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Latest Ferry NewsThe latest ferry news for October 2005 is below:
Australian bank buys Isle of Man Steam PacketDate: 20 Oct 2005Source: The Guardian The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, Britain's oldest passenger ferry, announced yesterday that it has been bought by the Australian investment bank Macquarie. The ferry operator, which provides the island's only passenger and freight ferry services, said that it had been bought from Montagu Private Equity by the Macquarie Bank Group in a deal believed to be worth £225m. The announcement came on the same day that PD Ports confirmed it too had received a takeover approach valuing the company at £220m, with Macquarie being named by sources as a possible bidder. The company owns the UK's second largest port, PD Teesport in north-east England, as well as operating shipping and logistics services. Macquarie manages more than £13bn of infrastructure investments around the world, with its British interests including South East Water, Birmingham and Bristol airports and the M6 toll road. The Sydney-based group has been linked to a string of acquisitions in recent months, among them an expected takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange, which could cost as much as £1.8bn. The Australian bank insisted it would be "business as usual" for the 175-year-old ferry company's customers, suppliers and staff following the acquisition. Jim Craig, head of Macquarie in Europe, said Steam Packet fitted with his company's philosophy of investing in infrastructure and essential services. "This is the type of business we are keen to invest in, with stable revenues, a strong customer base and a proven management team," he said. "The island itself has an excellent record of stability and economic growth." Hamish Ross, managing director of the ferry firm, said: "We are delighted that Macquarie has chosen to acquire Steam Packet under existing management. We look forward to working with them to build the business and continue to provide a first-class service to our passenger and freight customers." Founded in 1830, Steam Packet carries 600,000 passengers and 170,000 vehicles a year between the Irish Sea island, England and Ireland. It is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world. Superfast Ferries to cut down on sailingsDate: 19 Oct 2005Source: BBC News Superfast Ferries, the company who run services from Scotland to continental Europe is to cut its sailings. Superfast Ferries who currently run daily from Rosyth in Fife to Zeebrugge in Belgium, said it will move from two ferries to one on 8 November. The Greece-based company said it would now be operating three sailings a week from each port. The service was launched three years ago and the crossing to the Belgian port takes about 18 hours. Passenger numbers It saves passengers and truckers having to drive via Hull or the English Channel ports. Each ferry can carry more than 1,000 passengers, 120 cars and 100 commercial vehicles. Figures contained in the 2004 annual report of parent company Attica Group show passenger numbers slipped from 196,000 in 2003 to 192,400 last year. But freight traffic grew significantly during the same period, with the total number of units being shipped rising from 32,500 in 2003 to 40,300. The number of private vehicles using the service rose from 37,600 to 41,400. The firm said the change was a response to "market demand and pursuing European network optimisation". A spokesman at Superfast Ferries denied the move was prompted by disappointing traffic levels. "We will be maintaining our presence on the Scottish services, with three sailings a week from each port," he said. "We are confident we will be able to serve the needs of the market with the new schedule." Under the new schedule the ferry will sail from Rosyth every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, returning from Zeebrugge every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Direct transport Scottish National Party MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Bruce Crawford, said the decision was "hugely disappointing". He said: "Given that both freight numbers and private vehicle numbers were up, it is unclear why the company have decided that operating two ferries is no longer viable." He called for the Scottish Executive to enter into constructive discussions with Superfast Ferries to ensure that the full service was reinstated by the spring of 2006. "In order to compete internationally, Scotland needs direct transport routes to Europe and the increased commercial use of this service was testament to this fact," he said. Scandlines to be privatisedDate: 19 Oct 2005Source: Lloyds List Germany and Denmark have decided to privatise Scandlines, their jointly-owned Baltic Sea ferry operator, ending months of speculation over the future of the company. A mutual agreement has been signed by the transport secretaries of both countries, it was announced today. German transport minister Manfred Stolpe said Scandlines will be