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Latest Ferry NewsThe latest ferry news for October 2006 is below:
Corsican court set to rule on bid to stop ferry concessionDate: 23 Oct 2006Source: Lloyds List The administrative court in the Corsican city of Bastia will rule today on applications from Corsica Ferries and Compagnie Méridionale de Navigation to stop the award of the subsidised public service ferry concession for lines between Corsica and the French mainland. The Corsican transport office is thought to be preparing to award the concession early next month, but Corsica Ferries and CMN are trying to have the award suspended or cancelled, arguing that it is biased in favour of their rival SNCM. CMN told the court at a hearing on Friday that there was an “obvious understanding” between the French state, the Corsican authority and SNCM’s new owners, Butler Capital Partners and Veolia Transport, over the concession. Butler Capital Partners and Veolia Transport have escape clauses allowing them to withdraw from SNCM’s capital if the company fails to obtain the new concession, which is due to come into force on January 1, 2007 and to run until 2012. If this were to happen, the company would be unlikely to survive and CMN and Corsica Ferries claim that it is precisely for this reason that the French government and the Corsican authority are colluding to ensure that it does not. In a surprise new move, however, Francis Lemor, chairman of CMN majority shareholder Stef-TFE, invited the Corsican authority to take a stake in CMN alongside his company. Although a court in Paris gave SNCM control of CMN last Tuesday, Mr Lemor is appealing against the decision and argues SNCM will in any case be ordered to give up its stake in CMN by the European Commission. The Commission is investigating aid granted SNCM by the French government in recent years, including that granted in the course of the sale of a majority of the company’s capital to Butler Capital Partners and Veolia Transport. Mr Lemor believes that the Commission will order SNCM to sell certain assets to compensate for the aid it has received and that SNCM’s stake in CMN is likely to be among those assets. No funding for Northern Ireland - Scotland ferry linkDate: 21 Oct 2006Source: Belfast Telegraph Ministers have rejected a plea to fund the restoration of a ferry service between Northern Ireland and Scotland, which ran at a loss from 1997-1999. Direct rule minister Maria Eagle has told MPs no financial support can be offered to reinstate the ferry between Ballycastle and Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula. She made her comments despite previous all-party support and an agreement between the Northern Ireland Office and the Scottish Executive to share the cost of a £1m a year subsidy Alan Reid, Lib Dem MP for Argyll and Bute, blamed tactics being used by NIO ministers to persuade parties to restore the Stormont executive. Moby Lines set to grow with equity fund partnerDate: 20 Oct 2006Source: Lloyds List Rising Italian ferry company Moby Lines is poised to take on a private equity fund as a small but significant minority partner, company chief executive Vincenzo Onorato has confirmed. Mr Onorato said the move would permit the continued aggressive expansion of the company, while keeping its debt to capital ratio at the current 50%. An initial public offering for Moby, which had been discussed in the past, is now thought unlikely. Company managing director Luigi Parente said Moby would continue to expand, whether organically or through buying new ships and acquiring existing shipping companies, citing its recent acquisition of Lloyd Sardegna, with five ships, as well as two separate vessel purchases. Mr Onorato added that Moby will now work to faze the new vessels into the fleet, though one of the Lloyd Sardinia ships will be sold. At a press conference in Milan on Tuesday, Moby executives said passenger throughput rose 6% to more than 4m in the first nine months of the year. The company also expects a 7% increase in revenue for the year, to €180m ($225m), and a further increase to € 250m in 2007. The company’s Sardinian services registered a particularly strong increase of 11%, compared with an overall increase of 6% for the Sardinian market as a whole, and Moby now claims to be the leader in services to the island with a 37% share. Around 1.9m passengers travelled the routes between Civitavecchia, Livorno and Genoa on the Italian mainland, and Olbia in Sardinia during the first nine months of this year, 200,000 up on the same period in 2005. Grimaldi eyes Russia as Finnlines deal nearsDate: 19 Oct 2006Source: Lloyds List A SIGNIFICANT move into the Russian market may be on the cards if the Naples-based Grimaldi Group’s takeover bid for Finnlines goes through as widely anticipated. Interviewed in Naples, company chief executive Emanuele Grimaldi said: “More goods are being exchanged between European countries now than in the past, but St Petersburg and Moscow are growing at an even faster pace.” The Russian market could be very interesting, he noted. Over the shorter term, however, Finnlines is likely to concentrate