RoPax13

13 / 05.2024

INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE FOR FERRY AND RORO SHIPPING

www.ropax.de

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mit starken Partnern vernetzen:

Am Zehnhoff-Söns Group | Bargelink GmbH | BASF SE | Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wohnen, Bau und Verkehr | Behörde für

Wirtschaft und Innovation der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg | Brunsbüttel Ports GmbH | Bundesministerium für Digitales und

Verkehr | Bundesverband Öffentlicher Binnenhäfen e. V. (BÖB) | C. Steinweg (Süd-West Terminal) GmbH & Co. KG | CMA CGM

(Deutschland) GmbH | Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven JadeWeserPort-Marketing GmbH & Co. KG | Contargo GmbH & Co. KG

dbh Logistics IT AG | DFDS Germany ApS & Co. KG | DTG Deutsche Transport-Genossenschaft Binnenschifffahrt eG | Die Senatorin

für Wirtschaft, Häfen und Transformation – Freie Hansestadt Bremen | duisport – Duisburger Hafen AG | Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam

mbH | Elbe Allianz e. V. | EMS Chartering GmbH & Co. KG | Haeger & Schmidt Logistics GmbH | Handelskammer Bremen – IHK

für Bremen und Bremerhaven | Handelskammer Hamburg | Hessisches Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie, Verkehr und Wohnen

HGK Shipping GmbH | HGK Logistics and Intermodal | IHK Flensburg | IHK zu Kiel | IHK zu Lübeck | Industrie- und Handelskammer

für Ostfriesland und Papenburg | Industrie- und Handelskammer Stade für den Elbe-Weser-Raum | J. MÜLLER Weser GmbH & Co. KG

K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH | Komitee Deutscher Seehafenspediteure im DSLV Bundesverband Spedition und Logistik e. V.

(KDS im DSLV) | Konrad Zippel Spediteur GmbH & Co. KG | LIBERTY PIER Maritime Projects GmbH & Co. KG | Liebherr-MCCtec

Vertriebs- und Service GmbH | Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Infrastruktur, Tourismus und Arbeit Mecklenburg-Vorpommern| Ministerium

für Infrastruktur und Digitales des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt | Ministerium für Verkehr Baden-Württemberg | Ministerium für Wirtschaft,

Verkehr, Arbeit, Technologie und Tourismus des Landes Schleswig-Holstein | Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Landwirtschaft und

Weinbau Rheinland-Pfalz | Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Bauen und Digitalisierung | Ministerium für Umwelt,

Naturschutz und Verkehr des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen | Reederei Deymann Management GmbH und Co. KG | Reederei Lehmann

GmbH & Co. KG | Rhein-Umschlag GmbH & Co. KG | RheinCargo GmbH & Co. KG | Rhenus Maritime Services GmbH | Rhenus Logistics

Robert Kukla GmbH | ROSTOCK PORT GmbH | Sächsische Binnenhäfen Oberelbe GmbH | SACO Shipping GmbH | Salzgitter Flachstahl

GmbH | Samskip GmbH | SANY EUROPE GmbH | Scandlines Deutschland GmbH | Seehafen Wismar GmbH | SGS Germany GmbH

Stena Line GmbH & Co. KG | Tchibo GmbH | TT-Line GmbH & Co. KG | UHH – Umschlags- und Handelsgesellschaft Haldensleben mbH

W.E.C. Deutschland GmbH

www.shortseashipping.de

EDITORIAL / 03

Do we have a crisis or a major transformation?

The European economy is moving somewhat slower, and the Ukraine war is putting a strain on public budgets and further development.

One reason for the sluggish economy is high interest rates and a sharp decline in construction activity, coupled with higher energy costs.

In our discussions with the leading minds in RoRo and ferry shipping, a clear picture emerged. Losses and declines were recorded in the

Baltic Sea. There is an enormous sense of optimism around the UK and Ireland, growth, and stability in the Mediterranean. It is no wonder

that the big shipping companies from the north are increasingly positioning themselves in the Mediterranean and starting new and established

companies continue to focus on the growing market.With the introduction of the EU Emission Trading System (ETS), shipping companies

are preparing to order new ships that produce less or no emissions. Ferry shipping companies are preparing for further relocation effects from

production sites in Eastern Europe to Turkey and North Africa. Thanks to the ETS, traffic can be shifted, and supply chain systems can be

controlled more from other European countries. That is why some shipping companies are already investing in new “green tonnage”. The

strategies are clear for new tonnage, RoPax vessels are to be powered by methanol, RoRo by ammonia and on the short distances of less than

one hour, operation with batteries can be successful, but only if the charging infrastructure can be set up and enough electricity is available

for short charging cycles. Nevertheless, the associations such as ICS (International Chamber of Shipping) and the IMO (International

Maritime Organization) accuse the EU of the ETS system coming too early and too quickly, as there is not yet enough methanol or ammonia

to refuel today. It will take some time until an infrastructure is in place. In the end, consumers will pay the additional costs for transport

due to rising taxes and an unavailable green bunker. The new ships with ammonia ready engines have been ordered and this year the first

orders for large RoPax ships with methanol ready propulsion systems will be triggered. The outlook and the activities of the ferry operators

remain optimistic. Read more about this in the current RoPax 2024.

Haben wir eine Krise oder eine große Transformation?

Die europäische Wirtschaft bewegt sich etwas langsamer und der Ukraine-Krieg belastet die öffentlichen Haushalte und die

Weiterentwicklung. Ein Grund für die lahmende Wirtschaft sind die hohen Zinsen und die stark rückläufige Bautätigkeit, gepaart mit

höheren Energiekosten. In unseren Gesprächen mit den führenden Köpfen der RoRo- und Fährschifffahrt ergab sich ein klares Bild.

In der Ostsee wurden Verluste und Rückgänge verzeichnet. Es herrscht ein enormer Optimismus in Bezug auf Großbritannien und

Irland, Wachstum und Stabilität im Mittelmeerraum. Kein Wunder, dass sich die großen Reedereien aus dem Norden zunehmend im

Mittelmeer positionieren und etablierte Unternehmen sich weiter auf den wachsenden Markt fokussieren.

Mit der Einführung des EU-Emissionshandelssystems (ETS) bereiten sich Reedereien darauf vor, neue Schiffe zu bestellen, die weniger

oder keine Emissionen verursachen. Die Fährreedereien bereiten sich auf weitere Verlagerungseffekte von Produktionsstandorten in

Osteuropa in die Türkei und nach Nordafrika vor. Dank des ETS kann der Verkehr verlagert und Lieferkettensysteme stärker aus dem

europäischen Ausland gesteuert werden. Deshalb investieren einige Reedereien bereits in neue “grüne Tonnage”.

Für neue Tonnage sind die Strategien klar, RoPax-Schiffe sollen mit Methanol betrieben werden, RoRo mit Ammoniak und auf den

kurzen Strecken von weniger als einer Stunde kann der Betrieb mit Batterien erfolgreich sein, aber nur, wenn die Ladeinfrastruktur

aufgebaut werden kann und genügend Strom für kurze Ladezyklen zur Verfügung steht. Dennoch werfen die Verbände wie ICS

(International Chamber of Shipping) und die IMO (International Maritime Organisation) der EU vor, das ETS-System komme zu früh

und zu schnell, da es heute noch nicht genug Methanol oder Ammoniak zum bunkern gebe. Es wird einige Zeit dauern, bis eine Infrastruktur

vorhanden ist. Am Ende zahlen die Verbraucher die Mehrkosten für den Transport aufgrund steigender Steuern und eines

nicht verfügbaren „grünen“ Bunker. Die neuen Schiffe mit Ammoniak-Ready-Motoren sind bestellt und noch in diesem Jahr werden

die ersten Aufträge für große RoPax-Schiffe mit Methanol-Ready-Antrieben ausgelöst. Die Aussichten und die Aktivitäten der

Fährreedereien bleiben optimistisch. Lesen Sie dazu mehr in der RoPax 2024!

Jan Philip Eckmann

(Herausgeber & Chefredakteur / Publisher & Editor)

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

16 24

66

70

40 48

78

Photos:: Finnlines; Philippe Holthof; JPE

CONTENT / 05

Content

EDITORIAL.................................................................................................... 03

MARKET REPORT

Transfennica optimizes its capacity........................................................................................... 06

GNV – Grandi Navi Veloci more capacity .............................................................................. 06

FRS Group expands again .......................................................................................................... 07

Preparing Fjord Line for the future ........................................................................................... 08

Balearia 25 years and record result 2023 .................................................................................. 09

Embotech, Arnold NextG and Terberg from an alliance

in the development of autonomous logistics systems ............................................................. 10

Port of Hirtshals growth ............................................................................................................. 11

Cobelfret invest in ports and green tonnage ............................................................................ 12

Meine Fähre – Neubau nimmt in diesem Jahr den Betrieb auf ............................................ 14

INTERVIEW

Grimaldi Group – Ro-Pax Newbuildings and Best Result Ever.................................... 24

Wasaline – well positioned for the green future ...................................................................... 34

Introducing Lakeway Link: The New RoRo Route Connecting Poland to Sweden ........... 38

Stena Line expand! ...................................................................................................................... 46

ESK: a one-stop-shop in PR, PA, and communication .......................................................... 54

Scandlines Invests in More Electric Ferries ............................................................................. 60

DFDS new markets and fast development .................................................................... 66

IMPRINT

RoPax International Magazine

for Ferry and RoRo Shipping

Address of the editorial office:

JPE-Communication

Große Brunnenstraße 61

22763 Hamburg, Germany

Fon: +49-(0)40-39109581

Mobil: +49-(0)170-8503722

info@ropax.de

www.ropax.de

Publisher and chief editor:

Jan Philip Eckmann

Authors in this issue:

Andrew Cooke, Jan Philip Eckmann,

Philippe Holthof

Photographers:

Niko Alakoski, Andrew Cooke,

Jan Philip Eckmann, Philippe Holthof in

cooperation with ferrybalear, Lübecker

Hafenrundschau, Bernd Pagel, Marko

Stamphel and marked at the pictures

NEWBUILDING

“Finnsirius” and “Finncanapus” Finnlines’ Superstar Class Ro-Pax Enter Service .... 16

Manxman – Hybrid Douglas-max ro-pax for Isle of Man lifeline service ........................... 28

P&O Pioneer – A real game-changer ............................................................................ 40

Moby Fantasy – The Med’s most impressive ro-pax ..................................................... 48

Nerea – A new breed of Mediterranean domestic ferry.......................................................... 56

Great Tema – Number 3 of 6...................................................................................................... 62

DATA SHEET

Finnsirius..................................................................................................................................... 22

Manxman...................................................................................................................................... 32

P&O Pioneer................................................................................................................................. 44

Moby Fantasy................................................................................................................................ 52

Great Tema ................................................................................................................................... 64

PORTS REPORT

Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft gut positioniert .............................................................. 70

Rostock Port stabil im Umschlagsgeschäft ............................................................................... 71

Cuxhaven to be further expanded ............................................................................................. 72

Ystad Port Sets New Records for Bornholm Services ............................................................ 74

Seehafen Kiel weiterhin erfolgreich .......................................................................................... 76

Port of Trelleborg – one year ahead! ............................................................................. 78

Increased Passenger Volumes for Helsinki Port ...................................................................... 80

Unternehmensgruppe Lehmann in Lübeck –

Herausforderungen im Schienen-Hinterlandverkehr............................................................. 82

Ad agent:

JPE-Communication

Editorial Design / Art-Direction:

Daniela Krieger-Vogt

All rights reserved. Reprint or photomechanical

reproduction, translation or data storage

and evaluation for external purposes, even in

extracts, only with the prior written permission

of the publisher. All information provided in

this publication is to the best of our knowledge

and belief. The publisher does not guarantee

the accuracy or completeness of the information

and cannot be held responsible for any

actions taken or corresponding losses resulting

from the details in this publication. The

individual contributions are the responsibility

of the respective authors and do not reflect

the opinion of the publisher.

RoPax is published in printed form in the first

half of a year and can be obtained by direct

sales ( domestic 9 Euro and foreign 15 Euro

incl. shipping and fees).

www.ropax.de

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

06 / MARKET REPORT

JPE

Market Report

Transfennica , GNV Growth, FRS Expansion; Fjord Line new structure; Balearia growth;

Terberg cooperation with Embotech, Hirtshals Port; Cobelfret, Meine Fähre new operator

TRANSFENNICA OPTIMIZES

ITS CAPACITY

Transfennica is a leading, customer and

environmentally focused shipping

company, providing fast and reliable transport

with a fleet of highly advanced,

ice-strengthened multipurpose Ro-Ro

vessels.

2023 was a good year for Transfennica,

despite some declines in cargo volumes,

but the shipping company sees itself well

positioned for the future.

As a result of adjusting its capacities,

Transfennica has disposed of the “Bore

Song.” In April 2024, the Ro-Ro freighter

„Pilpca“ in Travemünde port

Lübecker Hafenumschau, K. Heinemann

was chartered by Stena Line to increase

capacity on the Liverpool - Dublin route.

Transfennica’s CEO, Dirk Witteveen,

explained that this was a reaction to the

changing market conditions caused by the

discontinuation of cargo to Russia.

Due to the political strike in Finland,

which lasted in total for four weeks until

April, Transfennica has experienced a

subdued start of the year.

Those involved in the Finnish business are

hoping for a decision by the Finnish

government to end the political strikes that

are disrupting or paralyzing the whole

country, especially the supply chain.

GNV – GRANDI NAVI VELOCI

MORE CAPACITY

GRANDI NAVI VELOCI owns 19 ships

and operates shipping connections to

Sardinia, Sicily, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco,

France and Albania. The Italian ferry

operator GNV (owned by MSC) develops

its network step by step. GNV operates

only RoPax ferries and awaits in 2025 its

Matteo Della Valle, Chief passengers

Sales & Marketing Officer GNV

new RoPAx “Polaris” from China. RoPax

spoke with Matteo Della Valle, Chief

Passengers Sales & Marketing Officer at

GNV about the actual business.

RoPax: How is the pre-booking situation

for 2024?

Matteo Della Valle: At the moment, in

terms of bookings, we are positioned

slightly above the levels reached a year ago

and this undoubtedly represents a positive

result for GNV as in 2023, certainly a good

year for the sector in general, during this

same period we were performing very well

GNV

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

MARKET REPORT / 07

even though there was a contraction at the

end of April which we expect will not be

re-peated this year.

RoPax: Do you have more lines in planning

and how is your capacity?

Matteo Della Valle: Two new ships have

recently joined our fleet (GNV Sirio and

GNV Auriga) with which we have

increased our capacity in terms of passengers

and linear metres transportable to

Sicily and Sardinia. We certainly and

constantly look at the market, ready to

seize any opportunities that may arise, but

at this moment we have no plans to open

new lines, instead we aim to consolidate

our historic ones as we have grown a lot in

recent years.

RoPax: Do you work together with

Ventouris ferries in Durres Albania?

How is the constellation?

Matteo Della Valle: No, as regards the

Albania trade we have signed a slot

agreement with Adria Ferries, whilst still

maintaining completely autonomous

commercial and strategic policies.

RoPax: Will you operate with four vessels

around Balearic islands or will you

reduce this season?

Matteo Della Valle: We serve all the islands

of the Balearic archipelago, however about

a year ago we signed a slot agreement with

Trasmed on the Valencia–Ibiza line and

therefore we currently operate with 3

ships, commercially serving all the Balearic

lines from the ports of Barcelona and

V alencia.

RoPax: What are the next new activities?

Matteo Della Valle: The next major

operation is the arrival in October of GNV

Polaris, the first of four newbuild vessels

that will join our fleet by the end of

2026. All new units are characterised by

high environmental and technological

standards. We have also recently made a

First new RoPax of GNV „Polaris“

series of investments so as to increasingly

improve the quality of the journey, such as

installing Starlink antennas for Wi-Fi

connection at sea on almost all our ships,

a notable added value for our segment and

one which allows us to ensure an even

greater optimal customer experience.

RoPax: Thank you for the conversation.

FRS GROUP EXPANDS AGAIN

Following the sale of its largest part of the

business, FRS Iberia to the Danish DFDS

Group, the Flensburg based shipping

group FRS (Fördereederei Seetouristik)

has taken over the shipping company

L‘Express des Îles a leading maritime

company in the Caribbean Sea.

The FRS Group will continue to expand in

the future and the acquisition of French

Guadeloupe-based maritime company

L’Express is just a first step. FRS’s core

business is the operation of passenger ferry

connections at sea or on inland waterways.

One of its core competencies is the operation

of catamaran fast ferries. RoPax spoke

with Moritz Bruns, President of L’Express

des Îles and Managing Director of the

International Division of FRS. responsible

for all global business activities.

FRS has regained an operation in the

Caribbean with the acquisition of the

L ‘Express com-pany, after operating a fast

ferry between Miami and Bimini Island

between 2016 and 2018. The company

L‘Express operates its catamarans under

the French flag, Moritz Bruns sees this as a

positive development, as the ordinance

Fast Catamaran Typ Fjellstrand 600 for Guadeloupe

FRS GNV, New RoPax for GNV

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

08 / MARKET REPORT

spend their holidays at the islands. Moritz

Bruns is confident about the safety concept

at hurricane events. “Since we operate fast

ferries, we can always position the ships

away from the storm in time.”

Fleet of LÈxpress Des Illes and „Stavangerfjord“ of Fjord Line

allows more flexibility on high-speed crafts

than under other flags.

For the past 37 years, the Guadeloupe-based

maritime company L’Express

des Îles has been synonymous with

outstanding and reliable service. Headquartered

at the Bergevin ferry terminal in

Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, the company,

initially known as “Antilles Trans Express

(ATE)” began by offering fast ferry services

between the islands of Guadeloupe, Les

Saintes, and Marie Galante—all French

overseas territories. In 1989, it expanded

services to Martinique and Dominica,

followed by St. Lucia in 1994. Today, the

Moritz Bruns, International Divison of FRS

FRS

company operates three high-speed

catamarans in collaboration with its

subsidiary, “Jeans for Freedom,” serving

multiple national and international routes.

Moritz Bruns explained the first step is to

increase the capacity for more expansion

and more capacity for vehicles. FRS will

put into operation a larger catamaran that

can also carry up to 50 vehicles. With a

capacity to accommodate 428 passengers

in meticulously crafted seating arrangements.

Equipped with an advanced motion

damping system, it ensures a tranquil

voyage, thus guaranteeing an unparalleled

travel experience.

Managing director of L’EXPRESS DES

ILES is Onick DERAVEL. He is happy to

create the development of the company.

With the takeover, FRS stands for securing

and further ex-panding jobs. Moritz Bruns

sees potential to expand the network to the

north and south with further international

connections. In addition, the interisland

freight business will be further developed

for any cargo below the seize of containers.

The company has two high seasons

between December and March and in July

and August when many French citizens

FRS and Fjord Line

PREPARING FJORD LINE

FOR THE FUTURE

After the restructuring, Fjord Line is well

positioned for the next few years. The two

cruise ferries “Stavangerfjord” and

“Bergensfjord” got 2023 new dual-fuel

engines, which can be powered by both

liquefied natural gas (LNG) and marine

gas oil (MGO). The new engines ensure

greater flexibility in operation as price rise.

In a talk with the CEO of Fjord Line Brian

Thorsted Hansen he pointed out 2023 was

a challenging year with the rebuilt of both

vessels at the same time. They got both

vessel in a very good shape back in time

and the yard made a very good job. The

cruise ferries got also in the yard a

brand-new lounge suitable for domestic

travellers between Bergen and Stavanger.

Passengers will have access to comfortable

seats, simple dining, Wi-Fi, and power

outlets. Here you can relax or work while

enjoying a fantastic sea view, describes

Brian Thorsted Hansen.

With the reopening of the two cruise

ferries, Fjord Line has also adapted its

route concept. The connection between

Hirtshals and Langesund has been discontinued.

The two cruise ferries alternately

connect once a day Hirtshals and

Kristiansand whole year round. In the high

season, the catamaran “Fjord FSTR” with

two or three departures in each direction

is added. Brian Thorsted Hansen described

the change is to get much more frequency

on the shortest route between Denmark

Fojord FSTR in Kristiansand

and Norway. They strengthen their

customer offering and in the high season

Fjord Line offers four departures from

both ports. Fjord Line is the only ferry

operator between Denmark and Norway

with such a frequency! Brian Thorsted

Hansen underlined that they are now a

bridge between Hirtshals and Kristiansand.

The cargo business is back on the old level

and most clients sail with Fjord Line again.

Fjord Line also closed its route between

JPE

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

MARKET REPORT / 09

Jadrolinja

Ex Oslofjord new Dalamtja entering Croatia

Sandefjord in Norway and Strömstad in

Sweden. The concept was more a shopping

and duty-free line. The core business of

Fjord Line is to transport passengers and

goods on a high-quality level. The ferry

“Oslofjord” is in a Bareboat agreement with

Jadrolinja and will sail as “Dalamcija” in the

Adria between Italy and Croatia. The ferry

will start its new service in May 2024.

For the season 2024 the pre bookings are

excellent and higher as 2023, Brian

Thorsted Hansen is looking forward to the

upcoming high season. Fjord Line is also

noticing that more Germans are travelling

to Norway and bookings are increasing

every year.

He pointed out: “The discontinuation was

driven by strategic considerations to align

our customer offerings with our vision and

long-term strategy, anchored around

JPE

Fjord FSTR in port of Hirsthals

profitable development of our core

business on the routes between Norway

and Denmark” and “we will strengthen

and extend our customers offerings to

deliver even better, more, and new

customer experiences”.

Fjord Line has led the way in the green

transition at sea, being pioneers within

green shipping and sustainable fuels. This

includes being an early adopter of Liquified

Natural Gas (LNG) technology, which

enables up to 25% CO 2

-svaings and greatly

reduced emissions of sulphur- and nitrogen

oxides. Our fleet has a class-leading

sustainability profile, and we are strongly

committed to use and currently take

advantage of new technologies to meet

requirements for lowering our CO 2

-emssions.

BALEARIA 25 YEARS

AND RECORD RESULT 2023

Baleària transported 5.2 million passengers

in 2023, 1.4 million vehicles and 7.4

million linear metres of cargo in fiscal year

2023, thus exceeding its historical levels

just in the year it cele-brated 25 years

of activity. In the same year, it also

reached a “record figure” in turnover,

which amounted to 652 million euros,

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

10 / MARKET REPORT

which is 15% more than the previous year.

With a fleet of 30 vessels owned, in

addition to a dozen-chartered vessels,

Baleària operated 25 routes in six different

countries. By business areas, it should be

noted that 59% of turnover corresponds to

the passenger area and 36% to freight

transport. In addition, 75% of turnover

comes from domestic routes, while the

remaining 25% comes from international

connections.

