July of the S.S Shieldhall being in preservation after being retired by Southern Water. The S.S Shieldhall was constructed in 1955 by the Lobnitz Shipyard in Renfrew, Glasgow, on the banks of the River Clyde and performed a sludge disposal role for the Glasgow Corporation. She could also carry a limited amount of passengers on these 8 hour sorties in the summer months. The ship undertook the same sludge carrying role when transferred to Southampton Water before the Haweswater took over until the practice ceased. Sadly a sudden change in the weather from heatwave to gales on 28th July saw her extended 11am-6pm cruise to the Nab Tower cancelled, along with the following day’s trip.

Ultramar of Mexico announced the delivery of the Ultramar II on 31st July, the second in a series of high capacity 48m Catamaran Passenger Ferries. Built by Midship Marine in Harvey, Louisiana, the Ultramar II is specifically designed for the operator’s busy Playa de Carmen-Cozumel run, offering high capacity. The 498gt vessel is fitted with a pair of MTU 16V4000 63L main engines, each producing 3000 bhp at 1800rpm, the upgraded propulsion package offering additional speed and power over her sister, the Ultramar.

Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd. has embarked upon a £4 million project to upgrade its terminal infrastructure and enhance berthing facilities at Hunter’s Quay, Dunoon, Scotland. The work is being undertaken by Red7Marine and commenced in July. The six-month project includes a new 30m long linkspan to replace the existing structure, to be fabricated and installed by Ferguson’s Shipyard in Port Glasgow. The McInroy’s Point terminal underwent an upgrade in 2017.

Wighlink’s new 8,041gt ferry Victoria of Wight arrived at Portsmouth on 10th August (above). She was built at the Cemre Shipyard in Turkey and will operate on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne service. Her naming ceremony will take place at Fishbourne on 20th September.