on phasing in the five new 42,000 gt ferries built at Italian yard Fincantieri for €500m ($630m) and tailored specifically for the Baltic. “That really is the biggest issue at the moment,” he said. “Next year’s results are very dependent on it, but there is a big question mark there. “Will those five ships end up cannibalising the others. We are adding 20,000 line metres in a trade that is harshly competitive, with Tallink also growing rapidly. Will Finnlines beat the competition, or will there be a big fight, with too much tonnage chasing too little demand. It is impossible to know now, though it is a bet I am happy to make.” Mr Grimaldi’s comments follow recent confirmation that he had bought a further 10.8% stake in Finnlines, raising his holding to 46.2%, and planned a € 349m offer for the remaining shares. As for the coming €15.95 per share tender offer for all Finnlines’ shares, Mr Grimaldi said: “We won’t be holding a gun to anyone’s head. “Whoever wants to keep their shares will be our partners. And if they want to sell they will be able to sell at the highest price available. “In the short- to medium-term, I don’t see much change. It is a good company with good management, as you can see from the results from the first nine months of the year. “This is a cyclical business, so we will see how it goes. But there is no urgency. We are not talking about a company in trouble where you have to intervene.” As to fears in Finland that a Grimaldi buy-out might translate into a loss for the flag, he argued to the contrary that “this could be a big opportunity for Finland”. He cited the example of ACL. “When we bought it, the ships all flew the flag of Bermuda or the Bahamas. Then Sweden created a sufficiently competitive environment and we switched. The same logic applies to the Finnish shipping industry.” Scandlines cuts stake in Mols LinienDate: 16 Oct 2006Source: Lloyds List Under the hammer Baltic ferry group Scandlines has reduced its stake in Danish operator Mols Linien to 30% as it prepares for the finale in its €1bn ($1.25bn) public sector sell-off. The Danish and German government owned company has pruned back its holding by 10% to ensure that its buyer will not be forced to make a full offer for the domestic service operator. Scandlines Denmark’s sale of 283,334 shares at DKr440 ($73.7) each was worth DKr125m and set the value of the five-ferry operation at around DKr1.25bn. The Copenhagen arm of the dual state-run group said it would retain 849,999 shares in the company worth DKr373m. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority this summer advised that a buyer of Scandlines, if it had retained a 40% holding, would not be exempt from making a mandatory offer. Deutsche Bahn and the Danish Ministry of Transport in August wrote a joint letter to Scandlines calling for a reduction of the shareholding to around 30%. The government owners said they wanted flexibility to decide on the long-term future of Mols-Linien, and also did not want to create market uncertainty and fuel share speculation. Mols-Linien has reported steadily improved sales since 2001 with DKr717m booked last year, although pre-tax profits slid in 2005 to DKr8m from DKr43m a year earlier. The Danish ferry operator has been hit by increased competition from the Great Belt link and spiralling bunker costs that added DKr50m to its fuel bill in 2005. Mols-Linien’s fleet includes the 1998-built, 780 passenger capacity Incat high-speed ferry Max Mols, the 1996-built, 450 passenger Seajet’s Mai and Mie Mols and two 600 passenger, 1,200 lane metre ferries Maren and Mette Mols — both 3,800 dwt, 1996-built. The Jutland-based company runs three services across the southern Kattegat with high-speed craft between Århus and Ebeltoft-Odden, and its ferries to Kalundborg. Last December, Mols-Linien sold its ferry terminals in Ebeltoft and Sjaellands Odde to raise DKr227m with lease-back terms arranged. Scandlines’ move to sort out shareholder duties prior to new ownership comes as Danish reports this week said that only three finalists are left in an auction shortlist that comprised some 20 runners earlier in the year. Swedish shipping group Stena, which has been favoured as an industrial buyer for its operating partner, is in the last round, and is backed by venture capital boutique 3i Group. The other two surviving would-be owners are Bain Capital and Baltic Ferry Development Group. Finnlines’ investor sparked Grimaldi bidDate: 16 Oct 2006Source: Lloyds List Emanuele Grimaldi’s decision to raise the Grimaldi Group’s stake in Finnlines to 46.2%, and with it to launch a full takeover bid for the Finnish ferry company, appears to have been prompted by an unsolicited approach from the second largest shareholder in Finnlines eager to sell at price level it regarded as favourable. While the Grimaldi Group continues to decline comment on last week’s move pending a press conference in Naples tomorrow, reliable industry sources said the company had resisted the temptation to buy from several smaller shareholders eager to sell. However, an approach from the Thominvest Group, eager to dispose of its 10.8% stake, forced Grimaldi’s