In November 2024 new line will open

It is expected that, starting in November

2024, Baleària will connect the Dominican

port of San Pedro de Macorís with the

Puerto Rican port of Mayagüez, on a daily

ferry crossing of 133 miles. Adolfo Utor

owner and CEO of Balearia pointed out,

“This new regular service will be part of

the communication infrastructure and a

key driver for the progress, socio economic

development and connectivity of the two

regions”. He went on to highlight Baleària’s

experience of more than a decade on the

routes it operates between the United

States and the Bahamas. “We have a keen

interest in continuing to expand our

business model in the Caribbean area, an

emerging market with a great deal of

potential”. Baleària plans to invest 100

million dollars in the start-up of this new

maritime link, which will benefit from the

company’s strategic innovation and

sustainability, offering combined transport

for passengers, vehicles, and goods, with

daily and reliable connections.

As part of this public-private project,

Baleària will build a multifunctional

passenger terminal in the port of San

Pedro de Macorís (Dominican Republic)

and will adapt the existing facilities in the

port of Mayagüez (Puerto Rico) to bring

them up to European quality standards.

Both terminals will have a gangway and

finger jetty as well as a ramp to facilitate

the loading and unloading of vehicles.

Second Fast Ferry

The second super-fast ferry “Margarita

Salas” faces its final stretch at the yard

Armon in Gijón, where it has been afloat

since December 2023. In the second half of

May 2024 the new vessel has its relevant

sea trials. It is planned to start the regular

traffic from 15. of June on the Barcelona-

Ciutadella (Menorca)-Alcúdia (Mallorca)

route. The “Margarita Salas” as “G026”

IMO 9969730, increases its GT from the

12,262 of the successful operating sister

vessel “Eleanor Roosevelt” to the 17,769

GT. The propulsion system base on the

four dual Wärtsilä engines of 9,600 kW,

increasing power and efficiency by 10%

compared to the “El-eanor Roosevelt”,

which will allow the “Margarita Salas” to

maintain the 35 knots of service. On the

“Margarita Salas” there is a new passenger

deck and above the bridge the crew cabins

are located. Balearia will cover with this

huge fast catamaran a second fast connection

from mainland Spain to the Balearic

Islands.

Fleet is growing

Balearia expands its fleet by chartering two

vessels from the Grimaldi fleet with an

option to buy. The RoPax ferry “Ciudad de

Mahon” will be sail this season between

Barcelona and Ibiza.

The former “Eurocargo Sicilia” operates as

“EOS” RoRo freighter between Algeciras

and Tangier Med.

Baleària will invest 3.2 million euros in the

2009 built “Passió per Formentera” ferry in

order to guarantee greater comfort,

reliability and sustainability in the connections

made by the vessel on the line of

With the Eleonora Roosevelt, Balearia was able to increase its market share. This year,

a second catamaran „Margarita Salas“ with even more capacity will be put into service.

Balearia

public interest between Ceuta and

Algeciras. The company will allocate 2.7

million euros of its total investment to the

revision and maintenance of the engines,

as well as to the renovation of the ship’s live

work, which will optimize consumption

and reduce the ship’s emissions by 10%.

EMBOTECH, ARNOLD NEXTG

AND TERBERG FORM AN ALLIANCE

IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF

AUTONOMOUS LOGISTICS SYSTEMS

Embotech, the provider of autonomous

driving systems, Arnold NextG, the

technology advance developer for

multi-redundant drive-by-wire systems,

and Terberg Special Vehicles, Germany’s

leading supplier of special vehicles, are

forming an alliance to develop autonomous

vehicles for use in logistics yards,

ports and other private areas with mixed

traffic.

Terberg Terminal Tractor YT193

The first autonomous vehicle is based on

the Terberg YT193 terminal tractor and is

currently being retrofitted. The YT193 will

be equipped with a multi-redundant

drive-by-wire system and a fully

autonomous vehicle kit. This technology

significantly increases the vehicle’s

operational capabilities and enables

autonomous applications in mixed traffic.

The central control unit from Arnold

NextG offers a vehicle-independent system

solution for fail-safe control of all primary

and secondary functions as well as secured

interfaces for all AD systems. As an

independent advance developer, incubator

and system supplier, Arnold NextG takes

care of the development and implementation

from vision to road approval.

Embotech, the system architect of

the project, is providing the fully autonomous

vehicle kit and its advanced L4

virtual driver, PRODRIVER. The fully

autonomous vehicle kit provides redundancy

for localization and sensing, ensuring

the highest performance in a variety of

weather conditions. PRODRIVER,

Embotech’s industry-leading solution for

autonomous navigation, motion planning,

tracking and control for autonomous or

highly automated vehicles, enables flexible

driving behaviour and precise manoeu-

Terberg

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

MARKET REPORT / 11

vring with a trailer. These features are

critical to the complex traffic environments

in ports.

Since 2021 Terberg has a cooperation with

Fernride for the development of autonomous

operating terminal trucks. The

solution offers compared to Embotech

both teleoperation and autonomous

driving capabilities to ensure a smooth and

gradual transition to full autonomy with a

“human-in-the-loop” approach.

The test vehicle at Embotech is success fully

operating in its field. It is planned to test

the machines to series production

readiness and then offer them ex works as

autonomous terminal tractors.

PORT OF HIRTSHALS GROWTH

Port of Hirtshals has been intensely

preparing for the largest expansion in its

100-year histo-ry, and now it is one step

closer to realization with an EU tender of

around DKK 1 billion. The tender was

open in January 2024. The port expansion

aims to significantly improve the navigation

conditions and optimize the port’s

facilities, allowing even more space for

green energy projects.

With this tender, we take yet another

significant step towards realizing the port

expansion, expected to be completed in

Port of Hirtshals

Port of Hirtshals as artist impression

2027. It once again emphasizes the

substantial development of Port of

Hirtshals, which is intended to support the

port’s crucial role as a central traffic hub

between Norway and Europe and as a key

player in the green transition, where both

the port’s facilities and navigational

conditions will be crucial for the green

transformation, says CEO of Port of

Hirtshals, Per Holm Nørgaard, and

continues: “Together with the recent grant

of DKK 109 million to the Greenport

Scandinavia consortium, working on

establishing Northern Europe’s largest hub

for the storage and shipment of CO 2

, right

here in Hirtshals, we are well on our way to

realizing our green ambitions.”

The port reduces debt significantly

despite huge investments

Even though Port of Hirtshals has made

investments totaling DKK 358 million

over 14 years, the port has reduced more

debt than it has incurred, and within the

Gothenburg

Stockholm

Fast. Flexible.

Helsingør

Copenhagen

Helsingborg

Malmö

Sustainable.

Rødby

Puttgarden

Gedser

24/7/365 ferry operation with 120 departures

between Germany and Denmark every day.

Optimum use of driving and resting times.

Lübeck

Hamburg

Rostock

Berlin

Szczecin

First zero direct

emission freight ferry

under construction.

Read more:

scandlines-freight.com

Fast transit to/from Sweden,

Norway + Finland in combination

with Øresundslinjen Helsingør

– Helsingborg or Øresund Bridge.

Highest transport flexibility and

fast roundtrips of equipment /

access to intermodal rail network

in Rostock.

Hybrid ferries equipped with

rotor sails, noice / C02-reducing thrusters and

other sustainable technologies.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

12 / MARKET REPORT

Port of Hirtshals

next five years, the debt will be halved. This

is shown by a new assessment from Port of

Hirtshals, which has entered into agreements

on the storage and shipment of CO 2

and attracted new companies, increasing

activity levels at the port.

The solid economic foundation at Port of

Hirtshals provides the port with the

opportunity to expand activities in the

coming years. The port has already entered

into an agreement with major cor porations

such as Ineos, Wintershall Dea, Aalborg

Portland, and other partners in Greenport

Scandinavia for the storage and shipment

of CO 2

to empty gas and oil fields in the

North Sea. The project will be the largest

CO 2

hub in Northern Europe and recently

received DKK 109 million in support from

the Just Transition Fund.

The port has also managed to attract

companies – including Norwegian Hydrogen

and Biomega – which are now part of

the positive business development at the

port, and in the coming years, even more

companies will settle at the port to be part

of the collaboration on the production and

consumption of green fuels, which Port of

Hirtshals has established in cooperation

with various companies and crossindustries.

Furthermore, Port of Hirtshals has started

a test train together with DB Cargo

Scandinavia and Nordjyske Jernbaner to

connect Hirtshasl with Dusiburg and other

destinations intermodal in the future.

There is a potential to shift 200.000 units

annually to railway.

The 8.000 lm vessel „Celine“ and (center picture) sister vessel „Delphine“ with Rotor Sail

CLdN

CLdN

CLDN INVEST IN PORTS

AND GREEN TONNAGE

CLdN is a vertically integrated supplier of

nautical links and provides robust and

reliable end-to-end transport solutions.

The CLdN Ro‐Ro network covers shortsea

connections between the European

continent, the United Kingdom, Ireland,

Iberia, and Scandinavia.

After the shipping company has put its 6

RoRo ships of the type H5 into operation

in recent years. In 2022, two more RoRO

vessels with a capacity of 8,000 loading

meters and a hybrid drive based on LNG

were ordered from in Hyundai Mipo

Dockyard South Korea.

The new ships, built in South Korea, will

be equipped with two LNG dual fuel

main engines (ME-GI type) of 11MW each

as well as two electric propulsion motors of

6MW each. In full electric mode the ship

can achieve a cruising speed of 16-17kn.

Both vessels will also be future proofed, to

allow expansion or integration of technological

advancements as time moves on.

Compared with CLdN’s largest vessels

currently in operation, the new ships will

further reduce GHG emissions by 40% and

will be NOx TIER III compliant.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

MARKET REPORT / 13

Value Maritime Carbon Capture System

Strong entry into the Irish Sea

Through the acquisition and integration of

the shipping company Seatruck Ferries,

Cobelfret dominates the RoRo traffic

between Ireland and the UK. Despite

Brexit, the volume has not declined

further, on the contrary, the market is

stable, and you can see volumes coming

back here as well. CLdN operates 6

own ports in Uk, Belgium and the Netherlands.

By the acquisition of Distriport

JPE

terminal in Rotterdam the company

launched a container service to Ireland.

CLdN has chartered two 962 TEU lifton/

lift-off (LoLo) cargo vessels (M/V Pavo J

and M/V Andromeda J) that will ship

container cargo between the recently

acquired Distriport terminal in

Rotterdam and Dublin and Cork. The introduction

of the new LoLo services will

also enable an optimisation of CLdN’s rollon

/ roll-off (RoRo) fleet deployment,

thereby increasing capacity on the routes

between Rotterdam and the UK. CLdN

has grown its presence on the Irish trades

significantly since the inception of its first

cargo service to Ireland in 1999, with the

most recent expansion being announced

in December last year when an additional

3.5 hectares of terminal area were added in

Dublin. Today, CLdN ships some 500,000

cargo units a year to and from Ireland,

making it the largest mover of ferry freight

between Ireland and mainland Europe /

Great Britain. Following the addition of

the new lines, in total CLdN offer 38

departures to and from Ireland from UK

and continental Europe. The Luxembourg-based

shipping company will

continue to expand and further expand its

dominance around Ireland and the UK. In

addition, the company is also investing in

new bulk vessels.

Carbon Capture System with

the most installations

Value Maritime is a young innovationdriven

team of experienced engineers and

financial ex-perts who understand shipping

and the need for new, simple, sustainable

solutions that make commercial and

financial sense. The 2017 founded company

from the Netherlands has de veloped

“Filtree”, a unique system that cleans both

air and water from all ship types and includes

an integrated carbon capture feature

making today’s fleet (newbuild or retrofit)

sus-tainable today and future proof for

tomorrow.

Various parties in the shipping industry

are working on a solution to make shipping

as environmentally friendly as possible,

Value Maritime offers that solution with

the Filtree System and CO₂ Capture and

Storage capabilities!

The Filtree System has been developed

for small and medium-sized ships

based on a new unique technology that, in

addition to sulphur, also filters ultra-fine

particulate matter (ultra fine dust) and

CO₂ from the air. The system ensures that

the PH value of the washing water used is

neutralised and contributes to reducing

the acidification of the seawater. Today

over 30 systems are installed and successful

in use.

Karlshamn

Trelleborg

Klaipėda

Rostock

Travemünde

Świnoujście

Efficient & Reliable Transport Solutions

between Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Sweden

www.ttline.com/en/freight

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

14 / MARKET REPORT

Green House support

Value Maritime’s system is based on an innovative

and patented technology to remove

CO₂ from the vessels exhaust gas. The CO₂ is

used to charge Value Maritime’s CO₂ Battery;

an onboard storage facility which can charge

and discharge CO₂ infinitely. The charged

CO₂ Battery will be offloaded in ports and

transported to CO₂ customers (eg agricultural

sector) who “re-use” the CO₂. After

CO₂ discharge, the CO₂ Battery returns to

the vessel, to be recharged with CO₂; A 100%

circular solution!

MEINE FÄHRE – NEUBAU NIMMT

IN DIESEM JAHR DEN BETRIEB AUF

Die neue Wattenreederei „Meine Fähre“

wird in diesem Jahr ihren Fährbetrieb

zwischen Norddeich und Norderney

starten. Die Reederei Meine Fähre ist ein

Zusammenschluss aus Norderneyer

Hotelier-Familien sowie der Norderneyer

A. und E. Korus-Stiftung. Insgesamt hat

die Reederei zehn Gesellschafter. Die

Familie Brune mit den Hotels Inselloft,

Seesteg, dem Haus am Meer, dem Café

Marienhöhe und der Milchbar haben das

Projekt und die Organisation maßgeblich

mit vorangetrieben. Deutschlandweit

bekannt ist die Milchbar mit ihren

besonderen Events und der Kooperation

mit den DJs Blank & Jones. Der Betrieb

startet in diesem Jahr, da der Bau auf der

Holländischen Werft GS Yard Waterhuizen

sich verzögert hatte. Ein Teilbereich

der Werft hat Insolvenz angemeldet, was

zwischenzeitlich zu Verunsicherungen

geführt hatte. Der Projektbereich, zu dem

die Meine Fähre 1 gehört, ist davon

allerdings nicht betroffen. Es befinden sich

noch weitere Küstenmotorschiffsneubauten

auf der Werft, an denen

weitergearbeitet wird.

Die moderne Autofähre wird unabhängig

von den bestehenden Anlegern der

Reederei Norden Frisia an den in beiden

Häfen fest verbauten Beton-Slipanlagen

verkehren. In Norddeich wird der

Osthafen genutzt. Insgesamt können 90

Passagiere und ca. 27 PKW bzw. 18 PKW

und 5 LKW bis 12 Tonnen befördert

werden. Auf der Meine Fähre 1 können

Personen nur in Verbindung mit einem

gebuchten Fahrzeug transportiert werden.

Ein Zustieg zu Fuß ist nicht möglich. Dafür

hat die Reederei eine zweite, reine Passagierfähre

gekauft – die „Meine Fähre 2“.

Der Passagierbereich auf der Meine Fähre

1 ist hochwertig ausgestattet mit einer

Gästelounge. Auch für eingeschränkt

mobile Personen steht ein Treppenlift vom

Hauptdeck zum Passagierdeck zur Verfügung.

Die Hauptmaschine besteht aus

zwei 447 Kwe Caterpillar C18 IMO Tier III

Dieselmotoren. Zusätzlich sind ein

Heckstrahlruder und ein Bugstrahlruder

verbaut. Außerdem sind zwei Hilfsdiesel

vom Typ 118 Kwe Caterpillar C 7 und Typ

82,5 Kwe Caterpillar C 4.4 an Bord. RoPax

war an Bord und der 50 Meter lange und 13

Meter breite Neubau zeigt sich als sehr

robustes und solides Schiff mit einer

einfachen Struktur. Es werden in der Hauptsaison

von beiden Häfen 4-5 Abfahrten pro

Tag angeboten. Für die Besatzung stehen an

Bord Kammern zur Ver fügung.

Zweites Passagierschiff „Meine Fähre 2“

Die neue Reederei hat noch ein zweites

Schiff dazu gekauft, welches derzeit auf der

Werft umgebaut wird und einen Hybridantrieb

bekommen soll. Die Meine Fähre 2

soll auch zur Hauptsaison als reines

Passagierschiff starten. Sie ist 18 Meter

lang und hat Platz für ca. 42 Passagiere.

Das Schiff war früher in Schweden im

Einsatz und wurde 2005 gebaut. Die Überfahrtszeit

wird 40-45 Minuten betragen.

Ein besonderes Angebot gibt es für spät

Abreisende um 22 Uhr, die so ab Norderney

noch zurück aufs Festland kommen.

An Bord wird das gleiche Gastronomiekonzept

angeboten wie auch auf der Meine

Fähre 1. Die Reederei will sich mit dem

zweiten Schiff besser aufstellen, falls die

Meine Fähre 1 ausfällt bzw. wenn Engpässe

entstehen.

JPE

JPE

ENGLISH SUMMARY

Die neue „Meine Fähre 1“

JPE

The new Wadden shipping company

“Meine Fähre” will start its ferry

service between Norddeich and

Norderney this year. The shipping

company Meine Fähre is an association

of Norderney hotelier families.

The modern car ferry will operate

independently of the existing docks of

the Norden Frisia shipping company

at the concrete slipways installed in

both ports. A total of 90 passengers

and approx. 27 cars or 18 cars and 5

trucks can be transported,. The

shipping company bought a second,

purely passenger ferry – the “Mein

Fähre 2”.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

“Finnsirius”

“Finncanopus”

and

Finnlines’ Superstar Class

Kenneth Karsten

18 / NEWBUILDING

Photos: Bilder Finnlines; JPE; Niko Alakosk

On 13th September 2023 a new era began

for Finnlines on the line between Naantali

(Finland) - Langesund (Aland) and

Kapelskär (Sweden) when the naming

ceremony of the Finnsirius was celebrated.

She was the first newbuilding of the

Superstar Class of Ro-Pax ferries with

sister vessel, the “Finncanopus” being

named some months later, on 14th February

2024, also in Finland. Both ferries

have operated together since mid-February

2024, providing much more capacity,

especially for passengers and cargo.

The ferry service between Naantali and

Kapelskär is still a young ferry route that

was first operated under the name of

FinnLink. In 1989, two old Ro-Pax ferries

were operated on the route between

Uusikaupunki and Hargshamn. Not only

road vehicles, but also trains were transported

on this route. In 1996 the service

was discontinued and Finnlines concentrated

on the Naantali-Kapellskär route,

which was opened in December 1996. The

volume of traffic grew steadily as it is the

shortest connection between Finland and

Sweden. In 2007, Grimaldi became the

largest shareholder in Finnlines and the

company was then geared towards expansion

and growth. Between Sweden and

Finland, Finnlines now holds the largest

share of freight transport. It was Dr.

Emanuele Grimaldi himself who had the

idea of building two large Ro-Pax ships for

the route, with capacity for over 5,200 lane

metres of cargo and 1,100 passengers –

double that of the old ships.

The planning for the two Superstar ships

began back in 2018 when Dr. Emanuele

Grimaldi announced that he would invest

in modern tonnage for Finnlines. Together

with the three new build Ro-Ro vessels

of Finnlines’ Finneco Class, over 500 million

Euro was invested in new vessels. The

construction of the “Finnsirius” began on

1st June 2021 at the China Merchants

Jinling shipyard in Weihai. The improvements

for Finnlines now continue because

Grimaldi will present in 2024 plans for

new Ro-Pax ferries for the line between

Travemünde and Helsinki.

THE BEST RO-PAX CONCEPT EVER

The Superstar-class vessels are 235 metres

long with a beam of 33 metres and a

draught of 7 metres. The ships are the

largest Ro-Pax vessel in the Finnlines fleet.

The optimal load mix is approximately 200

cars and 300 lorries per voyage. The

modern design first created by Knud E.

Hansen was later developed by Grimaldi

and Finnlines’ technical departments

The new Super Star Ferries have a huge dog

outdoor area at the top sun deck

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 19

together with the Finnish Naval Archi tects

and Marine Engineers Deltamarin.

Deltamarin is part of the China Merchants

Group, a Fortune Global 500 corporation.

The involvement of Deltamarin in the

newbuilding project formed part of the

construction contract with the Chinese

shipyard. The passenger facilities on board

are very spacious and of a modern design.

Finnlines, as a shipping company, is entering

a new era here and requires a fresh

concept in passenger service. The new

ships are an indication that the classic

cargo carrier also wants to take over a large

part of the passenger traffic between Finland

and Sweden. It is not for nothing that

the Italian owner looked at the concepts of

the classic competitors a few years ago. The

result is something to be proud of. The interior

was designed by the leading Finnish

interior design studio design Vertti Kivi.

Onboard, passenger and crew cabins are

located on two decks, leaving an open area

at the stern for the transport of freight

units carrying dangerous goods. Decks 9

and 10 comprise the cabin areas and the aft

of both decks have been reserved for

Drivers. A Drivers’ sauna and lounge are

located on deck 10 and both open onto an

outdoor terrace.

A total of 323 passenger cabins offer new

categories and sizes, ranging from the

luxurious sea view suite with a hot tub to

Finnlines

Super Star Class compared with Star Class

spacious family cabins and standard

cabins. Finnlines offers seven different

types of cabins, as well as cabins for dog

owners (and their dogs) and people with

disabilities. In the luxury segment alone,

passengers can choose between three

different cabin types. Whether the Owners

Suite, Junior Suite or Luxury Cabin, all

cabins offer individual amenities. For a

Ro-Pax ship, the choice of cabins is something

special. But it’s more than just the

choice, what sets all the cabins on board

apart from other ferries are the many small

installations in the cabins. From the

“huschi buschi” lighting to the small

pictures and the maritime signs, the cabins

alone are worth the trip. The interior

design draws inspiration from nature and

natural materials, with views of the sea and

archipelago playing a key role in the design.

Large picture windows, seating areas

and a covered outdoor deck connect the

interior with the archipelago views experienced

along the voyage. Like the names of

the new ships, their cabin names have also

been inspired by the starry sky. For example,

you can stay in a Kefeus (Cepheus)

suite or a Cygniys (Cygnus) bow cabin.

LET’S TIE

THE KNOT

For thousands of years, tying the knot has

served as a way for individuals and families

to merge. We are on the same path; to build

steady bonds that thrive from day one and

grow over time. With several conventional

Ro/Ro and Ro/Pax ships currently in port, our

harbour still has the capacity to welcome

more shipping lines and passenger ferries.

Make our port the hub of your logistics

chain and a safe harbour to call home.

Throw us your hawser and submit your

interest to port@ystad.se and we will

find a way forward together.

www.port.ystad.se

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

Pump System for the Scrubbers by Langh Tech and right side the shaft generator from Renk

PREMIUM FACILITIES FOR

PASSENGERS

The passenger facilities consist of seven

cafes and restaurants, a sauna and spa area,

business and lounge areas, a large duty-free

shop, and many other facilities. A top chef,

Henri Alén, has been involved in the menu

design. The Swedish multi-award-winning

Bartender Josephine Sondlo has planned a

choice of drinks that are only available on

the new Finnlines vessels.