able to gain more from the growing Baltic Sea markets if it is transferred into private ownership. “Corporate decisions will no longer be blocked by its ownership structure, there are growth opportunities ahead,” Stolpe said. One of the conditions for the sale is that all 1,200 German jobs be secured. Despite these assurances German trade union Transnet protested strongly against the privatisation, which it described as a sell-out of a profitable public company. Stena Line scoop double awardDate: 18 Oct 2005Source: Stena Line Leading ferry company Stena Line is celebrating a double victory in the Northern Ireland Travel Trade Awards. Stena Line picked up the award for Best Ferry Operator for an unprecedented thirteenth time and the company’s Head of Travel Market, Paul Grant picked up the prestigious award for NI Travel & Tourism Personality of the Year at the glittering ceremony held at the Slieve Donard Hotel. Hundreds of guests and VIPs from the travel industry were present at the awards, organised by the Northern Ireland Travel and Leisure News and hosted by television personalities Angela Rippon and Bill Ward, better known as bad boy Charlie from Coronation Street. Paul Grant said: “We are very proud to pick up the award for Best Ferry Operator for a thirteenth time which is a testimony to the hard work and effort that has helped Stena Line to increase market share and reinforce its position as market leader on the Irish Sea. To win this award so many times is even more remarkable when you consider just how competitive the industry is at the moment. “We have had a number of challenges this year as we have worked to improve our booking systems and our services in general and I would like to thank the travel trade for bearing with us and supporting us not only in these awards but throughout the year,” he added. In presenting the NI Travel & Tourism Personality of the Year award to Paul, the organisers said: “This award is made annually to the person judged to have made the greatest contribution to the travel and tourism industry and this year’s winner is someone who is probably one of the most influential executives in the ferry industry. He has literally risen through the ranks since first joining one of the world’s leading ferry companies straight from college. Nineteen years later he is in charge of all Stena Line’s sales and marketing activities and five routes operating between Ireland and the UK Mainland,” In accepting his award, Paul said: “To also be recognised individually is a real honour for me and one which I was not expecting. I feel very privileged to have been selected for this award and to have such a strong and committed team behind me. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the hard work of the whole Stena Line team whose efforts have helped to make 2005 a successful year for the company,” he concluded. Stena Line is the market leading ferry company on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet (nine vessels) and choice of route between Ireland and Britain, where it operates a total of five routes including Belfast to Stranraer, Larne to Fleetwood, Dublin Port or Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead and Rosslare to Fishguard. The company carries approximately three million passengers between Ireland and Britain each year, more than its rival ferry operators combined. Workers vote to end French Corsica ferry strikeDate: 13 Oct 2005Source: Reuters Workers at the loss-making SNCM ferry company linking Corsica to mainland France voted on Thursday to end a 24-day strike, pulling back under government threats to declare the firm bankrupt. The strikers voted by an overwhelming 519 to 73 to go back to work, enabling conservative Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to see off the first major challenge to his labour policies in just over four months in power. But the dispute has left a bitter taste. The striking workers said they were abandoning their protest only because the alternative was for the management to ask a commercial court to declare the company bankrupt. "This is a disciplined vote that means 'I'm not getting down on my knees, just stepping back because my enemy is the court and I cannot fight against it'," said Bernard Marty, a local leader of the main CGT union. Villepin hailed the vote as "good news". Finance Minister Thierry Breton said: "It is a sign that the government's message about the seriousness of the situation was heard." Breton said Paris would now proceed with the rescue plan, which will divide SNCM ownership among the state (25 percent), company staff (9 percent), French private investors Butler Capital Partners (38 percent) and France's Connex (28 percent). CGT officials said it would take at least 48 hours to get the 10-vessel fleet back to normal service after the strike, which choked deliveries to the Mediterranean island and temporarily trapped tourists there from returning home. WAVE OF PROTESTS The ferry workers' strike is part of a wave of protests this month that have challenged Villepin's policies, including