hand. Thominvest executives were not available for comment. The development came as a surprise to the market and represented an abrupt reversal of Grimaldi’s stated strategy. Mr Grimaldi vowed just six weeks before, after boosting his share in the company to 35.4% with the purchase of a further 4.9% stake, that this would be his last acquisition of shares in the the short sea specialist on the public market prior to a decision on a full public offering for the remaining shares. As he put it at the time: “Now we have three years in which to analyse the company and the state of the market and decide whether or not to make a public offering. “If I continued buying shares, it would only make it more difficult to go back.” The sudden willingness of a number of shareholders to cash out of Finnlines prompted a rethink, however. As for the €15.95-a-share offering price giving a total of € 349m ($408m) for the remaining shares, the sources suggested that, as an industrial investor with a long-term view of Finnlines’ potential in collaboration with his own operations, Mr Grimaldi’s view of the company’s value differed from that of an investor eager to cash in on a rise in the share price. Though this would be the highest Mr Grimaldi has paid for shares in the company he has suggested in the past that he saw it as undervalued. That view will perhaps have found some confirmation from the interim results for Finnlines released this week. At €43m, operating profits for the first nine months were almost double the €23m registered in the same period last year. The result was considerably better than anticipated and evidence that a revival may be under way after a period of distinct weakness. At least on the basis of recent statements, Mr Grimaldi is unlikely to make many immediate changes at Finnlines in the event of his takeover bid proving successful. He has been supportive of the existing management while stating many times his belief in the synergies to be had from a successful partnership with his own company. In late August he cited “a project of industrial cooperation, commercial development and strategic alliance,” for his decision to build a stake in Finnlines. As he described it then, the companies have “similar features and the co-operation between them will generate new logistics opportunities for their international clientele, linking Moscow with New York, Helsinki with Rio de Janeiro, Riga with Rome, always with a single bill of lading and consequently with one carrier responsible for the carriage of goods”. Isle of Wight haulage boss against new ferry portDate: 16 Oct 2006Source: Isle of Wight today The head of the Isle of Wight's foremost haulage company has told councillors he would not be in favour of creating a new ferry port. Steve Porter was giving evidence to the policy commission for economy, tourism, regeneration and transport in its investigation into the sustainability of Island ports and the question of whether a fourth port was needed. Mr Porter said he feared a new ferry operator would increase competition but in the long term it would mean only the more profitable services would be retained by all operators. This would hit off-peak and night-time services, which were vital to a haulage business. It would also mean more tourists, which in turn meant more traffic jams, turning the Island into a less attractive place to visit. "It would be like putting an extra lane on the M25. All it does is suck in more traffic. Do you want to do that and make it a less attractive place to live in and visit?" asked Mr Porter. Instead of creating a new port, he would endorse a suggestion made to him by a Wightlink manager that two link-spans could be used side by side on the ferries so loading and unloading could take place at the same time. "That would ease congestion in the ports because the traffic would be moving more quickly. My view is there is no justification for a fourth port or third ferry operator," he said. He told members of the policy commission the real growth in the haulage business was in home deliveries due to internet shopping. This sector had risen by 17 per cent. Retail customers no longer wanted great stockpiles of goods but re-stocking took place automatically as an item went through the tills. "Essentially this means 24-hour ferry services are required because our customers demand next-day delivery. "A lorry can leave the Island at 5pm and have a pallet from Edinburgh delivered back on the IW the next morning," he said. Cllr Charlie Hancock, who is leading the investigation, said meetings, some of them private, had been held with the ferry companies at which dual link-spans had been discussed. "There are concerns about the capacity in some of the ports that we have already and the perception could be that dual use link-spans could increase the problems, not solve them," said Cllr Hancock. P&O Ferries fights back against low-cost airlinesDate: 11 Oct 2006Source: Ferry News After its fundamental business review, P&O Ferries is now "where we think we need to be", says spokesman Brian Rees. "We have been very particular about the ships we chose and the ships we let go," he says. "We