Bridge, Captain Ilkka Maunula

The special thing about the passenger

facilities is the choice for every type of

passenger and driver. Situated on deck 12

forward (top deck) is the Stellar Lounge

with a wonderful view on all sides. Here

you will find a bar and plenty of space for

business travellers and passengers who

want to enjoy the sea voyage undisturbed.

Access is only possible if you pre-book and

pay a surcharge, but drinks and small

snacks are included in the price.

Additionally on Deck 12 is a conference

room and Micke’s à la carte restaurant,

both located in the forward section. Finnlines

offers a very good selection of

high-quality dishes and, above all, wines.

The service is equivalent to a high-quality

à la carte restaurant and is very personal.

Located aft on deck 12 is a Surfer Bar with

inside and outside facilities like the Stars

Bar, plus a large play area for children and

an area for dogs. The Spa Höyry area is another

highlight on deck 12 with three in-

JPE

side jacuzzies and one outside. This area

invites travellers to relax and enjoy the

view. The Spa Höyry Bar is located next to

the spa area.

Located forward on Deck 11 is the Cargo

Buffet, which is next to the Fisherman’s

Restaurant. Here a free flow concept in

combination with a bar offers all kind of

food, including for veggie fans and burger

lovers. The bars have a lot more choice

compared to other Finnlines ships. The

staff had to undertake additional training

to use the different glasses for the many

types of beer and drinks. Midships on

Deck 11 is a huge duty-free shop, sited

next to the information desk. Aft on Deck

11 is the very cosy bar and entertainment

lounge that sometimes offers live music,

but the highlight is the 90-degree corner

screen at the stage. Finnlines has filmed

and recorded musicians from Finland and

Sweden, who are projected onto the screen,

and this gives the feeling that they really

are live on stage. It is a wonderful concept

to entertain passengers without live actors.

CREW AND PERFORMANCE

The crewmembers are accommodated in 64

cabins and their facilities include a goodsized

gym and sauna as well as a separate

mess and dayroom. The crews are mainly

from Finland and Sweden. The new ferries

are very powerful and good to manoeuvre

in wind and ice situations. A total of 13

crewmembers work in the engine room and

the machinery concept is based on redundancy

with enough capacity to operate with

Engine control room

only two main engines running. Today the

ferries are in port 3-4 hours and the main

cargo type is accompanied trucks. The loading

and unloading process need only take

20 to 45 minutes in general. The typical

Scandinavian Road trains are dominating

the cargo trade. The main revenue is the

freight and the godmother of the “Finn-

JPE

JPE

sirius” is Tiina Ahola, Chairman of the

Board of Ahola Group, one of the main

cargo clients of Finnlines. So, it is no wonder

that the “Finncanopus” was christened by

Mrs. Katariina Nurmi, the wife of CEO DB

Schenker Nordics Petteri Nurmi.

GRIMALDI’S PROVEN HYBRID

TECHNOLOGY CONCEPT

The vessels have the highest ice class, 1A

Super, and operate under the Finnish flag.

Several state-of-the-art technologies

enable Finnlines new Superstar vessels to

meet high environmental standards.

Grimaldi has started to implement air

l ubrication systems, battery systems for

zero emission in port, special hull coatings,

optimised propellers, exhaust scrubber

systems and shaft generators in the ship

designs. These technologies reduce both

emissions and fuel consumption. The

results are very good and, on one voyage of

eight hours, each vessel only consumes 16

tons of fuel.

The ships operate through the sensitive

archipelago, and this requires a quite

modest service speed. Instead of simply

sailing slowly, the Finnsirius and Finncanopus

have a specifically tailored propulsion

system that takes account of low

speeds without compromising propulsion

efficiency. The route through narrow and

shallow archipelago waters sets its own

hydrodynamic challenges, and the hull

shape is designed to navigate the fairways

with both minimum energy consumption

and minimum environmental impact in

these special conditions.

Wärtsilä supplied four Wärtsilä 46F

engines along with transverse thrusters, a

hybrid solution, and a state-of-the-art

electric package as one unified, fully

integrated solution for the Finnlines newbuilds.

The hybrid shaft generator system

uses a fully integrated multidrive capable

of driving the shaft generators in both

directions as motors and/or generators.

Having a shaft generator reduces fuel

consumption and costs while also cutting

carbon emissions.

The Wärtsilä package also includes the

thrusters and thruster control system, as

well as a highly efficient energy management

system that controls the flow of

energy between different power sources,

thus optimising performance. The system

enables the vessels to operate emission-free

whilst in port, using either 5MWh batteries

or shore power.

“We are excited to have these features

onboard the Finnsirius and have high

expectations for fuel economy and reduced

air emissions,” says Juha Ahia, Finnlines’

Project Manager for the Superstar newbuildings.

As mentioned above, the ship is equipped

with a shore power connection, which is

an alternative energy source in the port,

meaning zero emissions and lower noise

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

levels during port calls. Shore-side

electricity also facilitates the charging of

the lithium-ion batteries onboard,

enabling the use of clean shore-side

electricity at sea. An auto-mooring system

in all three ports ensures faster mooring,

further reducing air emissions.

Other energy-saving technologies onboard

the Finnsirius and Finncanopus include

air quality controlled variable speed fans in

the cargo hold ventilation system, waste

heat recovery in machinery cooling

systems, cold seawater utilisation in air

conditioners, air quality-controlled air

conditioners and lighting control.

Photos: JPE and Finnlines

1

2

BEHIND A GREAT PROJECT

The quality of the interior design and all

the workmanship on board is very high.

The new ships show how quality shipbuilding

has developed in China, but the

whole project was especially successful

thanks to its implementation by the Finnlines

and Grimaldi teams on site.

Finnlines’ Newbuilding team has worked

together with Grimaldi Group’s experts to

create the most environmentally friendly

vessel ever to operate in the Baltic Sea. The

experienced shipbuilder Juha Ahia, Project

Manager for the Superstar newbuilding,

Pasi Väänänen, Technical Superintendent,

and Kristiina Uppala, Onboard Concept

Development Manager, have ensured that

the commonly set targets have been

achieved during the design and construction

phases.

Shipbuilding is a collaborative project and,

in addition to the Weihai Shipyard, it has

engaged many equipment and system

suppliers. Several European suppliers, and

in particular Finnish suppliers, have been

involved in the construction of the stateof-the-art

vessel. The share of European

suppliers is over 40 per cent with the main

suppliers including Wärtsilä (main

engines, bow thrusters, hybrid drive

system), Kongsberg (propulsion and

steering gears), Hyundai Himsen (auxiliary

engines), Saacke (exhaust and oil fired

boilers), Langh Tec (hybrid exhaust gas

scrubbers), Auramarine (fuel supply

units), Alfa Laval (purifiers and ballast

water treatment), Silverstream (air lubrication),

MacGregor (cargo access equipment),

KONE (elevators), Heinen &

Hopmann (air conditioning), Sperry

(navigation system), Novenco (cargo hold

ventilation), Consilium (fire detection),

Marioff (fire extinguishing), and R&M

(interior TK) and many others. JPE

8

3 4

5 6

7

1. Promenade deck

2. Duty free supermarket

3. Huge sauna

4. Entry to the duty free supermarket

5. Comfor Sea view Cabin

6 Stellar Lounge with working area

7. Barrel Bay Bar

8. Double Lux Cabin

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

22 / DATA SHEET

Finnsirius

JPE

FINNSIRIUS SHEET

Designer:

Owner:

Operator:

Knud E. Hansen

Finnlines PLC, Komentosilta 1, FI-00980 Helsinki,

Finland

Finnlines

Yard: (Contract) China Merchants Jinling Shipyard

Weihai, China

Yard No.: W0276 | Classification: Freight-Passenger /Ro-Pax

Flag:

Finland | Port of Registry: Mariehamn

Date of delivery: 18th July 2023 | Sailing Time: 8-9 Hours

Service: Kapellskär (Sweden), Langnäs (Åland) and

Naantali (Finland)

PROPULSION

Main engines:

4x 7,200kW W6L46F Wärtsilä Italia S.p.a

diesel engines

Hybrid Shaft Generator: 2x VFD

Battery Manufacturer: Corvus Energy

Battery Type: Orca Energy Storage Solution

Battery Capacity: 5,096 kWh

Propulsion Gear: Twin screw propulsion, CPP Propellers

Gearboxes: Twin-speed reduction gearboxes

Auxiliary Engines: 3 x 2,750kW (Hyundai Himsen)

Total Power Output: 8,250kW

Exhaust Gas Emission Abatement: Inline hybrid type by Lang Tech

Fuel:

Marine Diesel Oil

Bow Thrusters: x3 | Rudders: x2 | Stabilisers: x2

Design Service speed: 21 knots | Optimum Speed:16 knots

PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS

Length Overall: 235.60 m

Length Between Perpendiculars: 217.70 m

Beam:

33.30 m (moulded)

Hull Depth: 9.90 m (to Deck 3)

Hull Draught: 7.00 m (Design)

Deadweight: 12,540 t | Gross tonnage: 65,692 gt

Displacement: 26,126 t | Net Tonnage: 26,126 t

Ice Class: 1 A Super

CARGO ACCESS

Stern ramps:

Deck 3

2x 15.3m long incl flaps 6m + 9m wide approx.

Deck 5: 1x 15.3m long incl flaps 19m wide

Bow ramp Deck 3: 1x 19.5m long incl flaps 6.4m wide

Side ramp (s): n/a

Internal ramp(s): Deck 3 to 5 | Deck 5 to 7

PASSENGER CAPACITIES

Total capacity: 1,148 (Pax) | Accommodation: See Remarks

Cabins: 323 (Pax) | 64 (Crew)

Beds:

1,008 berths

Crew:

64 Crewmembers

REMARKS

Grimaldi Group Superstar Class | Ordered: 16th December 2019

Construction Began: 1st June 2021 - steel cutting

Keel Laying: 1st April 2022 | Launched: 30th August 2022 | Sistership: Finncanopus

Vessels Replaced in Fleet: Europalink (Finnsirius) and Finnswan (Finncanopus)

Classification: Rina C AUT-UMS, BWM-T, COMF-NOISE-B;

COMF-VIB-B, GREEN PLUS; HVSC-NB; ICE CLASS 1A SUPER; INWATERSURVEY; SRTP;

SYS-IBS; SYS-NEQ1; TAS | Decks: 12 | Each 7,200kW output Wärtsilä 6L46F main

engine is 8,470mm long, 3,500mm high and 2,905mm wide. The cylinder bore is

460mm, the piston stroke is 580mm and the output per cylinder is 1,200kW. The operating

speed is 600rpm and the weight of each engine is 97 tonnes.

The Finnsirius was christened on 13th September in Naantali. Tiina Ahola, representing

the Ahola Group, acted as the godmother. The naming ceremony celebrated Finnlines’

and Ahola Group’s long-standing co-operation and commitment since both have served

Finnish trade and industry as main carriers.

Silverstream Technologies air lubrication system fitted. that creates a rigid carpet of

micro-bubbles under the keel of the vessel.

Interior Design: dSign Vertti Kivi

Deck 10: Driver’s Lounge/Restaurant, Driver’s Terrace area and the Driver’s Sauna.

Deck 11: Cargo Buffet (Self Service); Fish Market & Grill (Bistro), Café and Bar, Arcade

area mid-ships, Finnlines’ largest Duty-Free Shop (approx. 400m2), a Kid’s Area and

Guest Services, Barrel Bay Bar & Tapas Restaurant plus the Barrel Bay Terrace.

Deck 12: Stellar Lounge, a Duty-Free Corner and Me & Co. Meeting Rooms, Micke’s

Wine & Dine (à la carte restaurant)

Cabins: The Owner’s Suite brings a whole new level of comfort to ferry travel in the region

along with the LUX category. Other cabin grades are the Friends & Family Seaview;

Friends & Family (Inside); Comfort Seaview; Comfort Seaview for Pet use and Comfort

(interior). Special Thanks must go to Anna-Liisa Perttilä, Group Communications,

Finnlines Plc, for all their invaluable help with information and images, plus Folke

Osterman and Kenneth Karsten for kindly supplying exterior images.

CAPACITY OF HOLDS DECK-AREA IN SQM DECKLOAD (TON / SQM) FREE HEIGHT CARS 5.5M LANE METRES FOR TRAILERS TRAILERS

Hold Deck 1: 910 4.95m 303lm

Main Deck 3: 5,075 6.00m-9.00m 1,700lm

Upper Deck 5: 4,730 7.50m 1,600lm

Car Garage Deck 7: 4,860 3.50m approx. 1,652lm

Mezzanine Deck 8: 8x panel sections - Not supplied

Total: 15,575 Not Supplied 200 5,255lm 300

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

DATA SHEET / 23

24 / INTERVIEW

Grimaldi Group –

Ro-Pax Newbuildings

and Best Results Ever

Naples-based Grimaldi Group, a world leading Ro-Pax and

Ro-Ro Operator, achieved the best result in its history for

the year 2023, building on the results from 2022. The

family-owned company is in the process of preparing its

next major new ship orders.

New Ro-Pax ships are planned for the

Mediterranean and for the Baltic Sea and

the special feature of the newbuildings will

be the propulsion system: Grimaldi is

concentrating on methanol for the

emission-free operation of its new passenger

ships. The group has ordered 17 Pure

Car & Truck Carrier newbuildings with

ammonia-ready propulsion in China over

the past two years. The shipping company

is in a strong position and is looking at

expanding more into the growing Asian

market. With the new Ro-Pax ships and its

entire newbuilding program, the Grimaldi

Group is also a leader in the ferry and

Ro-Ro shipping industry for the introduction

of emission-free ship operations. Dr.

Emanuele Grimaldi is proud of the

operation of the 12 Grimaldi Green 5th

Generation (GG5G) class Ro-Ro vessels,

which will be joined by two more by the

beginning of 2025. The ships offer more

than a 50% reduction in carbon intensity

compared with previous generation Ro-Ro

vessels. Finnlines’ new superstar ferries

“Finncanopus” and “Finnsirius” are also an

example of optimized ship operation with

lower emissions and a much larger

capacity.

RoPax met Dr. Emanuele Grimaldi,

Managing Director of the Grimaldi Group

and Chairman of ICS (International

Chamber of Shipping), in Naples and

spoke with him about the next developments.

„Cruise Sardegna“and „Eco Italia“

Grimaldi Group Philippe Holthof

RoPax: Dr. Grimaldi how was the year

2023 for the Grimaldi Group?

Emanuele Grimaldi: It was the best year

ever in the history of the Group!

RoPax: Again? In our previous interviews

over the last few years, you have

always said it was the best year, and I

have the feeling that your company`s

results are increasing more and more.

Congratulations!

Emanuele Grimaldi: The best performing

company in the Group was Grimaldi

Euromed, followed by Grimaldi Deep Sea.

Minoan Lines improved and we saw a

small improvement also in Trasmed; Finnlines’

performance is still positive but not

as good as in the past, as the company suffered

a lot from the ongoing geopolitical

crisis.

The war in Ukraine has had a big impact

on the economies of the most industrialised

countries of Europe, including

Germany. Here in the south, the economies

of Italy, Greece and Spain have

suffered less and are relatively better

positioned today.

RoPax: Are your vessels crossing the Red

Sea?

Emanuele Grimaldi: The presence of the

Italian navy in the region helps us keep our

schedules and deliver goods on time. But

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 25

we pay a lot more in terms of insurance for

our vessels in this area.

RoPax: How do you see the ETS system?

For Finnlines’ route between mainland

Finland and Aland you don’t have to pay

ETS. Isn’t this unfair for people travelling

to and from Europe’s large islands,

for example in Italy or Spain, where the

system is applied?

Emanuele Grimaldi: Everybody who is

sailing to islands with less than 200,000

inhabitants is exempted from ETS. For

example, no exemption exists for islands

such as Mallorca, Sicily or Sardinia.

What is absurd is that we, maritime operators,

are paying for the ETS despite competing

with road transport, which produces

more GHG emissions than sea transport.

RoPax: What is your position as Chairman

of ICS (International Chamber of

Shipping) representing 80% of the world

merchant fleet? Is ETS an unfair tax

which will jeopardise the development of

shipping in Europe?

Emanuele Grimaldi: Let me be clear on

this issue: being a regional measure, the

EU ETS will only cover about 7.5% of the

world’s shipping GHG emissions, the latter

having a tiny share of 2% of global

emissions caused by human activities: at

the end of the day, this means addressing a

negligible 0.15% portion of all GHG

emissions produced globally.

“ETS – Carbon emission

is a global issue and should

be addressed globally.”

Instead, at ICS, we asked to reach the net

zero emission target – one year in advance

before the IMO did – and we proposed a

global measure to achieve it.

Our suggestion is the “Fund and Reward”

system. The fund would be obtained by

taxing, for example with USD 50.00, each

tonne of fuel consumed. With a total of

250 million tonnes of fuel consumed yearly,

this is equivalent to about USD 10

billion. Half of this amount would go to

the developing countries which are the

main victims of the ongoing climate

change, and which could produce green

fuels. The remaining half of the money

could be given to the pioneering shipowners

who use modern carbon-neutral

fuels.

For example, traditional fuels cost about

USD 500.00/tonne, while the price of new

fuels is USD 1,000/tonne. 80% of this extra

cost could be reimbursed to those

shipowners who use hydrogen, methanol,

Grimaldi Group

„Atlantic Sea“ in Liverpool

or ammonia. I think the cost of these new

fuels will fall by economy of scale. But if

the cost doesn’t decrease, you need an

increase in state funds of 55%-100%. It

would be good to give the money to the

producers of the new fuels to produce

more competitive and cleaner fuels. If you

start to take the methanol from gas it is not

fossil free. If you do it from garbage, it is

good.

Dr. Emanuele Grimaldi together with J.P. Eckmann

RoPax: Could you produce this fuel from

wood and forestry?

Emanuele Grimaldi: Only from used

timber, not from the forest. Probably we

can even do it from the collection of

emissions. Even from carbon capture you

can produce these fuels. The renewables

can produce hydrogen. Here I refer to

carbon capture not on the vessels, I mean

shore production in refineries.

You can buy the certificates of carbon

capture and use them together with the

normal fuel: if you buy more carbon

capture and you use good fuel, then you

will become “carbon negative”.

Today there are technologies available

ashore to capture carbon which are much

more effective than using all the systems

on board ship.

JPE

RoPax: Last year you indicated your

plans for a responsible and pragmatic

solution, are you continuing with this?

Emanuele Grimaldi: We discussed this

regarding the EU-ETS: a responsible and

pragmatic solution is the “Fund and

Reward” system. Firstly, funds should be

collected to be spent on environmental

projects on a global scale. One such project

is the production of new green fuels.

Secondly, and this is very important, you

should reward the early backers of these

fuels for bearing the cost of operating

emission free technologies.

As a shipping company, we think that

Europe has made a big mistake in introducing

the EU-ETS. With regards to the

port industry, if there is a convenient

non-European feeder port, which is

therefore exempted from the payment of

ETS, ships and cargo will clearly go there.

This is why we say that greenhouse gas

emissions are a global issue and should be

addressed globally.

RoPax: What do you think about the

upcoming systems from all scrubber

manufacturers to capture carbon on

board by 30 or 40%?

Emanuele Grimaldi: Some experts say this

carbon is totally harmless and can be used

in many ways. For example, it is very useful

for insulation in houses.

RoPax: A company is selling the captured

carbon as a fertilizer for plantations but

then the carbon is not completely

captured because it will go back into the

atmosphere again via the plants.

Emanuele Grimaldi: Fertilizers today are

produced by using 250 million tonnes of

ammonia. The problem is how you

produce this ammonia. One way is via the

Haber-Bosch system, which is very

polluting. In the future it should be

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

26 / INTERVIEW

produced by green energy like solar panels

and wind. If you use this energy to produce

green ammonia, thus combining renewable

energy, then you have a nice type of

fuel.

“We will use ammonia on

Ro-Ro ships and methanol

on Passenger Ferries.”

RoPax: Ammonia is a little bit toxic in its

use and handling.

Emanuele Grimaldi: This is why we considered

in the early years to use ammonia

only on Ro-Ro ships and methanol on

passenger ships. That is our strategy for the

coming years.

RoPax: How will the classification society

Rina certify the safety of the new vessels?

Emanuele Grimaldi: The first thing is that

the ventilation system of the engine room

must be totally isolated, and the machinery

spaces must be operated remotely.

People will be sitting on the bridge like on

highspeed craft. With no ventilation you

will have no contamination. We believe

ammonia is the best hydrogen carrier

which can be produced with less energy

and stored under pressure at ambient temperature

and not at cryogenic temperature.

RoPax: Your newly ordered ammoniaready

PCTC vessels will come into

service in the next few years.

Emanuele Grimaldi: These PCTCs will be

a success. However, it is not good that

people feel that ammonia is not available

today. We are already working on the

transformation of the shipping industry.

Finneco 3 one of the successful GG5G class RoRos of Finnlines

Finnfellow the first Finnlines RoPax in service at the new line between Malmö (Sweden)

and Świnoujście (Poland)

Ports and shipowners must work on it as

well, while engine manufacturers must

offer new engine types and retrofit the

existing ones. Today it is not wishful

thinking, it is possible, and we are doing it,

but the world is not ready. Any delay in

progress has nothing to do with the

shipowners.

Grimaldi Group

RoPax: Now you must pay ETS as from

this year, but ammonia is not yet ready

for use as a fuel, how is your position

with regards to this unfair situation?

Emanuele Grimaldi: ETS risks both

making Europe less competitive and

provoking a modal backshift from sea to

road. The EU should start taxing road

transport, the most polluting mode, rather

than a less polluting alternative. Otherwise,

the risk is to bring trucks from the

sea back to the road. This is extremely

dangerous.

Secondly, motorways of the sea connecting

islands of over 200.000 inhabitants will be

subject to ETS. This will put these islands

in a very difficult situation because they

are already located in peripheral areas,

they have extra costs for the import and

export of goods. Some of these islands’

maritime connections are publicly subsidised:

it is a nonsense that operators who

get subsidies for providing such services

must pay ETS-related costs back to the

State.

Then, there is also a legal issue: are we sure

that we can impose a European tax outside

our waters and our sphere of economy?

When a vessel is crossing the Red Sea it

must pay. Why do we want the money of a

vessel navigating outside of Europe, probably

polluting Arab and African countries?

Why should we enforce an EU regulation

when our ships pollute elsewhere, outside

Europe, in another jurisdiction? We are

saying to the Chinese companies when

they are passing that we want their money.

How easy is it for this traffic to go to a

non-European port and avoid our ports?

Let’s not forget that through the EU ETS

we are addressing only 7.5% of the world’s

shipping GHG emissions…

Why are we so in a hurry as Europeans instead

of addressing the issue globally? The

global solution is via the IMO, and there

we have a very good Secretary General

who is working on this issue. The IMO has

agreed to reach the 2050 zero emissions

target. We are fighting against other systems

considering the IMO has already introduced

a special fuel standard. We will

have better fuels. We will have 5% of biofuels

in use soon, and this percentage will

increase.