a day of nationwide marches and strikes last week in which several hundred thousand people took part. Opinion polls show Villepin's popularity has slipped for the first time since he was appointed by President Jacques Chirac on May 31 to restore national confidence after French voters rejected the European Union's constitution. Villepin's handling of the SNCM sale is being closely watched as he tries to push through the privatisation or partial privatisation of several companies, including the sale of a stake in electricity giant EDF and three motorway companies. He initially proposed a full privatisation of SNCM but quickly backed off, saying the state could keep a 25 percent stake but not the majority share the unions were seeking. At times the SNCM protests were dramatic. They stirred nationalist sentiment in Corsica, where a rocket was fired at a French official's office building, and about 50 striking seamen seized a ferry for several hours before Villepin sent in elite forces to take the vessel back. A separate strike by workers at Marseille port added to the chaos, sealing off the major Fos-Lavera oil refining hub for two weeks until the stoppage was suspended earlier this week. Workers are still on strike at France's largest oil refinery, Total's Gonfreville plant in the north of the country. Marseille services resume after strike endsDate: 12 Oct 2005Source: Lloyds List The port of Marseilles was in the process of returning to normal activity yesterday after port authority workers finally decided to end their 14-day-old strike, writes Andrew Spurrier in Paris. Difficulties over interpretation of the peace agreement reached at the weekend, which resulted in port workers refusing to resume work on Monday, as originally planned, were finally resolved and the port said yesterday that all terminals were functioning again. A spokeswoman indicated, however, that it would take at least two weeks to deal with all the ships waiting to be unloaded, notably at the Fos and Lavera oil terminals. In the meantime, port authority management and personnel have given themselves two weeks to discuss the grievances raised by personnel, notably the threat to jobs posed by the port’s plans to put certain services in the hands of the private sector. However, the 22-day-old strike at state-owned ferry company SNCM was continuing despite repeated warnings from company management and the French government that the company would file for bankruptcy this week if personnel did not return to work. The company’s board voted in favour of the government’s plan to put the company under private sector control on Monday but personnel representatives left the meeting rather than take part in the vote. Representatives of the majority CGT union confederation also refused to take part in a works committee meeting devoted to the company’s financial situation yesterday afternoon after the venue for the meeting was changed, apparently because of security concerns, from SNCM’s Marseilles head office to the local prefecture. There were signs, however, that support for the strike was weakening. The two leading officers’ unions at the company and shore and seafaring members of a minority union confederation have called for it to be suspended in the face of the risk of bankruptcy. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told the National Assembly yesterday that “only the resumption of work will make it possible to avoid bankruptcy”. Harwich Cuxhaven link attracts interestDate: 12 Oct 2005Source: Lloyds List A number of ferry operators have expressed an interest in running a service on the Harwich-Cuxhaven route which DFDS is to abandon next month, writes Felicity Landon. David Gledhill, Hutchison Ports (UK) chief operating officer for Harwich, said: “We are relatively confident there is a viable freight route and we have already had a number of expressions of interest.” There had been hopes that DFDS would retain a freight-only service on the route, but in a meeting with HPUK managers earlier this week it confirmed that the service will close entirely on November 6 and there are no plans for a freight link. The loss is a blow for Harwich because trade car business had returned to the port this year on the Cuxhaven service. As part of its contract with BMW, DFDS Tor Line has been bringing cars into Harwich since the start of this year. Harwich International Port provided a dedicated compound for the vehicles. Investors raise Cross Channel hovercraft hopesDate: 11 Oct 2005Source: Lloyds List A Florida-based builder has emerged as the partner behind plans to build a new generation of giant hovercraft that promoters claim offer the prospect of resurrecting services across the English Channel, writes Hugh O’Mahony. Kurt Peterson, president of Atlas Hovercraft, of Green Cove Springs, confirmed that he had been in talks with UK-based private investors headed by Peter Mugridge, who have been trying to get a new generation hovercraft off the ground for three years. Mr Mugridge and his backers had initially tried to get Seacontainers to part