are now running about 30 round trips a day, 25 multipurpose and the rest dedicated freight trips. "Freight is now 50% of our business and we are regularly carrying 4,500 trucks on a midweek night between mid-afternoon and the early hours of the morning." The market is growing at an annual rate of 7%-8% for freight, and P&O is also reporting a good year for tourists, says Mr Rees. In August tourist figures on its Dover-Calais services were up 6% and he believes a key part of this has been the fightback against the low- cost airlines. "We have been much more aggressive in the way we have positioned ourselves against the low-cost airlines," he says. "There was a time where perhaps we thought we were quite a distinctly different market to the airlines and that people understood the merits of loading up at home, getting in their own car and setting off on their journey." The perception is that low-cost airlines are cheap despite the fact that many passengers then pay to hire a car at the other end, he says. "We have to get our message across that our fares include four or five people and all their luggage in the car. We set out this year to be very aggressive and direct, one slogan being: 'P&O likes people with a lot of baggage'." The big challenge in terms of freight is now the capacity of the port of Dover and the issue of congestion, says Mr Rees. "If you get any hitch in the chain, whether in Dover or Calais, the point comes where it is more and more difficult to keep a good flow, particularly of freight, through the port," he says. "We are pushing for the buffer zone plan - an area where you could push through freight in an orderly way. "As freight continues to grow, much smarter traffic management is going to be needed." Freight makes up 50% of P&O Ferries' business, growing at 7%-8% annually. Tourist figures for its Dover-Calais service have increased by 6%. Question marks still hang over the future of troubled SNCMDate: 9 Oct 2006Source: Lloyds List Question marks still hang over the future of troubled ferry operator SNCM. SNCM has now been partially privatised with Butler Capital Partners holding 38% of the company, Veolia Transport 28%, and SNCM employees 9%. However, the state, through Compagnie Générale Maritime et Financière (CGMF), still has a 25% holding, and the EC has decided to extend its investigation into "subsidies" granted to SNCM under the plan and determine if they are compatible with European rules on state aid. The subsidies had been granted prior to the partial sell-off. A spokesman for the EC says it will have to decide "whether or not CGMF and the French state could be considered to have acted as well-informed investors in respect of those measures". The EC also doubts "whether financial assistance was kept to the absolute minimum required for restructuring SNCM, whether SNCM contributed enough of its own resources to the restructuring process, and whether the restructuring plan can actually secure the long-term viability of SNCM". Switching allegiances As if this was not enough, August saw SNCM's long time partner Compagnie Méridionale de Navigation (CMN) quit to join forces with rival Corsica Ferries, thus sparking another row. The new pairing is bidding for the renewed concession on subsidised services between the French mainland and Corsica, and represents a setback for SNCM's prospects. CMN and Corsica Ferries indicated they had not made a joint bid but had co-ordinated their separate bids for the concession, which is due to come into force at the start of next year. CMN, which shares the existing five-year concession with SNCM, confirmed it would not be bidding with its traditional partner, apparently in the belief that the new owners of SNCM were intent on taking over CMN rather than continuing to co-operate with it. SNCM has accused its former partner's majority shareholder, Stef-TFE, of breaching a shareholder pact between them and the matter has now gone to court. In the absence of a renewal of its partnership with CMN, SNCM has said it intends to bid for the concession alone, although it is thought unlikely that it can win it without CMN's three ro-pax vessels. The service concession itself is not without controversy. Francis Lemor, the boss of StefTFE, says SNCM would have to give up its 45% stake in CMN in order not to breach European competition rules. Stena brings an end to fast Harwich Hook ferry serviceDate: 5 Oct 2006Source: Lloyds List Stena Line is to cease operating a fast ferry service on the Harwich-Hook of Holland route from January, and will invest £70m ($132m) in lengthening and upgrading the two ro-pax ferries operating on the route, it was confirmed yesterday. The decision to withdraw the high-speed catamaran Stena Discovery follows a review of the Harwich-Hook route earlier this year. Yesterday Harwich International Port, which is owned by Hutchison Ports (UK), announced the signing of a contract extension with Stena which extends the relationship between the two companies until 2020. However, the HSS was conspicuous in its absence from the announcement. Stena is to invest £70m in the ro-pax vessels Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica, which