JPE

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 27

RoPax: Are you talking to Brussels about

adjusting this system?

Emanuele Grimaldi: Yes, we are in contact.

As ICS, we hope to convince the EU to

review their position. But we know that

ECSA and many national associations are

in the front line to achieve such a result.

“Poland – Sweden

is operating.”

„Great Abidjan“ naming and delivery ceremony hosted by Diego Pacella,

President of Grimaldi Deep Sea S.p.A.and Amelia Grimaldi.

Grimaldi Group

RoPax: Congratulations, in April you

opened your new service between

Świnoujście and Malmö. I think you have

fought for a long time to get permission

for this. Do you see a change in Poland

with the new government?

Emanuele Grimaldi: We hope so. Anyway,

we have finally started our operations

between Poland and Sweden, and this has

improved the competition.

RoPax: Do you also see a change of cargo

volumes on the east corridor route via

Poland to the North?

Emanuele Grimaldi: Now that our new

service has finally started operating, we

keep seeing a high potential in this traffic.

RoPax: Let’s have a look at the Irish Sea.

Are you still successful with your line

between Zeebrugge and Rosslare and how

do you see the market development there?

Emanuele Grimaldi: To be honest, I am a

little bit disappointed with the fact that a

lot of trade between Europe and Ireland is

still transiting through the UK before

entering European countries. It is like

Brexit did not happen. We expected that

Irish cargo would move without passing

through the UK. This is not the case. In

fact, 65-70% of the cargo to and from

Ireland is still passing through the UK.

Ireland is considered as a small region of

the UK market. It is not going as we had

expected. Currently, 20 ships are operating

between the UK and Ireland and only

7-8 ships are operating directly between

Ireland and the European mainland. This

is the reality.

Although we are satisfied with the results

of our Zeebrugge-Rosslare service, we

expected the European business to grow

more. We did not expect that important

cargo volumes would keep transiting via

the UK. Why should cargo from France or

Italy go to Ireland via the UK? The fact is

that distributors to Ireland are mostly

located in the UK and will distribute from

there to Ireland. I cannot understand

why, unfortunately, the logistics are not

changing.

➔ On our webpage www.ropax.de you

can read the complete interview with

Emanuele Grimaldi.

MAXIMIZE THE BENEFITS OF

HIGH-FREQUENCY DATA

FOR YOUR FERRY BUSINESS

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

28 / NEWBUILDING

Manxman

Hybrid Douglas-max ro-pax

for Isle of Man lifeline service

In August last year, the Isle of Man

Steam Packet Company replaced its

Heysham-Douglas route mainstay,

“Ben-my-Chree”, by the hybrid dieselelectric

“Manxman”. This handy-size ropax

ferry has been specifically designed to

provide reliable year-round lifeline services,

boasting methanol-ready engines.

The Isle of Man is heavily dependent on

imports from mainland Britain with

Heysham being the main gateway to the

island. As per its Sea Services Agreement

with the Manx Government, the Isle of

Man Steam Packet Company (IoMSPCo)

has the exclusive rights to use the linkspans

in Douglas, the island’s sole port

with ro-ro facilities. Shortly after its

mid-2018 takeover by the Isle of Man

Government, the IoMSPCo decided to

replace the 1998-built “Ben-my-Chree” as

the primary ‘lifeline ship’. A typical 1990s

off-the-shelf platform from Dutch builders

Van der Giessen-de Noord, “Ben- my-

Chree” had been ordered when the IoM-

SPCo was still under Sea Containers

ownership. While the vessel served its

purpose, it definitely had its shortcomings,

including a lack of decent passenger

facilities.

PURPOSE-BUILT PLATFORM

A new Sea Services Agreement between

the IoMSPCo and its owner was signed

in spring 2019. In return for the exclusive

use of the island’s linkspans, the Manx

Government required the company to

invest in a new vessel to guarantee robust

sea links with its neighbours throughout

the year. So, the new Sea Services Agreement

provided the contractual criteria for

the design and characteristics of the

newbuild ferry. The draught limitations in

Heysham and the length limitations to

turn within the tight confines of Douglas

determined “Manxman’s” hull envelope.

As per its Sea Services Agreement, the

IoMSPCo had to squeeze 1,250 freight

lanemetres and at least 800 passengers in a

compact ‘box size’. To meet peak demand,

especially during the TT Races and Manx

Grand Prix, the IoMSPCo further increased

the number of passengers to 949.

With the parameters set and all the boxes

of the Sea Services Agreement ticked, the

ferry operator went out to a number of

naval architect firms to tender for the

concept design and concept specification

works, a job eventually awarded to

Houlder. For the construction of the

133.25m long and 25.70m wide “Manxman”

no fewer than 17 shipyards in both

Europe and Asia were approached, but it

was Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) that

eventually landed the GBP 78 million

contract.

1

VEHICLE DECKS

As the Isle of Man hardly exports goods,

freight is typically moving in one direction

only with most trailers returning empty to

the mainland. So, one of the lessons

learned from “Ben-my-Chree” was to have

enough ballast capacity and heeling tanks

to assist with the loading. Another novelty

is the flexibility to load passenger cars and

trailers simultaneously. Particularly for the

Heysham-Douglas overnight crossing, car

passengers want to get on board as soon as

practical. To meet this demand, a 22-car

hoistable car deck has been installed on the

upper vehicle deck. Car passengers who

prefer a longer night rest in their cabins

will have their car parked on this hoistable

deck, arriving first and leaving last.

1. View from portside bridge wing.

2. Fully enclosed bridge.

3. Loading in Heysham.

4. To reduce fuel consumption, „Manxman“

has a shallow funnel with latticework.

Photos: Philippe Holthof

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 29

The somewhat ‚stocky‘ looking Douglas-max „Manxman“.

Miles Cowsill

2 4

3

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

30 / NEWBUILDING

As most trailers are shipped unaccompanied,

there is no drive-through access with

a single stern ramp connecting the

661.9-lanemetre Deck 3 with the linkspan.

Thanks to the increased deck height, 4.9m

high trailers can be stowed on both decks

3 and 5 which are interconnected by a

hoistable ramp. The 636.4-lanemetre

upper deck is open at the aft, allowing for

the stowage of certain categories of

hazardous goods.

Photos: Philippe Holthof

3

4

5 6

1

2

THE HYBRID ELEMENT

Although not a government requirement,

it was the IoMSPCo’s desire to operate a

vessel with the lowest possible emissions

footprint, also guaranteeing zero emissions

in port thanks to the ship’s own 3.146

MWh energy storage system (ESS). The

lithium-ion batteries are charged at sea

using peak shaving, being charged to 85%

during the last part of passage and manoeuvring.

As there is no LNG supply in

this part of the Irish Sea, LNG was never

considered as an alternative fuel with

“Manxman” burning low sulphur MGO.

However, the ship’s propulsion pack is

methanol-ready with only a small part of

the piping that needs to be replaced. To

comply with Safe Return to Port (SRtP)

rules, the four gensets are stowed in two

separate machinery compartments with

one Wärtsilä 8V31 and one 10V31 in each

compartment. The gensets have an output

of 4,880kW and 6,400kw, respectively at

750rpm and 100% MCR. The engine

room’s aftmost compartment contains two

electric propulsion motors which each

have a 7,850kW maximum propulsion

power, driving the controllable pitch

propellers via Wärtsilä gearboxes.

A TASTE OF THE ISLE OF MAN

Probably the biggest improvement from a

passenger perspective concerns the

accommodation with more and far better

facilities, a higher space ratio and double

the number of cabins, including balcony

cabins. The interior design is the work of

SMC Design whose team spent a lot of

time to study the Isle of Man’s rich heritage

and culture with facilities named after

‘touch points’ around the island.

Passenger facilities are concentrated on

decks 7 and 8 but forward on Deck 6 there

is a pet exercise area integrated into the

covered fo’c’sle, connecting to kennels that

are housed in the side casings.

Forward on Deck 7 is the Cornaa Café, the

ship’s main lounge that gives direct access

to the side casings used by embarking/

disembarking foot passengers. Deck 7’s

midship section narrows due to the MES

1. Niarbyl Lounge forward on Deck 8

2. Deck 7 aft bar

3. Barrule Lounge

4. Self-service restaurant

5. Balcony suite

6. Injebreck Exclusive Lounge.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 31

7. + 8. Bridge

9. One of two battery rooms

10. Engine control room

11. Wärtsilä genset

12. Upper vehicle deck (Deck 5)

7 8

and fast rescue boat stations on either side.

This open plan section holds a walkthrough

shop with information desk on

the portside and a children’s play area to

starboard. Just abaft the shop is a quiet

family zone with corridors on the starboard

and port side of the casing leading to the

open plan aft section with central galley

and store rooms. The Eatery self-service

restaurant to port connects seamlessly

with The Bar to starboard.

On Deck 8, the aft fire zone boasts the

124-seat Barrule Premium Lounge on the

port side and the Executive Club Lounge

to starboard. The 42-cabin area is located

midships with twin corridors leading to

the Niarbyl reclining seat lounge forward.

Just aft of Niarbyl, on the centreline, is the

windowless Injebreck Exclusive Lounge

with 26 fully reclining seats. Forward on

Deck 9 is the bridge with the SRtP bridge

located on Deck 10, below the mast. The

rest of Deck 9 is taken by crew cabins and

facilities. The starboard part of the aft open

deck is passenger accessible, yet the

portside open deck is for the crew only.

Philippe Holthof

9

11

10

12

Scandinavia’s largest RoRo port

Port of Trelleborg is Scandinavia’s largest RoRo port for rolling traffic, one of Sweden’s five

core ports designated as strategically important by the EU, as well as Sweden’s only port with

rail ferries. The port is an important node for Sweden’s import and export, and thus has an

important meaning and role for the climate transition of freight transports.

The investment and expansion of Port of Trelleborg makes it possible to meet future volume

increases of freight, significantly increase the capacity with intermodal freight transports,

freight by rail and the ability to receive the next generation of RoRo vessels, so-called Green

Ships, with less climate impact but significantly greater capacity. With the new ferry berths

number 11, 12, 13 and 14, the freight flows can be handled even more efficiently. Port of

Trelleborg is well equipped to handle the increasing freight volumes and passenger traffic of

the future in a competitive way.

www.portoftrelleborg.se

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

32 / INTERVIEW

Manxman

Andrew Cooke

MANXMAN DATA SHEET

Operator: Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. Ltd

Yard: (Contract) Hyundai Mipo

Dockyard, South Korea

Yard No.: 8311

IMO No.: 9917244

Classification: Lloyds Register

Flag:

Isle of Man

Port of Registry: Douglas

Date of delivery:11 th May 2023

Service: Heysham-Douglas

Douglas-Belfast

Douglas-Liverpool


Length Overall: 133.25 m

Length Waterline: 122.00 m

Beam:

25.70 m

Hull Depth: 8.60 m (to Deck 3)

Hull Draught: 5.60 m

Scantling Draught: 5.80 m (max)

Air Draught: 36.24 m

Deadweight: 3,096t

Gross tonnage: 24,161gt

Displacement: 12,483t

Net Tonnage: 7,248 nt

PROPULSION

Main engines:

Fuel:

2x Wärtsilä 8 cylinder (4,880Kwh) &

2x 10 cylinder (6,100Kwh)

Marine Diesel Oil

Hybrid Battery Capacity: 3Mw

Propulsion Motors: 2x Wärtsilä 7,850kW

Propulsion Gear: 2x Sets of 2 Wärtsilä Nickel Aluminium Bronze CPP

4,300mm diameter each

Steering Gear: 2x High Lift Becker Rudders –

Max. angle 65 degrees

Thrusters: 3x Wärtsilä Bow Thrusters

Service speed: 19.25 knots

CARGO ACCESS

Stern ramp(s): (l x w)

Not Supplied

Bow ramp(s): Stern Loader Only

Side ramp (s): n/a

Internal ramp(s): Hoistable Deck 3-Deck 5 + Mezz Deck

Lift (s): 3 (Passenger)

Lane Width: 3.10m (average)


Total capacity: 949 passengers

Accommodation: Located on Decks 7 & 8

Cabins:

42 (Pax) | 53 (Crew)

Beds:

140 (pax)

Crew:

51 crewmembers

REMARKS

Keel Laying Date: 24th December 2021 | Launch Date: 14th June 2022

Hybrid Diesel Electric Propulsion System

Clear Height Deck 5 under deployed Mezzanine Deck: 4.90m

Classification: +100A1, Roll on - Roll off passenger ship, ShipRight (ACS(B)), LI,

*IWS, +LMC, BWTS, UMS, NAV1, IBS, Hybrid Power, PCAC 2,3 with descriptive note:

ShipRight (MPMS, DIST(M), IHM, SCM, SRtP, SERS)

6x Cabins equipped with balconies. | Family Area | Shop

7x lounges including 1x Reclining Seats, 1x Dog Owners Lounge, Exclusive Lounge/

1x First Class and 1x Executive Members Only. | No. of Decks: 10

3x Stern Deck Areas – Deck 7 Public/Deck 8 First &

Executive Lounges/Deck 9 Public & Crew Areas | Crew Accommodation – Deck 9

Built as a Douglas/Heysham-max design – the largest dimensions for operation

in both ports. | Steering Gear: Kongsberg

Passenger and bunker station doors, Stern ramp, Hoistable ramp, Ramp,

Hoistable car deck: MacGregor

Pax Cabins: (42 Total) | Outside: 18x | Inside: 10x

Balcony: 10x | Accessible: 6x | Pet Friendly: 4x

Freight Driver: 2x (6 berths per cabin)

CAPACITY OF HOLDS DECK-AREA IN SQM DECKLOAD (TON/SQM) FREE HEIGHT CARS LANE METERS FOR TRAILERS TRAILERS

Tank top: n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Main Deck 3: Not Supplied Not Supplied 5.20m 155 666lm n/a

Upper Deck 5: Not Supplied Not Supplied 5.20m 107 623lm n/a

Weather Deck: n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Mezzanine Deck: n/a n/a 2.40m 18 n/a n/a

Total: 280 1,289lm 75

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

DATA SHEET / 33

34 / REPORT

Marko Stampehl

Wasaline – well positioned

for the green future

Wasaline introduced 2021 its low emission ferry “Aurora

Botnia”. The line developed very successfully between Umeå

(Sweden) and Vaasa (Finland). The RoPax vessel is today

one of the best solutions to operate emission free in the

future.

The next step is to study the possibilities

to rebuild an engine to a greener propulsion

system. The target for the innovative

ferry company is to be able to operate

emission neutrally in 2030. RoPax spoke

with Peter Stahlberg the CEO of Wasaline

about the next steps and the new cargo

corridor from continental Europe via

Sweden to Finland.

RoPax: You have reported good transport

figures but a little less in cargo how

is the situation actual do you have a fully

booked vessel when the people go to

winter holiday?

Peter Stahlberg: Yes, during winter holidays

we had fully booked departures. In

general, winter time is really well booked

and after many years winter traveller volumes

have been growing continuously.

These people are going to the Swedish Lapland

for skiing and winter activities. A lot

of people from this area in Finland and

even from the south are using this route

with us to Sweden.

RoPax: Do you see an effect that is more

attractive to go to Sweden due to the

currency exchange rate?

“We also see more

and more German

passengers using

our ferry”

Peter Stahlberg: Yes, the Swedish krona is

quite low and people found out that they

can buy wine or beer in Sweden because

the Swedish tax is a little bit lower. I got a

comment from a passenger that they are

comparing prices and that it is cheaper to

go with us to Sweden to buy alcohol than

going all the way via Åland with tax free

lines. I mean it’s not cheaper on the ferries

anymore.

RoPax: How is your pre booking situation

for 2024?

Peter Stahlberg: We have some percent less

booking than last year. But the main businesses

we see today are the conference

guests. We had the strikes in Finland and

e.g. a lot of big paper factories have had

layoffs. Cargo is growing again. The LNG

prices are at 24 to 25 Euro per Megawatt

and the diesel fuel is at 70 Euro. I’m happy

that we have a dual fuel operating ferry.

When the gas prices were over 150 Euro

per Megawatt and the diesel was about 50-

60 Euro per MW hour, we used diesel as

main fuel. Today we do whatever is needed

to reduce the emissions. We have budgeted

ETS at 90.50 Euro per ton. Now it is

60-70 Euro per ton. I’m sleeping well even

if we have a small dip on the passenger

side. We also see more and more German

passengers using our ferry and the German

bus groups are increasing

RoPax. How will Wasaline effected in

2024 by ETS system? In this year 2024 we

speak only 40% of your CO 2

emissions

will be tax.

Peter Stahlberg: I had a presentation some

days ago for my crew. I said that we will

benefit from the ETS. I mean that when we

made the budget, we calculated €90 per

ton. We haven’t either used any fuel surcharge

for the passengers. Of course, we

had the challenge with the fuel prices, but

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 35

we put quite a big amount for passengers

and cars, so I have not got any bad feedback

because it’s quite transparent. The

ETS is about €60-70 per ton. We have an

efficient vessel where we reduced CO 2

with

5% per voyage even in wintertime. We are

mainly using only 1.4 of the engines, which

is very good instead of all 4 generators.

This year we will benefit from the ETS.

RoPax: What are you plans in the next

years to reduce more CO 2

do you have

something where you can adjust more at

“Aurora Botnia”?

Peter Stahlberg: We got money from our

owners for research about the next huge

plans, which will be realized in 2027. This

would mean that we wouldn’t have to pay

anything for the ETS. A lot of projects are

going on. In Umeå in Sweden there is a

company, which will start to produce

methanol in 2026-2027, and the final decision

will hopefully be made later this year.

The company will first install a production

unit in Örnskoldsvik. They will set up a

production facility together with Umeå

Energy. It means that then we could have

the opportunity to use locally produced

energy with short transportation costs. We

have started a project with the specialists,

where we investigate different possibilities

to convert one or more generators to use

CEO Peter Stahlberg

for instance Methanol or to add more

batteries on board. Today we have 2.3 MW

batteries on board.

RoPax. You will increase the battery

capacity up to which size?

Peter Stahlberg: We know more about it

after the studies to obtain the most optimal

capacity. That’s why we are doing this study

to see how much battery capacity we can

add that we don’t have to rebuild the

existing charging stations in the ports. We

are studying what is the maximum we can

get and of course you don’t get them 100%

Wasaline

Along

Every Voyage

Many improvements done and the development work continues.

We are ready – when you are ready for Travel and Transport.

We bring people and goods together

to boost sustainable growth.

portofhelsinki.fi

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

36 / INTERVIEW

charged during the half an hour to one

hour stop in the port. But during the night

we are staying longer in the ports meaning

that we then depart with full charge. It is

still unclear what the level of Methanol will

be and the rules are still not in force with

for instance the pooling. It is very difficult

to calculate the ROI and the OPEX but one

thing is for sure, our goal is to be a forerunner

in the Industry.

“In the future we will not

use any fossil fuels.”

RoPax: I think it is very interesting that

you are investigating for instance to

rebuild one or two engines to methanol,

and you can get local your methanol,

that is a very good situation and much

better to transport methanol by truck or

rail long distances to the port.

Peter Stahlberg: I think we are getting

more and more autarky with this system to

generate our resources to operate the

vessel from local sources. Today, when we

look at the situation if for example the Kiel

Canal is closed or we have problems in the

traffic up to Gotland to get our oil to

Finland, it is much better to have local

methanol production to operate our vessel.

We also have a new cargo solution where

we can have multimodal transports to

Gothenburg connecting to trains from our

ferry. There are several companies having

train connections to Umeå and the traffic

is growing instantly. We work in close

cooperation with logistic companies like

Nurminen and ferry operators like TT. In

the future we will not use any fossil fuels.

This transit traffic will increase and we are

prepared, and in the future we have no

The new green alternative transport to Finland

via Sweden with TT Line and Wasaline

CO 2

emissions. If the Russian market will

come back, we will see much more opportunities

for more cargo and traffic also to

China and Japan by train.

RoPax. Are you building up an alternative

for transports from Continental

Europe via Sweden to Finland?

TT-Line

View from the bridge

Peter Stahlberg: Yes. If you look into the

future the cost for all the small vessels to

operate will be much higher. Small ships

have let us say 10 containers in and out in

one port. You can unload them in the

South or West of Sweden to the rail. In

Sweden they have a very good rail network.

That is a totally green transport then to

continue with our ship let us say in 2027

when we have totally emission free

operations: Green transports are growing

bigger and bigger and everybody wants to

do green transport, but nobody wants to

pay for it. We have one logistics company,

Ekeri, who has done the next step to

integrate us in their network by having

totally green transports.

RoPax. I saw that your cargo volumes

were a little bit decreased last year

because due to the Russian effect.

Peter Stahlberg: Yes, our export is plus /

minus. The decrease is caused by lower

export of paper. We transported a lot of

special paper from the factories in Sweden,

but the demand has decreased. There is a

stable volume for cardboard. Our Russian

cargo volumes were about 3% of our whole

volume and now it’s 0 %. Our market share

between Finland and Sweden has grown

even if we had a little bit less cargo. The

intermodal cargo by train is growing

constantly and it means that we will have

more feeder traffic here. The signals are

good.

I often say that Wasaline will not become a

rich company because of our income but

because we are efficient. We have to watch

all costs all the time. We have a very small

organisation, a small crew and quite a few

people in the office. We have so many

brains on board so let them work – what I

mean is that we don’t have to manage

everything from the office.



Peter Stahlberg.

JPE

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 37

38 / INTERVIEW

Headquartered in Västerås, a prominent

port situated on the shores of Mälaren

Lake in the Stockholm metropolitan region,

Lakeway Link is poised to redefine

maritime logistics. In a recent interview

with CEO Fredrik Hermansson, RoPax

gained insights into the company‘s innovative

approach.

RoPax: Your new maritime service

presents an intriguing solution. Could

you elaborate on your partnership with

Wallenius and Greencarrier?

Fredrik Hermansson: Wallenius and

Greencarrier, both privately owned

entities, epitomize a shared ethos rooted in

family ownership. Wallenius boasts a

distinguished pedigree with affiliations

such as Wallenius Wilhelmsen and

Wallenius SOL, alongside collaborations

with UECC and NYK in Japan. The collaboration

between Wallenius and Greencarrier

arose organically, driven by mutual

values and a shared commitment to

sustainability. This alliance seeks to

harness waterways as a viable alternative

for cargo transportation, particularly

considering recent challenges like adverse

weather conditions and driver shortages

across Europe.

Introducing Lakeway Link:

The New RoRo Route

Connecting Poland to Sweden

Lakeway Link is set to inaugurate a distinctive maritime route

between Poland and Sweden dedicated to cargo transportation.

This route will link Gdynia to Södertälje, with plans to

extend service to Västerås through the scenic Mälaren Lake.

The maiden vessel on this route, the RoRo ship „Miramar

Express,“ will be rechristened as the „Lakeway Express.“

Lakewaylink

RoPax: Despite the vessel‘s capacity to

accommodate up to 12 drivers, you‘ve

opted against having them onboard.