with retired SRN4 hovercrafts, but to no avail. Mr Peterson said he had been engaged in talks over the possibility of constructing a new large scale hovercraft for use in the UK and Europe. “We have the engineering and manufacturing capabilities to successfully accomplish the task,” he said. “What is required is a client or partner to construct and place such a vessel into commercial operation. With a proper down payment and proof of credit, our company is ready to make this dream a reality.” NGH, the private investors pushing the scheme, said last week that Atlas would accept a $10m downpayment on a 65 m long by 30 m -35 m wide vessel described as the ‘New Giant Hovercraft’, designed either for passengers only or passengers and cars. The unit price for between eight and 12 craft was given as $40m-$50m. Mr Peterson said Atlas Hovercraft had relations to an equally new ‘hovercraft operations company’, “with the experienced staff to put a commercial hovercraft into profitable service any place in the world. This could be one option to get the project off the ground and up on hover. Atlas is already engaged in the design and manufacture of hovercraft, following its formation in December of 2004. “The vessels we are constructing at this time will enter service in the USA during 2006,” said Mr Peterson. “The first is a 150 passenger AH-100 hovercraft sold to a client that intends to operate a tourist excursion on the Great Lakes. The second hovercraft is a 25 passenger model AH-36 under construction for Hornblower Marine Service, Inc. that will be used to deliver guests to a high end resort on the east coast Georgia.” Mr Peterson said two more 150 passenger AH-100 hovercrafts had been sold to Hoverline Express and would enter daily passenger services from Miami to Key West in Florida. “Hoverline Express is also bringing several AH-100 to Europe in 2007,” he said. Atlas Hovercraft is the only 100% American owned hovercraft manufacturer to receive US Coast Guard approval for a 150 passenger ‘T-boat’ of original design. “All other commercial and military hovercraft in America have been British designs sold or licensed to commercial ventures or the Government,” said Mr Peterson. “Smaller hovercraft for recreational or personal use have been designed and constructed by amateurs. “However, Atlas Hovercraft Inc. is taking a professional approach using state of the art technology and a team of highly qualified and motivated people. “The result is a hovercraft of substance and performance that is several generations beyond any other available craft worldwide. Before starting Atlas Hovercraft, Mr Peterson was a principal owner and investor in a designer and builder of flying boats. “Several years before I left the company, we started to prototype some hovercraft of my design.” He said the Atlas team was “made up of people who are highly respected in various industries. I created the core designs and technology and the Atlas team came together to make it a reality.” He said the Atlas hovercraft factory was the single largest facility in the world dedicated to the design, testing, and manufacturing of modern day hovercraft. Atlas Hovercraft had evaluated the cost and potential of Mr Mugridge’s concept, said Mr Peterson. Corsica Ferries operating despite strikesDate: 4 Oct 2005Source: Lloyds List Corsica Ferries will provide regular ferry services from Ajaccio today and tomorrow despite the 24-hour general strike in France, the company’s Italian subsidiary Forship has confirmed. "We have scheduled five sailings from Ajaccio to Livorno, Savona-Vado, Toulon and Nice today, and for tomorrow four sailings from Ajaccio to Savona, Nice and Toulon," Forship general manager Euan Lonmon confirmed. "We are meeting the demand and have no problem accommodating passengers’ requests for crossings back to the mainland". Corsica Ferries carried more than 10,000 people from Corsica to Italy and France in the last 36 hours. Harwich Cuxhaven closes as DFDS Seaways return passenger vesselDate: 3 Oct 2005Source: DFDS Seaways DFDS Seaways is returning the chartered passenger vessel the DUCHESS OF SCANDINAVIA to the Norwegian owner. The original route between Hamburg in North Germany and Harwich in the South of England was transferred from Hamburg to Cuxhaven in March 2002, and the DUCHESS OF SCANDINAVIA was placed in service on the route in April 2003. The loss of duty-free sales on board and increasing competition from low-cost airlines have intensified the economic pressure on the route. Although profits on the route improved following the introduction of the DUCHESS OF SCANDINAVIA, the market for passenger tonnage does not make it viable to deploy relevant replacement tonnage. The route will consequently close in the middle of November 2005. DFDS Tor Line's freight route from Cuxhaven to Immingham will continue unchanged, with 5-6 weekly departures in each direction. The closure of the route in the middle of November will have no influence on DFDS's anticipated financial performance in 2005. |
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