currently operate alongside the HSS. They will each be lengthened to 240 m, the number of cabins will be doubled, and there will be extensive refurbishment, said Pim de Lange, Stena’s route director for the North Sea. Stena says they will become the largest passenger and freight-carrying vessels in the world. “We will withdraw the HSS from service by January 8,” said Mr de Lange. “However, Harwich-Hook of Holland remains very important to us both for freight and passengers.” Stena Line carried 700,000 passengers on the Harwich-Hook route last year — well down on the one million it carried for many years. The combination of falling passenger numbers and rocketing fuel prices forced Stena to take a hard look at the service — and in particular the fuel-hungry HSS, which has operated on the route since 1997. The Stena Discovery will be delivered back to its owner, Stena Ro-Ro, and is likely to be sold, said Mr de Lange. Chris Lewis, chief executive of HPUK, said: “We are extremely pleased to see Stena’s ongoing commitment to the Harwich-Hook of Holland route, and look forward to working with Stena for many years to come. “It is important that passengers can continue to travel from Harwich, and the contract extension and vessel lengthening programme will ensure that Harwich International Port is able to offer this service in the future.” Harwich - Hook of Holland Ferries to be extendedDate: 4 Oct 2006Source: Evening Star East Anglia's car ferry link to the continent has been guaranteed until 2020 - but operators Stena Line have confirmed that it will now be just a slow boat to Holland. The high speed Stena Discovery is being taken out of service on the route between Harwich and the Hook of Holland in January - a victim of high fuel prices which make it uneconomic. But today ferry operators Stena Line confirmed it was extending its contract with the port until 2020 - and its existing traditional ferries will be extended to take more passengers and vehicles. Stena Line is to spend £70 million on upgrade its superferries, the Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica. The vessels will be lengthened to 240 metres, and will be able to carry both freight and passengers. This will guarantee a passenger route to Holland, twice daily, for the next fourteen years. The ferries will become the largest passenger and freight-carrying vessels in the world. Chris Lewis, of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns Harwich International Port, said: “We are extremely pleased to see Stena's ongoing commitment to the Harwich - Hook of Holland route, and look forward to working with Stena for many years to come.” Pim de Lange, Managing Director for Stena Line, added: “We strongly believe in this route as being an important gateway between the UK and the Continent, for both passengers and freight traffic. In this respect, we see Harwich International Port as an important partner, and are happy with the service they provide to us and to our customers” 2 for 1 Mini Cruises to Bilbao, Rotterdam and BrugesDate: 1 Oct 2006Source: Directferries.co.uk Fancy a short break on the high seas? Then snap up a mini cruise bargain to Belgium, Holland or Spain with 2 for 1 prices from P&O Ferries between October 1 and December 21. The two and threenight trips include an en-suite cabin and cost from £64 per person on the Portsmouth-Bilbao route, and from £66 per person on the Hull to Rotterdam and Bruges services. An extra person can travel free when sharing a cabin. For more information or to make a booking, please visit our P&O Mini Cruises page. New Holyhead Dublin sailingsDate: 1 Oct 2006Source: Directferries.co.uk Irish Ferries has introduced a new sailing schedule on their Dublin to Holyhead route to give passengers a greater spread of daylight trips. They will use the cruise ferry Ulysses and fast ferry Dublin Swift. From 9th October, Ulysses cruise ferry sailings will depart Dublin one hour earlier each morning at 08.05hrs and ten minutes earlier each evening at 20.55hrs, with a journey time of just 3hrs 15mins. Dublin Swift fast ferry sailings will depart at 08.45hrs and 14.30hrs each day, approximately two hours later than before, and with a journey time to Dublin of just 1hr 49mins. Return sailings from Holyhead have also been improved with daytime departures for Dublin at 12:00 noon 14:10hrs and 17:15hrs. This new schedule will give customers a more attractive choice of daylight sailings in both directions, and encourage them to avoid the confusion, delays and frustrations currently being experienced at airports. Combined with a 30 minute check-in, and a commitment to offering low fares from £59 including taxes, Irish Ferries is confident that this new schedule will encourage travellers to experience the real benefits of bringing their own car to Ireland. The new schedule looks as follows: Holyhead to Dublin Vessel Depart Holyhead Arrival in Dublin: Dublin Swift 12:00 - 13:49 Ulysses 14:10 - 17:25 Dublin Swift 17:15 - 19:04 Ulysses 02:40 - 05:55 For more information or to make a booking, please visit our Irish Ferries page. |
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