Could you shed light on this decision?

Fredrik Hermansson: Our decision is

consistent with our overall environmental

goals. “Lakeway Express” has room for

drivers, but our focus is to minimize

emissions and maximize efficiency. We see

a future where collaboration takes place

between different truck transport companies,

alternatively the companies have

their own stationary drivers in both

Sweden and Poland, like those that have

already started to be implemented by

several companies during the covid-19

pandemic, which make operations more

efficient. As pioneers on the East Coast, we

aim to complement initiatives taken by

companies such as DFDS on the West

Coast. By prioritizing Port-to-Port

solutions based on unaccompanied truck

transports, we strive to optimize our

environmental footprint.

RoPax: How do you perceive competition

with existing Polish operators,

given their emphasis on RoPax services?

Fredrik Hermansson: There‘s minimal

overlap in our respective markets. While

Polish operators cater predominantly to

passenger traffic, our niche lies in, RoRo,

and project cargo. Our strategic departure

points from Södertälje and later Västerås

set us apart, ensuring efficient handling of

trailers and project cargo. We‘re committed

to delivering exceptional service

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 39

tailored to the unique demands of our

clientele.

RoPax: Will Lakeway Link target cargo

from companies like Scania and Volkswagen

based in Södertälje?

Fredrik Hermansson: Absolutely. Our

discussions with various stakeholders,

including Scania and Volkswagen, have

been promising. However, fostering robust

partnerships with freight forwarders and

logistics operators remains paramount.

Our eco-friendly shipping solution resonates

with forward-thinking businesses

seeking sustainable alternatives.

“Our robust schedule and

vessel capacity underscore

our commitment to meeting

the region’s burgeoning

cargo demands.”

RoPax: When is the anticipated launch

date for your service?

Fredrik Hermansson: We‘re aiming for a

May 2024 debut. The „Lakeway Express,“

currently undergoing modifications

following dry dock maintenance in Spain,

will soon adhere to our stringent Lakeway

Link standards.

CEO Fredrik Hermansson

Fredrik Hermansson: Lakeway Link and

Wallenius SOL operate as distinct entities

with no partnership. Our focus remains on

establishing our own presence within the

maritime industry.

RoPax: What strategies will Lakeway Link

employ to attract the Polish market?

Lakewaylink

Fredrik Hermansson: We‘ve appointed a

dedicated sales manager in Poland to

spearhead our outreach efforts. By offering

competitive tariffs and engaging with local

stakeholders, we aim to capture market

share across the eastern corridor. Our

robust schedule and vessel capacity underscore

our commitment to meeting the

region‘s burgeoning cargo demands.

RoPax: Are there plans to develop intermodal

connections in Sweden or

Poland?

Fredrik Hermansson: At present, our focus

lies solely on port-to-port connections.

While intermodal solutions remain an

intriguing prospect for the future, our

organizational structure necessitates

prioritizing our core service offerings.

RoPax: Your website hints at future

expansion. Could you elaborate on

Lakeway Link‘s growth trajectory?

Fredrik Hermansson: Undoubtedly, expansion

is on the horizon. Our owners are

eager to explore additional opportunities

in line with our overarching vision. While

consolidating our presence in the Mälaren

region remains our immediate priority, we

remain receptive to potential ventures that

align with our strategic objectives.

RoPax: Thank you for your insights.

•

RoPax: Given the vessel‘s vintage, are

there plans to retrofit it for reduced

emissions?

Fredrik Hermansson: Absolutely, Upgrading

the ship to minimize emissions is a priority.

While we initially researched charter

options to no avail, we purchased Lakeway

Express due to a lack of suitable vessels. Although

the size presents challenges as we

do not enter Lake Mälaren at present.

The ship is too big but will be able to

handle the new restrictions when the new

lock, which is under production, is ready

in 2026. We hope to be able to enter

Västerås in 2026.

In addition, we develop designs for new

vessels tailored to Lake Mälaren specifications,

aptly named „Mälarmax“.

RoPax: Will Lakeway Link receive

subsidies similar to Gotlandsrederi from

the Swedish state?

Fredrik Hermansson: Subsidies have been

discussed internally but we haven‘t made

an active decision to review the possibilities

so far. We launch our service regardless

of subsidies or not.

YOUR TRANSPORT.

Besuchen Sie

uns auf der

Breakbulk Europe

Stand B11-C11

in Halle B1

Auf uns ist Verlass. In Sachen Pünktlichkeit, Sorgfalt, Sicherheit.

Für Sie finden wir Wege, die perfekte Anbindung und passgenaue

Lager- und Transport-Lösungen für Ihre Projekte.

Ihr größter deutscher RoRo-Hub an der Ostsee:

Hochfrequente Seeverbindungen in den Norden – Ihr Tor nach

Skandinavien und ins Baltikum

Auf Schiene oder Straße – Ihre multimodale Anbindung

nach Mittel- und Südwesteuropa

Alles aus einer Hand – Ihr Logistik-Partner auf ganzer Strecke

RoPax: How does Lakeway Link work

with Wallenius SOL, if at all?

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

JPE

NEWBUILDING / 41

P&O Pioneer

A real game-changer

True to its name, the Guangzhou Shipyard

International-built “P&O Pioneer”

introduces many firsts on the English

Channel. Besides being the first

double-ended ferry on the Dover Strait,

P&O Ferries’ new flagship also pioneers

the hybrid element.

Although P&O Ferries had already contemplated

a double-ended design in the

early 2000s, it only surfaced again shortly

after the so-called Ship of the Future

project kicked off in 2017. When the

Spirit-class sister ships were ordered in

2008, alternative fuel options for large

ro-pax ferries, let alone hybrid technology,

were still few and far between. Not surprisingly,

this resulted in a conservative

approach with a conventional propulsion

plant of four main engines and four

auxiliaries.

Like the Spirit-class, the new Ship of the

Future or Fusion-class has the ability to

hoover up freight and cars at peak times,

but this is where any comparison ends as

the design of the newbuilds started from a

blank canvas. While all design options

were open, building an improved, ‘lessons

learned’ Mk II version of the Spirits was

never an option as P&O Ferries was poised

to build a best-in-class Channel ferry with

the lowest possible emissions footprint per

transported truck and car. As the project

gained momentum and with Denmark’s

OSK Design selected to take care of the full

design package, all the dos and don’ts as

well the pros and cons of a single-ender

versus a double-ender design were carefully

analysed with the latter being the

preferred solution. A double-ended

platform with the duplication of wheelhouses

doesn’t come cheap but the fuel

savings generated by eliminating up to ten

daily 180-degree ‘off the berth’ turning

manoeuvres during at least 20 consecutive

years outweighs the extra cost to build a

double-ended ferry. The hybrid dieselelectric

propulsion system with four ABB

Azipods is yet another additional cost that

ultimately pays off in the longer term on

account of lower maintenance costs.

BUILDING IN CHINA

At 47,653gt, the 230.5m long and 30.8m

beam “P&O Pioneer” and sister ship “P&O

Liberté” are the world’s largest double-

All photos in this article: Philippe Holthof

View from Calais-end bridge // Bridge with Kongsberg‘s K-Bridge integrated navigation system //

Dover-end bridge and funnel

ended ro-pax ferries. As both Flensburger

Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) and Remontowa

Shipbuilding had a proven track

record of building double-enders they

were logically on P&O Ferries’ radar. There

were also long negotiations with Damen

and the Dutch shipbuilding group was the

only European yard to remain in the

running until the very end. When DP

World recommended its subsidiary to take

China into consideration, P&O Ferries

started negotiations with Jinling Nanjing

and Guangzhou Shipyard International

(GSI). Other Chinese yards were also in

the mix but a EUR 260 million double

order was eventually signed with GSI in

September 2019.

BATTERIES AND AZIPODS

“P&O Pioneer’s” engine room compartments

occupy the best parts of decks 1 and

2. Midships, a ballast water room on Deck

1 and storerooms on Deck 2 separate the

Dover-end from the Calais-end engine

rooms. Each engine compartment holds

two very compact Wärtsilä 16V31 fourstroke

medium speed engines. The

22- nautical-mile stretch of water between

Dover and Calais warrants a full-electric

operation, providing the ports offer

charging facilities. While the Port of Calais

invested in a brand new outer port, it

didn’t provide Onshore Power Supply

(OPS) ifrastructure, something critical in

the future maritime energy mix. As an

OPS system is also lacking in Dover, “P&O

Pioneer’s” 1,160 individual XALT Energy

batteries are charged when power demands

from the gensets are below 85 to 90 per

cent. This is during arrival in port, at berth

and when leaving port. Located in four

battery rooms outboard of the B/5 double

skin on Deck 2, the lithium-ion NMCgraphite

batteries deliver a combined

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

42 / NEWBUILDING

2

3

1

power of 8.816MWh. The 17.6-knot design

service speed can be achieved utilising two

generator sets or one generator and the

batteries with a 15- minute autonomy. This

means that any one generator can be

removed from service for maintenance

whilst still adhering to the Safe Return to

Port (SRtP) rules.

“P&O Pioneer’s” four ABB Azipods are of

the compact DO1600 type rated at 7.5MW

each.

With energy efficiency at the heart of the

design, the Fusion-class also boasts a waste

heat recovery system while its power

management system uses software to turn

off the lighting and ventilation in empty

areas, as well as optimising the utilisation

of engines, batteries and energy recovered

from waste heat.

5

4

6

VEHICLE DECKS

On a short route like Dover-Calais, it is

paramount to find the right balance

between lanemetre intake and time at

berth. The 2,741-lanemetre cargo capacity

of the Spirit-class was deemed optimal and

a further increase of freight capacity would

have come at the expense of port

turnaround times. So, instead of further

increasing the lanemetre intake, OSK

Design and P&O Ferries looked at ways to

maximise and further optimise freight

vehicle capacity. The free deck height of

the uppermost car deck, Deck 7, has been

increased to 3.6m, allowing for campers

and vans to be parked here. This frees up

much-needed freight space on decks 3 and

5. To speed up unloading/loading operations,

the fixed ramps leading to Deck 7 are

wider and shallower than on the Spirits.

For the same reason, vehicle deck lighting

has been improved with LED lighting used

throughout. Up to 182 cars can be stowed

on Deck 7 while the eight-lane decks 3 and

5 have a freight capacity of 1,314 and 1,278

lanemetres, respectively. On Deck 5, up to

12 accompanied trailers with hazardous

goods can be stowed on the three lanes

fore and aft of the accommodation.

7

8

PUBLIC SPACES

Although Finland’s dSign Vertti Kivi & Co

provided a draft interior design, P&O

Ferries decided to keep the whole design

package under one roof, appointing OSK

Design’s interior architecture division for

9

1. „P&O Pioneer“ boasts 1,160 individual XALT

Energy batteries

2. Engine control room

3. The diesel-electric „P&O Pioneer“ has four

very compact Wärtsilä 16V31 four-stroke

medium speed engines

4. Main vehicle deck

5. Food Market, the main grab and go restaurant

on Deck 8

6. One of the quiet lounges on Deck 9.

7. Calais-end commercial drivers lounge on Deck 9

8. Protruding double-height windows in the

midship Food Market

9. Dover-end Club Lounge on Deck 9

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 43

the interior design. As these ships are here

to stay for at least 25 years, OSK Design

deliberately chose a timeless yet cosy

design that meets contemporary simplicity.

All of the ship’s heavy foot traffic areas

have highly durable vinyl flooring rather

than carpet. The vast sundecks that are

wrapped around the fore and aft sections

are covered with Herculan Marine

EcoTeak’s easy to maintain seamless flooring,

an environmentally friendly alter native

to genuine teak flooring. These well-protected,

glass-screened open decks are a welcome

change from earlier cross-Channel

ferry generations with ample fixed lightweight

seating and fur niture.

As port stays are typically very short, all

public spaces have been designed with

easy and quick cleaning in mind. For

instance, all swivel chairs self-move back

into position – ceiling-hung toilet partitions

don’t require components to be

mounted on the floor, allowing for easy

floor cleaning.

The general arrangement of the passenger

decks, decks 8 and 9, follows a symmetrical

plan on Deck 8 while Deck 9 is somewhat

asymmetrical, holding the ‘destination

venues’. Two full-width stair lobbies divide

each deck into three fire zones. Accessed

from the Dover-end stair lobby, the large

duty-free shop occupies the entire aft

part of Deck 8. Its mirror view forward,

accessed from the Calais-end stair lobby, is

the 287-seat boutique-style The Lounge

Bar. The restaurant facilities are concentrated

in the midship section, characterised

by its signature cantilevered glass

curtain wall on either side. This is also

where the ship’s main hub, the 410-seat

open plan Food Market, is located. The

starboard side (when Calais-bound) is

open 24/7 as it holds the guest services

desk with bureau de change and the main

children’s playroom – one of three playscapes.

One deck up, on Deck 9, located between

the Dover and Calais-end stair lobbies is

The Kitchen on the starboard side and the

commercial drivers’ restaurant facilities to

port. The Kitchen is a new catering

offering, serving fresh hot fast food on an

‘order to collect’ basis. The facilities for the

commercial drivers extend forward with a

plush lounge accessed from the Calais-end

stair lobby. Just aft of the commercial

driver’s restaurant is the quiet lounge

section – one lounge boasts 90 reclining

seats, the other one 107. Adjacent to the

smaller of the two quiet lounges is the Club

Lounge. Offering a premium experience in

a high-end ambience, the Club Lounge

boasts a dining area with food and drinks

buffets as well as a relaxation area. The Pet

Lounge forward on Deck 9 completes the

passenger facilities. Philippe Holthof

Port of Hirtshals

Port expansion providing new

opportunies in Hirtshals

Thorlakshofn

Seydisfjordur

Thorshavn

Bergen

Stavanger

Kristiansand

Larvik

Optimise your logistic operations with our future

port expansion, offering increased cargo

facilities, larger water depths and a

new entrance, which combined will

enhance the North European

infrastructure to support

the growing transport

demands.

PORTOFHIRTSHALS.COM

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

44 / DATA SHEET

P&O Pioneer

Philippe Holthof

P&O PIONEER DATA SHEET

Owner: DP WORLD FRANCE SAS

Operator: P&O Ferries

Yard:

Guangzhou Shipyard International

Location: Guangzhou, China | Yard No.: 19121007

IMO No.: 9895161 | Ship Type: Ro-Pax Ferry

Flag: Cyprus | Port of Registry: Limassol

Ordered: 26 th September 2019

Steel Cutting: 15 th October 2020 | Keel Laid: 21 st December 2020

Launched: 2 nd January 2022

Date of delivery:28 th February 2023 | Service: Dover-Calais

PROPULSION

Main Generators: 4 × Wärtsilä 16v31 diesel engines

30,000kw/40,240hp

Propulsion 4 × 7.5MW ABB DO1600 Azipods

Total Power Output: 30 Megawatts

Emergency Generator: Stamford (Cummins) PM73481

Battery Packs 8.80 MWh battery capacity

(6,960 cells in 290 subpacks)

Battery Manufacturer: XALT Energy (Freudenberg Group)

Shaft Generator: n/a

Fuel:

ULSFO & MGO (can run on either)

Fuel Capacity: 1,048m 3

Propellers: 4 x 5 blades, 4.00m diameter

Pods (Thrusters): 4x ABB Azipod DO1600-S2300 –

MCR 4 x 7500kW (4 x 10,060HP)

Stabilisers: Hunter Marine - 12m2 per fin. 2 sets –

one for each direction

Service speed: 20.8 knots (38.5 km/h/23.9 mph)

CARGO ACCESS

Bow + Stern

Access: Clam Shell Doors Hinged Weather

Width: 9.40m Deck 3 Doors

9.60m Deck 5

Max Ramp Load:

n/a

Deckload: See Remarks | Lane width: See Remarks


Length overall: 230.50 m | Length b.p.: 216.816 m

Beam:

30.80 m (moulded)

Hull depth: 9.80 m (moulded) | Hull Draught: 6.70 m

Displacement 27,836.1 t (maximum)

Windage: 5209.6 m 2 (at 6.70m draught)

Deadweight: 11,500 DWT | Gross tonnage: 47,653 GT

Net tonnage: 16,754 NT


Total capacity: 1,500 passengers

Passenger Seating: 1,642 (internal) 487 (outside decks)

Passenger Spaces: 9,800sqm

Facilities: Club Class, Pet Lounge, Quiet Lounges, Self Service

Accommodation: Restaurant, Driver’s Restaurant and Lounge,

Bar Lounge, Café.

Cabins: 71 (Crew) | Beds: 115 (Crew)

Decks 12 | Crew: 115

REMARKS

Trailer Weight (max): 46t

Axle Load: 2.0t/sqm on Deck 3 & 5.

0.5t/sqm on Deck 7

Deckload (max): Deck 3 – 2,650t; Deck 5 –

2,540t; Deck 7 – 500t

Lane width: 3.2m/3.0m (Decks 3 & 5)

2.4m (Deck 7 car garage)

Fusion Class

The world’s largest double-ended vehicle ferries

Maiden Voyage:19 th June 2023 | Project Cost: £220 million/EUR 260 million

Sea trials commenced from Nansha 23 rd September 2022 (4 days),

13 th November 2022 & 24 th December 2022-8 th January 2023.

Delivery voyage commenced 3 rd March 2023 via Singapore (7 th March),

Colombo (11 th -12 th March), Suez Canal (20 th March), Limassol (22nd March),

Gibraltar (27 th March), Poole Bay (30 th March), Sandown Bay (1 st /2 nd April), Dunkerque

East (4 th April 2023). Sistership: P&O Liberte (Delivered: 29/11/23; Arrived Dover

1/3/24; Entered Service (Freight) 16/3/24; Entered Full Passenger Service 19/3/24)

P&O Pioneer Named 26/7/23 at Dover’s Cruise Terminal 1. The ship’s Godmother was

Georgiana Woods | Ship’s Master for both delivery voyages: Captain Simon Moore

Special Thanks must go to the P&O Ferries Press Office, Captain Simon Moore & Bram

Provost for all their invaluable help with information and images.

CAPACITY OF DECKS DECK-AREA IN SQM DECK FREE HEIGHT (NET) DECKLOAD (TON/SQM) CARS TRUCKS/TRAILERS LANEMETRES

Tanktop:

Main Deck 3: Not Supplied 5.00m 77 1,319lm

Mezzanine Deck: n/a n/a n/a n/a

Upper Deck 5: Not Supplied 4.80m 76 1,278lm

Car Garage Deck 7: Not Supplied 3.60m 194 1,066lm

Total: See Remarks 258 (max) 153 3,812lm

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

DATA SHEET / 45

46 / INTERVIEW

RoPax: How was your company effected

by the Ukraine war and the missing trade

to Russia?

Niclas Martensson: If we are looking into

different areas for Stena Line, one of the

toughest areas is the Baltic Sea. We see two

reasons; the war is affecting the macro

business in the world and the interest rates

because people are not spending so much

money. For example, the reduced activities

in the building industry and the wood

industry. We need a kind of different

understanding, and we hope the market

will be back in some years. At the same

time the market is going down and we see

other operators coming in and fighting for

volumes with lower prices.

Stena Line

The fresh refurbished Stena Britannica

Stena Line expand!

Stena Line had a good year in 2023 overall. The shipping

company is well positioned in the Baltic Sea, the UK and

Ireland. As a result of Brexit, Stena Line has not been able

to record any losses, traffic between Ireland and the UK is

stable and is increasing again somewhat. Stena’s strategy

is not to buy its customers, but to invest in ports and infrastructure.

The family-owned company is currently

building a new port in Immingham.

Stena Line has ventured into the Mediterranean

and bought a 49% stake in

AML (African Morocco Link). Management

has been monitoring the market

for a long time and sees great potential

for the future in the region. RoPax spoke

with Niclas Martensson, CEO of Stena

Line.

RoPax: How was the year 2023 and the

start into 2024 for Stena Line?

Niclas Martensson: 2023 was a quite good

year. We saw volumes coming up in a

decent level. From a customer perspective

it was a good year. Stena line as all other

companies were really fighting with higher

costs. When it is coming to salaries, spare

parts, and the total cost of the interest

rates. It was a good market year but from a

cost perspective most of us had tough

times. It was the first time we really saw the

full year effect of all prices increased of

2022.

Niclas Martensson, CEO of Stena Line

Stena Line

RoPax: We got the information that

some operators lost in 2023 between 7%

and 5% volume between the continent

(Germany and Poland) and Sweden. Can

you confirm that?

Niclas Martensson: We will not comment

that it is the fortune we are not listed at the

stock exchange and will not publish our

traffic volumes. I think we see different

parameters. With the investments we have

done in Poland with “Stena Estelle” and

“Stena Ebba” and keeping “Stena Spirit”

there we have increased the capacity and

frequency and of course that is a kind of

driving the volume. Poland is a quite good

area, even it is very close to the other Baltic

countries. When it is coming to Germany

2023 there were both ups and downs. We

have a very tough competition to and from

Trelleborg. We also have products that

others cannot really compete with because

we increased our railway business. Our

line between Kiel and Gothenburg is

moving quite good.

RoPax: If we look at your business

around UK and the new line between

Liverpool and Dublin you are very

successful and expanding your activities.

Do you have no Brexit limitation in your

business?

Niclas Martensson: The entire UK we

haven’t seen that drop in the economy

between UK and Ireland. Ireland has the

highest GDP growth as a country, and it is

mostly based on services. That brings them

on a higher consumption. UK came out

well after Brexit and the unemployment

rate is going down which means it is even

more expensive people earning more

money and consumption is good. We have

a quite stable market on a good level to and

from UK. Yes, we have opened a new route

between Dublin and Liverpool. Previously

we had one logistic hub that was in Belfast

there are three routes going in and out to

Belfast. We operate seven vessels there.

With the new route we have a logistic hub

in Liverpool because we operate two routes

there and we have a logistic hub in Dublin

where we also operate two routes. We have

now three logistic hubs instead only one

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 47

and that is creating massive improvement

for our cargo customers to share the trailer

and the cargo. We are very happy and

proud to have another route in the Irish

Sea. We have done huge investments in

new ships, and we have also done very big

position moves in investments in ports in

UK. It is easy to say we are big, and we have

a good market. We are doing impressive

investments in the region. It doesn’t come

from alone you have to be in the forefront

to invest and we have now a strong position

in some ports in UK. We are building

a new port in Immingham.

“We have done huge

investments in new ships,

and we have also done

very big position moves

in investments in

ports in UK.”

RoPax. You are moving from Kilingholme

to Immingham with your lines?

Niclas Martensson: We have done it partly.

It is today our Europort service who is going

to Immingham and Hoek van Holland

line will also move there. We will have

there another hub. Many competitors have

invested in logistic companies in acquiring

customers. We are more investing in

infrastructure and then trying to be as

attractive as possible to the customers they

go with us.

Chartered RoRo vessel „Bore Song“ at the new line between Liverpool – Dublin

happy with the good old ship and she is

well maintained. But what happened in

Rosslare from Brexit until now is just crazy.

When everybody has seen the same

kind of leading star. There we see overinvestment

and over capacity and everybody

thought they should be the most

successful company. Quite interesting to

see how kind panic movements the market

did over short term. I mean we had three

departures out of Rosslare before Brexit

now we have five. They continue to build

as the trend should continue. I am sure we

will see other trends in short time. The

complexity of customs clearance the

market get use to it. There are 70 Mio.

people in UK and 5 Mio. in Ireland. The

consumer are more in UK as in Ireland. I

think there is an overcapacity and I think

we see some changes and it will not come

back as it was.



Niclas Martensson.

Stena Line

Ferrybalear

Fast Catmaran „Caldera Vista“ for AML

RoPax: If we look at your operation between

Rosslare and Cherbourg where you

operate a huge RoPax vessel and how do

you see the market development, there?

Niclas Martensson: I think we have been

quite successful introducing “Stena Vision”

into that market. However, the market for

that ship is quite short from a time perspective

because it is so much focusing on

high season travel over the summer. She

makes mostly sense in the summer and

easter holidays. She is quite good we are

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

48 / NEWBUILDING

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 49

Moby Fantasy

The Med’s most impressive ro-pax

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

50 / NEWBUILDING

Clockwise: View from starboard monkey island // Deck 9 aft reception lobby // One of the de-luxe corner suites on Deck 10

all images of this article: Philippe Holthof

With the introduction of the 70,016gt

“Moby Fantasy” and “Moby Legacy” –

the biggest ever ro-pax ferries to operate

in the Med – Moby has further increased

competition on the Livorno-Olbia artery,

offering freight capacity and passenger

amenities that are second to none on this

mainland Italy-Sardinia corridor.

The Livorno-Olbia route is the main freight

gateway to Sardinia as Moby competes

head-to-head with Grimaldi Lines that introduced

the 3,060-lanemetre and 413-passenger

cabin “Cruise Europa” and “Cruise

Sardegna” (ex-“Cruise Olympia”) ahead of

Moby’s June 2023 introduction of “Moby

Fantasy”, followed by sister ship “Moby

Legacy” in February this year. Completed

by China’s Guangzhou Shipyard International

(GSI), the 3,853-lanemetre and

2,370-passenger capacity pair is a

modernised and upgraded evolution of

“Moby Wonder” and “Moby Aki”, the

mainstays on the Livorno-Olbia route for

The bridge on Deck 11

many years. “Moby Wonder” and sister

ship “Moby Freedom”, sold to Eckerö Line

in 2012, had an as-built capacity of 1,965

lanemetres and 1,880 passengers. Completed

by the then Daewoo Heavy Industries

(currently known as Hanwha Ocean)

in 2001, they were four years later joined

by a third ship in the series, the

Fincantieri-built “Moby Aki”. When still

working at KNUD E. HANSEN (KEH),

Anders Ørgård was instrumental in the

ship’s design, the concept of which was

essentially the brainchild of shipowner

Vincenzo Onorato who had been inspired

by “Moby Vincent”. Completed as “Stena

Normandica” in 1974, “Moby Vincent”

pioneered the ‘box principle’ whereby the

superstructure extended right out to the

stern, maximising the ship’s dimensions

and capacity. When Ørgård left KEH, he

continued to work closely with Onorato

through OSK Design who are both the

naval and interior architects of the 237.0m

long and 33.0m beam “Moby Fantasy”.

Deck 3 vehicle deck with side-hinged ramp cover

ALMOST 4KM OF TRAILERS

The triple stern access and the layout of the

vehicle decks with the fixed ramp arrangements

more or less follows that of DFDS’

GSI-built “Aura/Luna Seaways”, the

concept design of which was equally the

work of OSK Design. However, as foot

passengers board and disembark the vessel

via a stern walkway that connects to a

portside outer casing with escalators,

elevators, and stairs, the outer portside

stern ramp and fixed ramp connecting to

Deck 5 is single lane. The mirror view

outer starboard ramp is twin lane. A

central three-lane ramp gives access to the

main deck, Deck 3. It has a 1,370-lanemetre

capacity with four 3.1m wide lanes

on either side of the central casing. On the

casing’s starboard side, a fixed ramp with

flush two-section side-hinged cover,

connects to the six-lane, 286-lanemetre

lower deck which would be sacrificed

should Moby later decide to retrofit two

LNG storage tanks. Up to 1,217 lanemetres

of freight can be stowed on Deck 5, 120m

of which on the fixed ramps. Two

40-lanemetre capacity single-lane outboard

fixed ramps lead to the 980-lanemetre

top vehicle which has passenger

cabin accommodation forward. Thanks to

the direct ramp access to decks 5 and 7,

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 51

Clockwise: Sports Lounge with shop // 126-seat portside promenade with inboard A.O. Grill // Food court principle in the midship Sports Lounge //

Main self-service restaurant: Bistro Mascalzone Latino.

unloading is very smooth with cars

typically stowed on Deck 7 and the

hoistable Deck 8 with a total capacity of

217 cars. Up to 263 cars can be parked on

Deck 7 and the ship’s total nominal car

capacity is 1,270! As tourist vehicles are

parked on decks 7 and 8, it takes passengers

just two or four short flights of stairs

to reach the main public spaces deck, Deck

9. In addition, there are five passenger

elevators. In the large Deck 7 and 8

recesses, six Jiangsu Jiaoyan Marine

Equipment lifeboats are nested, supplemented

by four Viking MESs, a rescue

boat, and a fast rescue boat.

Engine control room

To meet Safe Return to Port (SRtP) rules, a

longitudinal centreline bulkhead separates

the portside from the starboard engine

room, each boasting a pair of 10,800kW

Wärtsilä 9L46F main engines and Wärtsilä

9L20 auxiliaries. Wärtsilä also supplied the

ship’s hybrid scrubber. While a 27-knot

service speed was specified for “Moby

Fantasy’s” 2001-built predecessors, this has

now wisely been reduced to 23.5 knots.

The ship’s windage area is huge and

especially in a confined port like Livorno,

manoeuvring can be challenging which is

why “Moby Fantasy” has three powerful

bow thrusters with an output of 2,200kW

each.

A TASTE OF ITALY

The layout of the public decks is logical

and very straightforward with bar and

restaurant facilities concentrated on Deck

9. The escalators from Deck 3 end in Deck

9’s spacious reception lobby, located on the

portside of the engine casing. Abaft the

lobby are two capacious reclining seat

rooms occupying the ship’s full width.

During the low season, only the 204-seat

port side reclining seat lounge is open.

Forward of the 200-seat starboard reclining

seat lounge is a 27-cabin section with

11 cabins for passengers with reduced

mobility. This is a very clever solution as

wheelchair guests don’t have to move

between decks. Forward of these cabins

and the reception lobby is the ship’s beating

heart, the Sports Lounge with large TV

screen that broadcasts sports events.

Notwithstanding its 726-seat capacity, this

full-width midship lounge doesn’t feel like

a huge monotone room thanks to mixed

seating arrangements and dividers.

Entering the Sports Lounge from the aft

stair casing, there is a small shop on the

portside and a children’s play area to

starboard. Probably the most innovative

feature is the central three-sided ‘themed’

servery that is inspired from food courts

on terra firma. This food court principle

has been repeated for the main Bistro

Mascalzone Latino, forward on Deck 9. It

has its own freshly home-made pasta

laboratory with front cooking station. Aft

of this 456-seat forward self-service

restaurant is the main stair casing with

large panorama windows on either side.

Abaft is the central galley, connecting to

the Bistro and Sports Lounge serveries. A

portside promenade with 126 seats

connects the Sports Lounge with the

forward stair casing. Inboard of it is the

ship’s pièce de resistance, the 120-seat à la

Entrance to the A.O. Grill à la carte restaurant

carte A.O. Grill, the initials referring to the

late Achille Onorato, Moby’s founding

father as well as the father of Vincenzo and

grandfather of Achille jr., Moby’s CEO and

vice chairman. This upscale dining venue

uniquely boasts a set of windows, giving

diners views of the galley. The restaurant is

a meat-eaters Valhalla, complete with a

cured meats display at its entrance. On the

starboard side of the galley is a 272-seat

quiet room that serves as an extension to

the Sports Lounge on busy days.

HOTEL AT SEA

One deck up, on Deck 10, there are a total

of 159 inside and 121 outside cabins,

including six forward-facing de-luxe suites

as well as the V.O. owner’s suite. In contrast

to many other ferries, the cabin corridors

are hotel-like wide. Aft on Deck 10 are

dedicated pet cabins with vinyl flooring

rather than thick carpet. The forwardmost

sections on Deck 7 and 8 contain 122 more

standard four-berth inside and outside

cabins as well as 12 de-luxe suites, bringing

the total number of cabins to 441.

Last but not least, Deck 11 is the bridge and

crew accommodation deck with the

well-protected sundeck forward of the funnel

boasting deck furniture and a café bar.

Philippe Holthof

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

52 / DATA SHEET

Moby Fantasy

Philippe Holthof

MOBY FANTASY DATA SHEET

Designer: OSK Design

Operator: Moby S.p.A.

Owner: Onorato Armatori, Italy; ICBC Leasing China

Yard: (Contract) CSSC Guangzhou Shipyard International Co. Ltd (GSI)

Yard No.: 18121002 | IMO No.: 9837509

Ship Manager: Moby S.p.A., Piazzale dei Marmi 57123 Livorno LI, Italy

Ship Owner: Fortune Ropax II Shipping Ltd, c/o Moby S.p.A.,

Piazzale dei Marmi 57123 Livorno LI, Italy.

Classification: RINA C ✠ MACH Ro-Ro passenger ship,

STAR-HULL, STAR-MACH, AUT-UMS, SYS-IBS,

MON-SHAFT, COMF-NOISE-B, COMF-VIB-B,

COMF-AIR, GREEN STAR 3, ICE CLASS 1B,

INWATERSURVEY, MLCDESIGN, GAS READY

(Design, Users (MErr, AErr, Brr))

Flag:

Italy | Port of Registry: Napoli (Naples)

Date of delivery: 14 th April 2023 | Service: Livorno-Olbia


Length overall: 237.00 m | Length b.p: 232.50 m

Beam: 33.00 m | Hull depth: 9.65 m

Hull draught: 7.20 m (design)

Deadweight: 11,956dwt

Gross tonnage: 70,016gt | Displacement: 35,402.9t

Air Draught: 43.20m | Net tonnage: 45,284 nt


Pax Capacity: 2,370 passengers | Accommodation: See Remarks

Pax Cabins: 19 De Luxe – 163 std. outside cabins

248 std. inside | 11 RM cabins

Cabins (441 total)

Pax Beds: 1,735 | Crew: 130 | Crew Beds: 140

Crew Cabins: 44 single cabins 48 twin bed cabins

PROPULSION

Main engines: 4x Wärtsilä 9L46F

Total Power Output: 43,200kW (4x 10,800kW)

Auxiliary Engines: 4 x Wärtsilä 9L20 | Total Power Output: 7,200kW

Gear boxes: Not Supplied

Propulsion Gear: 2x Controllable Pitch Propellers

Bow Thrusters: 3x 2,200kW | Service speed: 23.5 knots

Maximum Speed: 25.0 knots

Stabilisers: 2x Shanghai Marine Equipment Research Institute

Fuel (MGO): 322.2m 3 | Heavy Fuel Oil: 1,293.3m 3

Ballast Water: 2,140.8m 3

CARGO ACCESS

Stern ramp(s): 20 x 11 (l x w) Centre Ramp (approx.)

20 x 8 (l x w) 2x Outer Ramps (approx.)

Internal ramp(s): Between garage decks

Passenger Lift (s): Yes | Lane Width: 2.8m-3.1m

REMARKS

The Mediterranean’s largest ro-pax ferry.

Contract Date: 11th February 2018 (LoI) – 27 th June 2019.

Steel cutting: 1 st June 2020 | Keel Laid: 25th December 2020

Entered Service: 18 th June 2023 | Sistership Moby Legacy introduced in February 2024

Godmother: Sofia Goggia (Italian Olympic Ski Champion)

Naming Gala: 17th-18th June 2023

Number of complete decks: | Number of partial decks: 8

Passenger Facilities: 2x Reclining Seat Lounges Deck 9: 404 seats

Sports Bar – Deck 9: 726 seats | Promenade – Deck 9: 126 seats

Restaurant – Deck 9: 120 seats | Café – Deck 9: 272 seats

Self Service Restaurant – Deck 9: 456 seats | Reception – Deck 9: 58 seats

Sun Deck – Deck 11: 328 seats | Total Seating: 2,490 seats | Deck 9: Public spaces

Deck 10: Cabin Accommodation | 7 dining options available on board.

404-seat Pullman Lounge. The à la carte restaurant offers a Made in Italy menu, for

which the new brand „Gusti Giusti“ has been created.

The restaurants and recreational areas onboard, which occupy around 6,700m², are

comparable to those aboard some modern cruise ships.

The ship’s design allows the Deck 1 tank top space to be converted for LNG tanks if the

ships were converted to LNG as the primary fuel.

The hull design of the new ships, and overall improvements in efficiency allow fuel

consumption to be reduced by up to 30% compared to the earlier generation of

newbuilds. | Hybrid exhaust gas scrubbers

CAPACITY OF HOLDS DECK-AREA IN SQM DECKLOAD (TON/SQM) FREE HEIGHT CARS – PCU (lm) LANEMETERS FOR TRAILERS TRAILERS

Hold Deck 1: 71 (366) 286lm

Main Deck 3: 372 (1,757) 1,370lm

Upper Deck 5: 347 (1,481) 1,097lm

Deck 3-5 Ramps: (220) 120lm

Deck 5-7 Ramps: (168) 80lm

Deck 7: 263 (1,086) 900lm

Deck 8: 217 (1,058) n/a

Total: Not Supplied Not Supplied Not Supplied 1,270 PCU/Cars 3,853lm 300

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

DATA SHEET / 53

54 / INTERVIEW

ESK: a one-stop-shop in PR,

PA, and communication

An interview with Magnus Ehrenberg

ESK, short for EHRENBERG SØRENSEN Kommunikation, recently celebrated 30 years of

cross-border public relations (PR), public affairs (PA), and communication. By virtue of the

agency maintaining close ties with the ferry shipping community, RoPax spoke with the

company’s founder and president, Magnus Ehrenberg.

ESK started as a one-man show when

Magnus Ehrenberg set up shop in Lübeck,

Germany as EHRENBERG Marketing &

Kommunikation in 1993. “The Marketing

suffix was later dropped as PR and communication

were way more embedded in

our DNA,” Ehrenberg told us. Born and

raised in Limhamn, Sweden, Ehrenberg

grew up with the Limhamn-Dragør ferries

in his backyard. This route was axed eight

months ahead of the 1 July 2000 opening

of the parallel Öresund fixed link. “As a

small boy, I was really fascinated by the

coming and going of these ferries,” Ehrenberg

said. “Later on, the frequent trips with

my aunt on the larger Malmö-Travemünde

ferries really fuelled my interest in ferries,”

he went on. At the tender age of 17, he got

a student summer job on board of TT

Saga-Line’s “Nils Dacke”, something which

whetted his appetite for ferry shipping

“When I was young, I had

two dreams. One was to

work in ferry shipping, the

other was to move to

Germany.”

even more. However, following a training

in political science, Ehrenberg took the

plunge into politics – first in local politics

as the assistant to the mayor of Malmö,

followed by a spell in German politics.

“When I was young, I had two dreams,”

Ehrenberg smiled. “One was to work in

ferry shipping, the other was to move to

Germany.” Both dreams came true as he

married a German girl and settled in

Lübeck. Through the agency he created,

Ehrenberg combines the best of both

worlds: PR and PA. “PA is all about facilitating

interaction between our customers

and decision makers on local, regional,

Magnus Ehrenberg

national and even European level,” Ehrenberg

explained when we met in Brussels

where he also had an appointment with

MEPs. “We act as the door opener to

politicians, especially in Sweden, Germany,

Denmark and the EU,” he added.

FRANS SUELL: A FERRY LIKE NO

OTHER

Ehrenberg’s connections with local

politicians together with his sharp business

acumen made him the candidate of choice

to set up and lead the German office of

newly created Euroway in the early 1990s.

Elling Ellingsen-controlled Euroway was

an upscale cruise ferry operation that initially

connected Lübeck and Travemünde

with Malmö, competing with TT-Line. For

reasons beyond Ehrenberg’s control,

notably the late delivery of newbuild

tonnage as well as Sweden’s then financial

crises, Euroway turned out to be a complete

flop. “I set up the German organisation

from scratch,” Ehrenberg recalled.

“My negotiation skills came in handy as

one of the main challenges was to obtain a

permission to operate from Lübeck’s

EHRENBERG SØRENSEN Kommunikation

central Burgtorkai as the Euroway concept

was inspired by other successful city tocity

cruise ferry offerings.” Although

Euroway folded less than two years after

“Frans Suell’s” maiden voyage, 30 years on

the company’s pioneering ship – today

Viking Line’s Helsinki-Stockholm cruise

ferry “Gabriella” – is still one of Ehrenberg’s

favourite ferries. “It really has a

special place in my heart as I still consider

it as ‘my’ ship,” he confessed.

MORE THAN FERRIES ALONE

Although Ehrenberg lives and breathes

ferries, EHRENBERG SØRENSEN Kommunikation

as the company is known

today has evolved to a multi-disciplinary

PR and PA agency. “I believe in the value

of specialisation,” Ehrenberg said. “We

have been specialising in shipping, logistics

and tourism since day one but more

recently, in 2020, we acquired the Nordic

activities of the global agency Sopexa. So,

we have added food and wine to our

portfolio. Curiously, there are synergies

between the three main sectors we represent:

transport, tourism, food & wine.

In fact, there’s kind of cross-pollination

between the transport and tourism sectors

on the one hand and between tourism and

food & wine on the other.”

The name of Sørensen became part of the

agency’s brand name four years after Allan

Sonne Sørensen, who first joined the

company in 2010, became a partner in

2014. He has been the company’s CEO for

the past nine years with Ehrenberg

remaining president and chairman of

the board, focussing on key accounts and

PA.

With offices in Hamburg, Copenhagen,

Malmö and Stockholm, ESK is a leading

PR and PA agency in Germany, Denmark

and Sweden but on the back of a recently

announced partnership with France’s

Hopscotch Interface Tourism, ESK is now

also spreading its wings outside of

Northern Europe. “Hopscotch Interface

Tourism is a leading marketing and

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 55

communications agency in the tourism

sector in France, Spain, Italy and the

Netherlands,” Ehrenberg elucidated. “We

are now the exclusive partner agency

for Hopscotch Interface Tourism in

Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

“We are now the exclusive

partner agency for Hopscotch

Interface Tourism in

Denmark, Sweden, Norway

and Finland.”

This partnership should make us stronger

but should also be the stepping stone to

assist Southern European ferry operators

with PR and PA.”

But, as Ehrenberg pointed out, “PR and PA

are a long-term commitment and investment

which I often compare with a fire

insurance. You might not need it today, but

when the shit hits the fan, it’s good to be

insured. When you take out an insurance

only once the house is on fire, then you’re

too little, too late and are in deep trouble.”

Philippe Holthof

ESK MILESTONES

1993

Started as EHRENBERG Marketing & Kommunikation. Europa Linien, the

ferry operator whose operations were eventually amalgamated with those

of Scandlines, was the agency’s first customer. Thirty-one years on and

Scandlines is still an ESK customer.

1997

The first full-time employee joined the company.

2002

The agency had established a multinational team with German, Swedish

and Danish consultants.

2010, 2014, 2015

Allan Sonne Sørensen joined EHRENBERG Marketing & Kommunikation in

2010, becoming a partner in 2014, and CEO in 2015.

2018

To underline the role and commitment of Allan Sørensen, the brand name

became EHRENBERG SØRENSEN Kommunikation.

2020

The Nordic activities of the global agency Sopexa were acquired, adding

food & wine to the mix.

2024

A new powerhouse in tourism communications and marketing was created

through an exclusive partnership with Hopscotch Interface Tourism.

ÜBERSEEHAFEN ROSTOCK

Der Intermodalhafen

Opening new horizons

intermodal-rostock.de

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

56 / NEWBUILDING

NAOS Ship and Boat Design

Caronte & Tourist

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

Nerea

A new breed of Mediterranean

domestic ferry

NEWBUILDING / 57

The Mediterranean is dotted with hundreds

of small islands that rely on lifeline

ferry services. Quite often, these lifeline

routes are served by rather old ro-pax

ferries as operators have failed to invest

in a much-needed tonnage rejuvenation.

One of the exceptions is Caronte &

Tourist that recently introduced the

hybrid LNG-powered “Nerea”.

In late 2018, Caronte & Tourist already

introduced the Mediterranean’s first

LNG-powered ferry, the Messina Strait

double-ender “Elio”. Despite Caronte &

Tourist’s relentless efforts to use LNG as an

alternative fuel, continuing bureaucracy

has hindered them to do so. However, this

didn’t discourage the Sicilian ferry operator

to specify a more expensive dual fuel

setup when ordering the 8,255gt “Nerea” at

Sefine Shipyard in early 2021. Turkish

shipyards have carved a niche in the small

to medium-size ro-pax segment, Sefine

Shipyard being one of them. Besides

“Nerea”, the Yalova-based shipyard also

built “Elio” and its soon-to-be-delivered

near sister ship “Pietro Mondello” as well

as a long list of double-enders for Norwegian

and Estonian interests.

NEXT GENERATION OF ISOLE

MINORI FERRIES

As the 109.95m long and 19.50m wide

“Nerea” has been specifically built for

Sicily’s so-called Isole Minori or minor

islands, it doesn’t have to comply with

SOLAS. Even so, “Nerea” is almost fully

SOLAS compliant, being built in accordance

with EU Class A navigation rules.

So, flexibility is key as Caronte & Tourist,

linking Sicilian mainland ports with the

minor island chains under the Siremar

brand, was poised to have a one-size-fitsall

design that could operate on both

long-distance and shorter distance routes.

During this past winter, “Nerea” connected

Trapani with Pantelleria, a 93-nautical-mile

distance. Covering this long-distance

route as an EU Class A ship, the total

number of passengers is limited to 400.

The maximum number of passengers

doubles to 800 when operating as an EU

Class B navigation vessel when “Nerea” is

Photos: NAOS Ship and Boat Design

homeported in Milazzo, serving the

Aeolian Islands.

“Nerea” was designed from scratch by

NAOS Ship and Boat Design, the Italian

naval architects behind the successful

Visentini ro-pax and ro-ro series. As

befits a NAOS Ship and Boat Design

hullform, fuel efficiency is at the heart of the

design on the back of in-house CFD simulation

and tank testing. “Nerea” also comes

with the naval architecture consultancy’s

proprietary FlexBow with small bulb.

Fully enclosed bridge

MORE THAN ENOUGH POWER

ON TAP

By virtue of the lifeline element, reliability

is paramount. To optimise manoeuvrability,

“Nerea” boasts two Schottel azimuth

thrusters with an output of 2,500kW each,

supplemented by 1,600kW of combined

bow thrust power. Owing to this, “Nerea”

obtained RINA’s DYNAPOS dynamic

positioning class notation.

The ship’s diesel/gas-electric hybrid

propulsion system boasts two Wärtsilä

6L34DF gensets in the forward machinery

room and two smaller Wärtsilä 8L20DF

gensets in the aft one. This arrangement

gives the necessary energy flexibility with

the larger dual fuel gensets each having a

2,890kW output at 750rpm while the

smaller versions each have a 1,230kW

output. “Nerea’s” service speed at 80%

mcr is 16.5 knots. Located between the aft

machinery room and the thruster

propulsion room is the midships engine

control room, on the starboard side of

which is the 1.1MWh battery room. The

Corvus Energy batteries are charged while

at sea warranting zero emissions and noise

when alongside. A total of 250m² of solar

panels that cover a 180-seat semi open aft

deck on Deck 7 produce up to 50kW of

power.

The 150m³ centreline Wärtsilä LNGPac

storage tank is located below the main

deck, towards the forepeak. Although

Caronte & Tourist is pushing hard to

bunker LNG instead of MDO, LNG supply

for the maritime sector has become

problematic in Sicily. However, there was

light at the end of the tunnel when a first

successful truck-to-ship bunkering

operation of LNG was completed in the

port of Trapani in mid-April.

VEHICLE DECK

In typically Mediterranean fashion,

“Nerea” is a stern-only loader with a single

hydraulic ramp. Besides vehicles, also foot

passengers board the vessel via the stern

ramp which has a dedicated foot passenger

walkway leading to the starboard casing

with escalator. As the starboard casing

holds all engine uptakes, the ship’s funnel

is located on the starboard side. The mirror

view portside dummy funnel is used for

AC purposes. There is no portside casing,

save for a short one at the stern. Located

between both casings is a semi open and

partially covered four-lane vehicle deck.

This is the ship’s weather deck for vehicles

transporting certain categories of IMDG

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

58 / NEWBUILDING

2

3

4 5

1

goods. This 72-lanemetre semi open aft

part is separated from the five-freight lane

enclosed deck by a 2.5m-high hoistable

barrier. The 347-lanemetre enclosed

vehicle deck has a clear height of 4.85m

and has no hoistable car decks installed –

the total car capacity is 114.

PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION

Passenger facilities are concentrated on

Deck 5 with a total seating capacity of 453,

spread over the forward main lounge and

aft lobby lounge. The main lounge, which

comes with a small centreline self-serve

counter offering snacks and meals

prepared in a connecting galley, has a mix

of chairs and sofas arranged around tables.

The starboard escalator starts and ends in

the aft lobby lounge with small walk-in

shop, information desk and children’s

playroom. The main staircase, connecting

Deck 5 with Deck 6, separates the forward

from the aft lounge. Outboard of it are

MESs connected to six inflatable liferafts.

Two 150-person lifeboats and a single fast

rescue boat complete the LSAs.

When operating as an EU Class A ferry,

the crew typically lives on board with 20

outside crew cabins located on Deck 6, just

abaft the wheelhouse. In the same section,

yet inboard, are the crew’s mess with

pantry, day room, ship’s office, meeting

room, and laundry with linen store.

6

8

7

9

Semi open vehicle deck for the stowage of

hazardous goods

Aft of the main staircase is a block of 18

four-berth standard inside cabins, accessed

from a centreline corridor. Outboard of

the cabins, on both the starboard and

portside, are corridors connecting the

main staircase with a semi outer bar that

gives access to a small, 66-seat outside

deck. Along the portside corridor are two

two-person outside cabins for passengers

with reduced mobility, bringing the total

number of passenger cabins and berths to

20 and 76, respectively. More semi outdoor

seating capacity is available on Deck 7,

underneath the solar panels and abaft the

gas vent mast.

Philippe Holthof

1. The compact one-size-fits-all „Nerea“

2. Stern ramp with foot passenger walkway

3. Single vehicle deck

4. 150m³ Wärtsilä LNGPac storage tank

5. Propulsion room

6. Self-serve counter in forward lounge

7. Aft lobby lounge

8. + 9. Forward lounge

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 59

60 / INTERVIEW

The German double End ferries „Deutschland“ and „Schleswig-Holstein“

will be rebuilt to full electric ferries

Scandlines Invests in

More Electric Ferries

This year, the new electric freight ferry „Futura“ will go

into operation and in 2025 the two double-ended ferries

„Schleswig-Holstein“ and „Deutschland“ will be converted to

at least 80% electric operation.

The electric ferry „Futura“ is scheduled to enter service

before the end of 2024 and will be fully electrically operated.

With zero direct emissions from operations, the shipping

company confirms its sustainability goals.

Scandlines Scandlines

With 1,200 lanemetres available, i.e. a

capacity for 66 truck units, the ferry

complements the freight service on the

Puttgarden-Rødby route and thus has

twice as much space for trucks as each of

the four hybrid ferries on the same route.

The “Futura” will initially only be

powered by electricity in Rødby with this

infrastructure also being available in

Puttgarden from 2025.

In 2023 Scandlines transported in total 6.4

million passengers (6.1 million in 2022)

and 1.6 million cars (1.6 million in 2022)

and more than 704,000 freight units

(754,000 in 2022) on both routes.

There have also been changes in the

management of Scandlines. Michael

Guldmann Petersen was appointed as

acting CEO in February 2024 and has

served as Chief Operating Officer (COO)

since 2018. Until July Eric Gregoire will

take over the position as CEO. He will

continue in his old position as COO.

RoPax. How was 2023 for Scandlines?

Michael Guldmann Petersen: We were

affected by the decline of the Swedish

appetite to travel anywhere. It is obvious

that both the exchange rate and inflation in

Sweden have a direct impact on our

business. We had a very good summer

season in 2023, and in total the number of

passengers increased by 5%, but we

witnessed a 7% decline in our freight

business, which is also attributable to a

very large extent to the general slowdown

of the economy all over Europe.

RoPax: How is the perspective for 2024?

Do you have good pre-booking figures?

Michael Guldmann Petersen: On the

freight side, we expect a flat first half year

in comparison to what we saw at the end of

last year. Then we expect a small increase

over the second half of the year. Overall,

we do expect improved volumes on the

freight side whilst on the leisure side we

hope to see demand continue to grow

especially during the peak season. We

expect a small increase in volumes overall.

RoPax: Can you see on your lines how

many Swedish passengers use your

vessels? I saw a statistic that last year 23%

Swedish fewer passengers travelled by

plane from Sweden and instead, they

used the train or their car.

Michael Guldmann Petersen: It is a good

question! We would never know how

many people are using the alternative

routes, but I can say that in the past years

60% of the visitors we had in our Border

Shop came from Sweden. This volume has

decreased significantly in the last year. We

think one factor is the currency exchange

rate but what we also see is that the Swedish

clients spend the same amount in Swedish

Kronas as they did in the past.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 61

Michael Goldmann Petersen

RoPax: On the other hand, you see more

Germans travelling to Denmark and

Sweden. Have you noticed an increase in

the number of German travellers?

Michael Guldmann Petersen: Yes, the

German market is good for Scandlines. We

hope that it is one of the areas where we

will see a bigger increase than we have seen

in the previous years. We saw last year as

well an increase from the German side.

Even during the ski holidays this year, we

saw a surprisingly positive number of

northbound travellers from Germany. Not

to the same magnitude as we already see

southbound but it’s better than what we

had expected. There is plenty of snow in

the north. This is a good trend and I think

the German market is becoming increasingly

important, and we are adding more

focus on the German passenger market.

JPE

RoPax: This year you will get the new

electric ferry “Futura” from Türkiye.

How is the building process and the

schedule?

Michael Guldmann Petersen: We launched

the vessel on the 25th of November with a

big celebration. The launch and entering of

the vessel into the water was very impressive.

I love ships but to see her on the water

was fantastic and she’s very beautiful.

The yard is doing all the final works now

and we expect delivery in the second half

of 2024. Deployment will depend on the

weather conditions on her route to the

north. It will take between two and three

weeks to get her from Türkiye to the

Fehmarn Belt. We will then need a little bit

of time to commission her. It is a new ship

“The German market

is good for Scandlines.

We hope that it is one of

the areas where we will

see a bigger increase than

we have seen in the

previous years.”

The rotro sail save up to 6% fuel consumption

with a new propulsion system for us and

we must be sure that the charging tower

and all systems are working.



Michael Guldmann Petersen.

JPE

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

62 / NEWBUILDING

Bernd Bässmann

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

NEWBUILDING / 63

Great Tema

Number 3 of 6

On the 20th December 2023 Grimaldi

took delivery at the Hyundai Mipo

Dockyard Co. Ltd shipyard in Ulsan

(South Korea) of the third Ro-Ro multipurpose

unit belonging to the innovative

Grimaldi Group “G5” Class. Her name is

“Great Tema” and she will further

improve the quality of the maritime

transport services offered by the

Neapolitan company between Northern

Europe and West Africa. She joins her 2

sister ships, the “Great Antwerp” and

“Great Lagos”, which were delivered to

the Group in April and August 2023

respectively. She will serve the ports of

Amsterdam, Hamburg, Tilbury, Casablanca,

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cotonou,

Lagos, Tema and Abidjan along with

offering transhipment via Antwerp from

Tilbury to the full range of Grimaldi

Deep-sea ports.

With a length of 250 metres, a beam of 38

metres and a deadweight of 45,684 tonnes,

the design of the Great Tema results from

a careful study of the needs of the Group

and its customers: thanks to an innovative

and completely customised internal

configuration, the G5-class ships are

capable of transporting 4,700 linear metres

of rolling freight, 2,500 CEU (Car

Equivalent Units) and 2,000 TEU (Twenty

Foot Equivalent Units). Compared to the

previous G4-class, the new vessels have the

same capacity for rolling freight while

their container capacity is double.

In addition to loading capacity, the Great

Tema stands out on account of her

numerous cutting-edge, technological

solutions aimed at increasing energy

efficiency and reducing environmental

impact. Both the main engine and the

auxiliary diesel generators will meet the

NOx levels imposed by the Tier III

regulation, while the integrated propulsion

system between rudder and propeller will

minimise vortex losses and, consequently,

optimise propulsive efficiency and reduce

fuel consumption. She has 1,000 units

more capacity compared to the older G4

Class generation of Grimaldi.

The vessel is designed for cold ironing with

shore side supply of electricity (where

available) as a green alternative to the consumption

of fossil fuels during port stays.

Furthermore, the electrical consumption

of on-board machinery (pumps, fans, etc.)

Bernd Bässmann

Great Tema main cargo deck

is reduced thanks to the installation of

variable frequency drive devices, while the

application of innovative, low friction

paints reduces hull resistance, thus

increasing efficiency.

Finally, the ship is equipped with hybrid

exhaust gas cleaning systems for the abatement

of sulphur and particulate emissions.

As proof of her high energy and environmental

efficiency, the Great Tema enables

a reduction of CO2 emissions per tonne

transport of up to 43% compared to other

Grimaldi Con-Ro multipurpose ships.

The total investment for all 6 ConRo

vessels amounts to USD 500 million. All

G5 Class vessels have their own handling

equipment in the form of Liebherr cranes.

As with the older Grimaldi ships, there are

fixed vehicle decks in the aft superstructure.

In total the vessel can transport 5,446

cars and the Ro-Ro decks have a variety of

clear heights from 4.0m to 7.8m. The

ConRo vessels operate with a service speed

of 18 knots and will have a daily fuel

consumption of 72 tonnes, a reduction of

8% compared to the 4G Class vessels.

“The entry into the fleet and the operation

of ships like the Great Tema brings us ever

closer to the major, primary go a lot

sustainable transport”, stated Gian Luca

Grimaldi, President of Grimaldi Group

S.p.A. “Indeed, for years we have clearly

and concretely pointed our investments in

this direction: to meet our customers

‘needs while further reducing the environmental

impact of maritime transport”. The

fourth member of the G5 fleet, the “Great

Abidjan”, was both delivered and christened

at the same shipyard in Ulsan on

23rd April.

JPE

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

64 / DATA SHEET

Great Tema

Grimaldi

GREAT TEMA DATA SHEET

Owner: Grimaldi Deep Sea SpA (Via Marchese

Campodisola 13, 80133 Naples NA, Italy).

Operator: Grimaldi Group SpA (Via Marchese

Campodisola 13, 80133 Naples NA, Italy

Yard: (Contract) Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., Ltd., Ulsan, Korea

Yard No.: H.8362 | IMO No.: 9935038

Flag:

Italy | Port of Registry: Napoli

Classification: Multipurpose Ro-Ro Cargo ship

Date of Contract: 23 rd February 2021

Date of delivery: 20 th December 2023

Service: Europe-South America/West Indies

PROPULSION

Main engines: 1 x Hyundai-MAN B&W 7G60ME-C10.5-EGRBP

Total Power Output: 19,880kW @ 103 rpm MCR

Fuel:

Marine Diesel Oil/HFO

Auxiliary engines: 3 x Hyundai – HiMSEN 7H25/33 (HR)-SCR

3 x 2070kW @ 900 rpm

Emergency Generator: 1 x 300kW @ 1800 rpm

Propeller: 1 x CPP, 4 blades, 7.5m diameter

Bow Thrusters: 2 x 1,350kW, CPP, 4 blades

Stern Thrusters: 1x 1,350Kw, CPP, 4 blades

Exhaust Scrubber: 1 x Wartsila V-Sox Hybrid scrubber on ME

Service speed: 18 knots

Fuel Consumption: 72t/day (on a par with the G4 ships)

CARGO ACCESS

Stern ramp(s): 40m x 16m (l x w)

Bow ramp(s): n/a (l x w) | Side ramp (s): n/a

Internal ramp(s): Fixed & Hoistable

Lane Width (Average): 3.1m


Length overall: 249.03 m

Length Between Perpendiculars: 237.00 m

Beam: 38.70 m (moulded)

Hull Draught: 10.70 m (Design)

Hull Depth: 16.00 m (To Deck 3)

Deadweight: 47,528 t (Draught 11.20 m)

Gross tonnage: 89,797 gt

Net tonnage: 26,939 nt


Total capacity: 12 Drivers

Facilities: Officer & Crew/Driver Messrooms/Dayrooms/

Accommodation: Gymnasium

Driver Cabins: 12 | Driver Beds: 12

Crew: 34 | Crew Cabins: 36

REMARKS

G5 ConRo Class | Keel Laid: 17 th April 2023 | Launched: 28 th August 2023

Forward Hold Capacity: 348 TEU/968 lanemetres

Sisterships: Great Antwerp, Great Lagos, Great Abidjan

Plus H. 8364/H.8365 (Names TBC)

Class: C✠ RO-RO Cargo ship – Equipped for carriage of containers, Unrestricted

navigation, ✠ AUT-UMS, BWM-T, COAT-WBT, INWATERSURVEY, MON-SHAFT,

GREEN Plus, EGCS-NOx, EGCSSOx, STAR-HULL, HVSC, CONF NOISE PORT.

RINA – Registro Italiano Navale

Air Lubrication System: Hi-ALS (HYUNDAI)

Ramp: 1x Stern Quarter Ramp (3 main sections)

40.0m long (including flaps) x 16.0m wide x 8.1m clear height access

Maximum Load on Ramp: 150t SWL for roll trailer 350t for heavy cargo

Maximum Axle Load: 72t/4 wheel | Deck Cranes: 2x Liebherr LS-C 100

Special thanks must go to Chiara Palmiero (Research & External Relations Dept.,

Grimaldi Group, Naples, Italy) and Philippe Holthof for their invaluable help with

information, images and diagrams.

CAPACITY OF HOLDS DECK-AREA IN SQM DECKLOAD (TON/SQM) FREE HEIGHT (M) CARS CEU LANE METRES FOR TRAILERS TEU/FEU COMBINED

Deck 1: 8 5.6 251 1.046lm 154/58

Deck 2: 3 6.4 418 1,062lm 277/36

Deck 3: 6/3 4.8-7.8 633 1,725lm 18/28

Deck 4: 1.3 2.3-4.0 618 1,637lm

Hoistable Deck 5: 0.2/1.7 1.7 747

Deck 6: 2.3/1.0 3.6 485 1,856lm 328/4

Deck 7: 0.3 2.6 421

Deck 8: 0.25 2.1 454

Deck 9: 0.25 2.1 444

Deck 10: 0.2 1.8 444

Deck 11: 0.17 1.8 250

Deck 12: 0.17 1.8 283

Total: Not Supplied 5,446 CEU 7,326lm 2,157 (TEU)

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

DATA SHEET / 65

66 / INTERVIEW

Ferry emission intensity was further

reduced by 5.4% in 2023 driven by incremental

vessel upgrades and the

schedule optimization program Every

Minute Counts focused on reducing

turnaround time in port terminals and

updated schedules enabling lower speed,

and reduced fuel consumption.

In 2023 DFDS acquired the FRS Iberia

from the FRS group in Germany. FRS

Iberia operated with fast catamarans the

routes from Tarifa to Tanger Ville and

from Algeciras to Ceuta and with RoPax

ferries from Algeciras to Tanger Med.

DFDS made a fast change and put a third

RoPax vessel on the line between Algeciras

and Tanger Med and the first two catamarans

got the famous dark blue hull paint

with the four DFDS letters.

DFDS

RoPax spoke with Mathieu Girardin about

the next steps and the development of the

DFDS group.

RoPax: How was the year 2023 for DFDS?

Mathieu Girardin: We delivered a solid

result in 2023 despite difficult markets. For

the ferry division we have seen a challenging

context on the freight side, but the

passenger business has continued to

recover after the Covid pandemic. Because

of the tragic war in Ukraine it is a challenging

situation in the Baltic area with

overcapacity and low demand. All in all for

2023 we are quite happy with the results

and good resilience for DFDS business in

the ferry division.

DFDS new markets

and fast development

DFDS reported for its Ferry division for the year 2023 lines a

result on the level 2022 despite challenging market conditions

as freight volumes were overall decreased in 2023 by the

economic slowdown in Europe. Another highlight of 2023 was

a record result for the passenger activities achieved on the

back of a continued recovery in travel markets. The market

conditions in the Baltic Sea continued to be negatively impacted

by the war in Ukraine and the overcapacity situation

on the Dover Strait likewise continued.

Peter Therkildsen

RoPax: If we look at the other part

logistics you are heavily investing in

warehouses and new electric trucks. I

think you have now the first E trucks in

place and your trailer fleet is growing. Is

DFDS strategy to go forward to be a big

player in the logistics supply chain?

Mathieu Girardin: 2023 was the end of our

Win 23 strategy, which led to several

acquisitions in the logistics field. Last year

we went through a strategic review process

and I’m happy have launched our new

strategy called « moving together towards

2030 ». The objective of the new strategy is

to unlock the value from our expanded

network which enables usto offer end to

end transport solutions to our customers.

We offer a wider range of transport and

logistics solutions like sea, road and rail

transport, warehousing, and customs Our

strongholds is the ferry links between port

A and port B, and by combining this with

the enhanced logistics offerings we believe

there is value to be unlocked.. That means

having more synergies and working

together across DFDS to help fulfill our

customers needs. This means that our

approach for acquisitions will be more

opportunistic in the future than what it has

been in the past.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

INTERVIEW / 67

RoPax: You will go forward and look also

more in logistics to integrate it in your

network and business solutions?

Mathieu Girardin: The main focus is to unlock

the value of our network. What’s

interesting to notice it that today we are

more relevant to large industry companies

because of our scale and new capabilities.

We have grown the number of enterprise

accounts from 7 to 23 meaning industry

accounts with a yearly turnover of or above

10 mEUR. That is a clear signal that we are

basically able to compete for more

business. We want to continue to build on

this and make sure that we leverage our capabilities

within ferry transport and

log istics and continue to build partnerships

with our customers.

One of the new electric trucks for DFDS

DFDS

Mathieu Girardin with Philip Eckmann

“Today we are more

relevant to large industry

companies because of our

scale and new capabilities.”

RoPax: Very good because you are the

best positioned company for the Turkish

market and you know what’s going on.

The German economy is getting weaker

and a lot production is moving out due

to energy price increase and also the productivity.

We see a lot of activities in Turkey

and this must be transported into

European Union. You are now in the

right place because we see more manufacturers

of cars which will go to Turkey

Dennis Kjærsgaard Sørensen

I think you are also in contact with them

this will be also question to strategy are

you also looking that you will get also a

piece of this cake of this car transportation

from Turkey to Europe because

there’s now full capacity and all the ports

getting full.

Mathieu Girardin: Regarding transport of

finished vehicles, this is an important

footprint for DFDS but this is mainly on the

routes from Cuxhaven and from Gothenburg.

DFDS will continue to develop this

market segment in the future. In Turkey we

are moving cargo essentially in trailers.

Some of those trailers are linked to automotive

business, so we believe that we benefit

from this traffic. Back to your point on Turkey

we fully subscribe to the near shoring

development. This is one of the pillars of

our strategy. We believe that Turkey is

extremely well positioned to benefit from

the regionalization of trade flows and will

continue to do so in the future. The Turkish

government has taken measures last year to

limit inflation and we see the GDP forecast

for 2024 Turkey is 2.93 %, significantly

higher than Western Europe. We are

convinced that this is the right way to go.

RoPax: If we look around the corner in

Turkey one of the biggest trade countries

Russia is blocked by the Ukraine war and

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von Spezialfahrzeugen für Logistik,

Hafen und Industrie.

Wir arbeiten Hand in Hand für

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www.terbergspezialfahrzeuge.de

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

68 / DATA SHEET

„Falnders Seaways“ and port of Ghent

the development of the new silk road and

new places for production and trade are

the countries connected to the Black Sea

like Georgia, Azerbaijan Kazakhstan

and more. Do you have this market in

focus with connections via Bulgaria,

Turkey, and Romania?

Mathieu Girardin: As I mentioned we

have a large business unit in Istanbul and

we are monitoring trade flow changes, so

Black sea on our radar screen. How this

could translate into new ferry routes or

new logistic routes is still to be defined.

RoPax: If we look at your home market

you are leading operator between

Sweden, Denmark and Lithuania and

you have also now a little bit competition

there but how was in general the

development of this market also with the

issue of Ukraine war?

Mathieu Girardin: We had a challenging

year in 2023 in the Baltics because of the

impact of the theRussian aggression to

Ukraine.We saw significant slowdown of

demand and no signs of recovery yet. You

must add to that two things. One is what

we describe as the economic winter in

Sweden where the construction market is

“We consider ourselves

as a market leader in the

Baltic area, where we have

a very competitive product

with modern and cost

efficient vessels.”

down. And the other is that the market has

been impacted by overcapacity. We

consider ourselves as a market leader in

the Baltic area, where we have a very

competitive product with modern and cost

efficient vessels. Of course we continue to

adapt our capacity. That’s how we manage

to remain competitive, but it’s a tough

market.

RoPax: What is with your plans to

enter the Polish market with a new

connection? I think from the political

point the frame conditions will change

and it could be easier to come in.

DFDS DFDS

Mathieu Girardin: We believe Poland will

play an important role as a corridor

between Central / Eastern Europe and

Scandinavia in the future. Poland is also a

strategic market for DFDS. As we already

have a strong logistics presence in Poland

but at the moment we do not have ferry

routes. We believe that the time will come,

and we are always looking for opportunities.

We are convinced that Poland is one

of the countries which will benefit the

most from near shoring trend where companies

are bringing supply chains closer to

end markets like Scandinavia, Germany,

France, or the UK. We have just launched

a new intermodal train service between

Lodz in Poland and our terminal in

Vlaardingen in the Netherlands. This is

interesting because we have established

DFDS offers this concept from Incat with an

electric catamarn for the tender for Channel

Island traffic

this connection without launching a new

ferry route. This means that we can immediately

take the advantage of the growth of

our network and bring more volumes to

our ferry in Vlaardingen. More generally,

the geopolitical landscape is changing

rapidly: with the attacks in the Red Sea and

trade tensions between China and the US,

companies are looking to build more

resilient supply chains and relocate

production closer to end markets, We

believe that this is a long-term trend and

that Poland, with other countries in or

close to Europe, will also benefit from.

RoPax: The question is if you go from

Trieste or from this corridor not via the

full booked tracks in Germany or Austria

as you go the way via Poland to the

North. I think this is also project where

you work on develop but at the end you

need the ferry. We will see what will

happen in the next years, but you are also

operating the Estonian to Finland route

in cooperation how do you see this

corridor in the future?

Mathieu Girardin: At this point, we only

havea space agreement on this corridor. It

is important but relatively small part of our

operations. We have not seen increases in

volumes in this areaand we currently have

no plans to expand the offering.



Matthieu Girardin.

DFDS

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

DATA SHEET / 69

70 / REPORT

Ports Report

Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft gut positioniert

Sich auf die Zukunft einzustellen heißt

vor allem, größere Schiffsgrößen aufnehmen

zu können. Die Lübecker

Hafen-Gesellschaft (LHG) ist mit ihren

Neubau- bzw. Umbauprogrammen auf

einem guten Weg. Der Anleger 5 wurde

nach enger Abstimmung mit den

Reederkunden pünktlich fertiggestellt

und hat sich bestens bewährt. Durch

Optimieren der Baukonstruktion konnten

die Kosten halbiert werden.

„Es ist selbstverständlich, dass wir uns mit

unseren Reedereien sehr intensiv über

Schiffsneubauten und daraus folgende

notwendige bauliche Anpassungen

austauschen. Derzeit schauen wir uns die

komplette Anlegerstruktur an. Den

Anleger 5 a bereiten wir bereits für einen

weiteren möglichen Umbau vor“, stellt

LHG-Geschäftsführer Sebastian Jürgens

klar. Anstoß dazu gaben die Pläne der

Reederei Finnlines, in den nächsten Jahren

neue RoPax-Schiffe auf der Linie nach

Helsinki einzusetzen. Die Baumaßnahmen

werden eingeleitet, sobald die Neubauten

offiziell bestellt sind. Stellt die LHG

zukünftig auch mögliche neue Kraftstoffe

bereit? Da sieht der LHG-Chef zunächst

die Reeder in der Pflicht, sich klar auf

bestimmte Antriebssysteme und Betriebsmittel

festzulegen, bevor der Hafen

entsprechend investiert.

Im Gespräch mit RoPax äußert sich

Jürgens grundsätzlich optimistisch, trotz

eines schwierigen konjunkturellen

Umfelds: „Vor allem auf den Schwedenlinien

sind die Ladungseinheiten stabil

geblieben und auch auf einem guten

Niveau in das neue Jahr gestartet.

Inwieweit die Streiks in Finnland zu

Umroutungen über Schweden geführt

haben, können wir nicht beurteilen. Sehr

Prof Sebastian Jürgens

Lübecker Hafenrundschau

TT Lines „Nils Holgersson“ in Travemünde

erfreulich entwickelt sich zurzeit der

Verkehr mit dem Baltikum.“ Am 11. Juli

wird die LHG als Mitorganisatorin beim

zweiten Deutsch-Lettischen Hafentag in

Riga vertreten sein. Man sei sehr angetan

von dem Engagement der Unternehmen

im Baltikum und sähe weiteres Potenzial

aus der Region, so Jürgens.

Die LHG ist für die Zukunft gut aufgestellt.

Vor allem bei der Einführung des

„Emission Trading Systems“ (ETS) für

Schiffe und parallel der Erhöhung der

Netzentgelte für den intermodalen

Verkehr sieht Jürgens allerdings die

Gefahr, dass Verkehre sich von der Schiene

und auch dem Schiff wieder auf die Straße

verlagern: „Der Schienenweg muss noch

günstiger werden, er hat im Vergleich zur

Straße langfristig das größere Potenzial. Es

ist Aufgabe der Politik, entsprechende

Impulse zu setzen.“

In diesem Zusammenhang engagiert sich

die LHG auch auf Verbandsebene. Unter

anderem gehört das Unternehmen dem

Zentralverband der Deutschen Seehäfen

(ZDS) an, für den Jürgens als Vizepräsident

tätig ist. Darüber hinaus hat sich die

LHG dem Verband „Feport“ (Federation

of European Private Port Companies and

Terminals) angeschlossen, um die Präsenz

der Ostseehäfen zu stärken und mehr

Einfluss auf politische Entscheidungen der

EU im Transportbereich zu haben. Ein wesentliches

Ziel ist es, Ladungsabflüsse auf

den Verkehrssektor Straße zu begrenzen.

„From Road to Sea darf sich nicht ins

Gegenteil umkehren“, warnt Jürgens. Er

gehe davon aus, dass die Nachfrage nach

Schienentransporten automatisch steige,

sobald die Konjunktur wieder anziehe,

und fügt hinzu: „Der Fahrermangel wird

ein weiteres Wachstum der Straßenmengen

nur begrenzt zulassen.“

INTERMODAL MEHR KAPAZITÄTEN

Die größeren Schiffe bringen mehr

Ladung, die eine leistungsstarke Hinterlandanbindung

verlangt. Ein wichtiger

Schritt ist die Gleisverlängerung am

Intermodalterminal von Baltic Rail Gate,

einem Gemeinschaftsunternehmen der

LHG und Kombiverkehr. Das Bauprogramm

für die imposante Anlage mit

den zwei Portalkränen auf dem Terminal

Skandinavienkai läuft nach Plan und soll

noch in diesem Jahr fertiggestellt werden.

Die Kapazität wird von heute 140.000 auf

240.000 Einheiten hochgefahren. Ein

positiver Effekt ist, dass der Rangieraufwand

sinkt und somit die Produktivität

steigt. Dazu beitragen wird auch ein neuer

dritter Kran, der halb automatisiert

betrieben werden soll: Der Kranführer

bedient den Ausleger nicht mehr von der

Kanzel, sondern vom Büro aus. Der Markt

nimmt die Signale positiv auf: Der

Spediteur LKW Walter hat zwei neue Zugverkehre

ab Lübeck aufgenommen. Mit

CFL Multimodal geht es nach Bettemburg-Dudelange

und mit der Eisenbahngesellschaft

Potsdam mbH (EGP) nach

Herne bzw. Wanne-Eickel.

JPE

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

REPORT / 71

AUTOMATISIERUNG UND

GRÜNE ENERGIE IM FOKUS

Automatisierung hält schrittweise auf den

Flächen der LHG Einzug. So läuft die

Einfahrtkontrolle zu den Papierterminals

in Schlutup und am Skandinavienkai nun

automatisch. In Kooperation mit den

Lübecker Stadtwerken arbeitet das

Unternehmen zudem daran, „grüner“ zu

werden. Mit der Inbetriebnahme einer

Photovoltaikanlage am Skandinavienkai

trägt die Partnerschaft erste Früchte. Die

Anlage auf den Dächern des Forstprodukteterminals

(FPTSK) umfasst 1.754

Solar-Module mit einer Leistung von

annähernd 720 Kilowatt-Peak (in naher

Zukunft sogar bis zu 4.300). Rechnerisch

kann sie damit den Strombedarf von rund

260 Vier-Personen-Haushalten decken.

Doch auch der Hafenumschlag soll

emissionsärmer werden. So steht die

weitere Elektrifizierung des Fuhrparks an.

Gemeinsam mit Geräteherstellern hatte

die LHG schon im vergangenen Jahr beim

alljährlich ausgetragenen „Deutsch-

Finnischen Hafentag“ vorgestellt, was auf

dem Gebiet der schweren Hafengeräte

bereits möglich ist. Bei der Neuauflage am

27. November wird das Thema erneut eine

gewichtige Rolle spielen. Man darf

gespannt sein!

•

Rostock Port stabil im

Umschlagsgeschäft

Das Jahr 2023 war für den Überseehafen

Rostock erfolgreich. Es wurden erstmals

in seiner über 60-jährigen Geschichte

30,9 Millionen Tonnen Fracht in einem

Jahr umgeschlagen. Das entspricht einem

Plus von 6,5 Prozent bzw. 1,9 Millionen

Tonnen im Vergleich zum letzten

Umschlagrekord aus dem Jahr 2022.

Dr. Gernot Tesch und Jens A. Scharner (v.l.n.r.)

„Wir sind angesichts des wirtschaftlichen

Umfeldes mit dem Gesamtergebnis 2023

zufrieden, bestätigt es doch die Leistungsfähigkeit

aller im größten Universalhafen

an der deutschen Ostseeküste tätigen Unternehmen

und Behörden. Trotz konjunkturbedingter

Rückgänge bei Fähr-/RoRound

erntebedingter Rückgänge bei Getreide

konnte der Überseehafen vor allem

durch den enormen Zuwachs beim Flüssiggutumschlag

erneut ein Rekordergebnis

einfahren“, resümiert ROSTOCK

PORT-Geschäftsführer Dr. Gernot Tesch.

„Besonders erfreulich ist der starke Zuwachs

im wertschöpfungsintensiven

Stückgutumschlag, bei der Trajektion von

Eisenbahnwaggons sowie die positive Entwicklung

im neuen Umschlagsegment

Automobile.“

„2023 konnten mit insgesamt knapp drei

Millionen Passagieren auf den Fähren und

Kreuzfahrtschiffen im Überseehafen und

Warnemünde rund 200.000 Reisende

mehr begrüßt werden als im Vorjahr“, sagt

Jens A. Scharner, Geschäftsführer der

ROSTOCK PORT GmbH. „Mit 2,54

Millionen Passagieren auf den drei Fährverbindungen

von Scandlines, Stena Line

und TT-Line nach Dänemark und Schweden

gab es ein Plus von 40.000 bzw. 1,5

Prozent im Vergleich zum Vorjahr.

JPE

FAST. EFFICIENT. RELIABLE.

SINCE 1926

Diversity and reliability go hand in hand.

Connecting and moving the world.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

72 / REPORT

Rostock Port

Im Jahr 2023 wurden 20 Millionen Euro in

die Infrastruktur des Überseehafens investiert.

In diesem Jahr plant ROSTOCK

PORT Investitionen von über 50 Millionen

Euro in die Infrastruktur und Beteiligungen

zur Stärkung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit

des Hafens.

2024 GUT GESTARTET

Nach Aussage von Geschäftsführer Dr.

Gernot Tesch ist das Jahr 2024 im Fährverkehr

stabil gestartet mit einem leichten

Aufwärtstrend verglichen mit dem Jahr

2023. Einen starken Einfluss hat jedoch

der Streik in Finnland gehabt, da es vier

Wochen nur einen sehr eingeschränkten

Umschlag gab. Finnlines hat dennoch die

JPE

Linie über Tallinn laufen lassen, um die

Trailer von da begleitet abzufertigen. Aber

die Verkehre nach Dänemark und Schweden

haben sich in den ersten Monaten

erfreulich entwickelt. Der Ölumschlag

bleibt auf dem hohen Niveau wie im Jahr

2023.

Laut Dr. Tesch sind ist das Management

sehr positiv überrascht über das schnelle

Wachstum im neu gebauten Autoterminal

von Autolink. Das Terminal ist aktuell sehr

gut ausgelastet. Der Hafen Rostock war in

der Vergangenheit nicht auf der Agenda

der Autohersteller. Der Standort ist sehr

attraktiv durch seine hervorragende Hinterlandanbindung

und bietet auch durch

die kürzere Seestrecke Kostensenkungspotentiale

für Ostseeverkehre. Dr. Tesch betont:

„Das Autoterminal bedient nicht nur

die Car Carrier, sondern auch die bestehenden

Linien im Verkehr nach Schweden

und Finnland. Das ist ein Baustein, um

sich als Hafen resilienter aufzustellen. Der

Umschlag wächst rasant und viele Hersteller

wollen gerne über Rostock verschiffen.“

Der Hafen Rostock ist nach wie vor offen

für neue Verbindungen.

Laut Dr. Tesch sind heute noch keine

Verlagerungen aufgrund von gestiegenen

Kosten von Ladungsmengen nach Polen

offensichtlich. Rostock möchte in Zukunft

vor allem mit seiner überragenden

Eisenbahnanbindung punkten. Im

Gegenteil Rostock ist in Hinblick auf die

ETS-Steuer gut positioniert durch die

kürzeren Seestrecken nach Schweden und

Finnland, da kürzere Seestrecken eine

Geschwindigkeitsreduktion zulassen. Im

intermodalen Bereich ist Rostock sehr gut

aufgestellt. Derzeit läuft zum Beispiel ein

Projekt, die bestehende Verbindung

Bettembourg-Rostock-Le Balou/Barcelona

(CFL Multimodal / Stena Line) über

Trelleborg-Eskilstuna-Umeå Richtung

Nordschweden und weiter mit Wasa Line

nach Finnland (Vaasa) zu erweitern.

Damit wird für kranbare und nicht

kranbare Ladeeinheiten ein umweltfreundliches

Transportangebot zwischen

Spanien und Nordschweden/Finnland geschaffen,

mit dem bis zu 4,5 Tonnen

Kohlendioxid pro Ladeeinheit im

Vergleich zu Transporten mit Lkw eingespart

werden können.

•

Cuxhaven to be further expanded

It took some time until the confirmation

came that the port of Cuxhaven would be

further expanded. The owner, the State

of Lower Saxony, represented by its

organization NPorts.

About 15,000 large components for wind

turbines on land and at sea are delivered to

Cuxhaven every year. The wind energy

industry calls for more space for growing

business.

The first pile driving project, which stands

for the start of construction, is expected to

be carried out in January or February

2025. The port of Cuxhaven is to be

expanded so that more parts for windturbines

can be stored and handled in new

areas. NPorts is the port operator of the

state of Lower Saxony.

The port in Cuxhaven is to be enlarged by

three berths with a total area of about 38

hectares. Areas are also to be created by

piling up sand. The expansion of the port

Car Carrier Wolfsburg

is expected to cost around 300 million

euros. The federal government and the

state of Lower Saxony have announced

that they will each contribute 100 million.

The private sector is said to have pledged

100 million euros.

The permit for the expansion of the port

has been in place since February 2020, and

Cuxport

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

REPORT / 73

NPorts expects construction to take

around three years. The work could

therefore be completed in 2028. By

December, a commitment from the EU

Commission should be available, which

will allow NPorts to work with the money

from the federal and state governments.

RHENUS OPERATES

EXISTING CUXPORT

Cuxport, a joint venture of the Rhenus

Group and HHLA Container Terminals,

operates two multimodal deep-water

terminals in Cuxhaven at the Elbe estuary.

Cuxport handles DFDS‘s RoRo lines to

England, MannLines, UECC, Samskip

container vessels, K Line and Wagenborg

and the car carriers of Glovis at its

terminal. For the growing business with

Cuxport Car disposition into seacontainers

JPE

new vehicles from Asia Rhenus increased

its existing space by around a third and is

opened another terminal at the rear of the

port. There, the infrastructure for

additional import space is being built on

around eleven hectares and, with 4,500 car

parking spaces, space for interim storage

in automobile handling. Thanks to its

heavy-duty suitability, the area is also

interesting for industries such as the

onshore and offshore wind industry. The

area is connected to the terminal areas

near the pier via a short journey.

The vehicles arrive and leave Cuxhaven by

RoRo ship, for example, in closed or

flat-rack containers. As a multi-purpose

terminal, Rhenus Cuxport takes care of all

the intermediate steps involved, from

unloading and loading the ships to

stripping containers and intermediate

buffering for further distribution. The new

compound supports this as a supplementary

area and scores with its location

in the port hinterland with direct

connections to the A 27 motorway to

Bremen and the B 73 federal road to

Hamburg. The Mosolf Group has rented

the site from Cuxport and will prepare the

arriving vehicles for further inland

transport.

Cuxport will bid for the new part of the

port to offer end-to-end handling. •

ENGLISH SUMMARY

It means preparing for the future

above all, to accommodate larger ship

sizes to be able to. The people of

Lübeck Harbor-Society (LHG) is with

theirs New construction or renovation

programs a good way. Investor 5 was

after close coordination with the

Shipping company customers completed

on time and has proven itself

very well. Through Optimize the

building construction could the costs

are halved.

The year 2023 was for the overseas

port Rostock successful. There were for

the first time in its more than 60-

year history 30.9 million tons of

cargo in one year turned over. That

corresponds to one Plus of 6.5 percent

or 1.9 million Tons compared to the

last one Transshipment record from

2022. “In 2023, a total of just under

three Millions of passengers on the

ferries and Cruise ships in the overseas

port and Warnemünde around

200,000 travelers welcomed more

than last year.”

Quick turnarounds are essential for our business. BOOKIT

has enabled us to streamline our processes with check-in

online, self-service kiosks, ANPR and speed-gates.

Iain Robertson

System and IT Manager, Destination Gotland

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

74 / REPORT

RoPax: This was the fleet reshuffle that

saw the train ferry “Jan Sniadecki” withdrawn,

the “Galileusz” introduced, and

the “Epsilon” entered service to Trelleborg.

Björn Boström: Yes, but the “Jan Sniadecki”

had not transported rail traffic since

2018.

Ystad Port Sets New Records

for Bornholm Services

The Port of Ystad is well prepared for the future with its new

port to accommodate vessels up to 250 metres in length.

The first new vessel of such dimensions will be the RoPax

“Varsovia” of Polferries. The newbuild from the Visentini Shipyard

in Italy, will enter service in summer 2024. The port

still has a rail connection to Poland and herewith it is the

second port in Sweden with a rail ferry to the continent.

The CEO of the Port of Ystad, Björn Boström,

confirmed another record in

transported passengers and vehicles to

Bornholm in 2023. RoPax spoke with

him about the perspectives and the position

of this important ferry port in the

south of Sweden.

RoPax: How was the year 2023 for Ystad

port?

Björn Boström: It was quite fine. It was a

far better year than we had expected. We

recorded some new traffic records on the

route to Bornholm, in fact every year we

have seen an increase in these figures. We

hit new records for passengers, cars, and

buses, with the new fast ferry “Express 5”.

Björn Boström

JPE

For the Polish services, the war in Ukraine

and the recession has affected the traffic

figures considerably, especially for building

materials because nobody is building

in Sweden for the moment. So, we have a

decline in figures for this trade. The Polish

ports with ferry services have not recorded

an increase in 2023 and this includes

our connection with Swinoujscie where

ferry traffic has decreased. We cannot

speak for the traffic volumes on the

Karlskrona to Gdynia service but a lot of

cargo might be changing from one company

to another.

RoPax: Unity line has increased capacity by

introducing the newer Ro-Pax “Epsilon”.

Björn Boström: I think this is a wise move

because we will hit the rock bottom of the

market in the middle of 2024 and then

traffic will increase again. We didn’t lose

much in the passenger segment in Poland.

We saw an increase in the performance of

the Poland service in January and February

due to the deployment of the “Galileusz”

with the old ferry “Jan Sniadecki” being

sold for service in Greece. The “Galileusz”

has brought a positive effect for us because

she has almost double the capacity.

JPE

RoPax: Do you still transport rail traffic

from Ystad to Swinoujscie?

Björn Boström: Yes, we can do this with

the “Polonia” and we have a train connection

which was temporarily stopped by the

port of Swinoujscie because they carried

out work to rebuild the rail tracks into an

intermodal area. During that period, we

could not transport any trains but now this

service is open again following trials after

the work was completed.

RoPax: How is Ystad positioned in the

strategy of the Swedish state to offer

alternative rail connections should an

accident or other issues occur on the

Oresund Bridge rail link.

Björn Boström: The Trafikverket made a

report with the information that the only

rail connection besides the Oresund

Bridge is Trelleborg – Rostock. They did

not mention that we have still a rail

connection. That is not correct, and we are

working to communicate to the government

that we are also an alternative option

to Trelleborg and the Oresund bridge. The

Polish Rail company PKP is working to get

more rail traffic from Germany onto Polish

tracks and to increase the rail connection.

This might affect the port of Rostock I

think. Another point is the military

transport solution via Ystad by Rail to

Poland. Poland is part of NATO and now

Sweden is also part of NATO so we need to

boost this rail connection. We must keep

all route options open. The Ro-Pax

“Polonia” has a capacity of 740 lanemetres

for rail vehicles and she operates every

day.

RoPax: How is port of Ystad prepared for

the huge Visentini newbuild vessel from

Polferries, will she use the new part of

your port?

Björn Boström: As we know today, the

Varsovia will be delivered in June 2024, but

I think they need time to adjust her for the

service. She will go to the new berth due to

her length. We hope that she will bring

more cargo traffic back to Ystad. She will

use primarily berth no 8. We do not know

which vessel will be replaced but we are

incredibly pleased with the development,

especially if freight volumes increase once

again.



Björn Boström.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

REPORT / 75

76 / REPORT

Der Hafen zeichnet sich dadurch aus, dass

er seine Landstromstrategie schnell umgesetzt

hat und mit seiner errichteten Infrastruktur

schon heute Kapazitäten zur

Versorgung von bis zu sechs Schiffen hat.

Die Ziele der „Fit for 55-Strategie“ der EU

wird der Kieler Hafen damit schon 2026

erreichen. RoPax war in Kiel und sprach

mit dem Geschäftsführer Dr. Dirk Claus:

Seehafen Kiel, Ostufer Hafen

RoPax: Ergebnis 2023 ist positiv! Wie ist

der Ausblick für 2024? Sie hatten im Jahr

2023 etwas weniger LKW und RoRo

Ladung aber im Vergleich moderat zu

anderen Häfen. Sie konnten mehr

Massengutumschlag verzeichnen, wird

da mehr kommen im Jahr 2024?

Dirk Claus: Der Massengutumschlag ist

Split und Baustoffe, da haben wir das erste

Mal die Marke von 1 Mio. umgeschlagenen

Tonnen erreicht. Wir könnten da

gerne mehr machen, sind aber eingeschränkt

mit unserem Platz. Den haben

wir zu weiten Teilen schon ausgenutzt –

etwas Potential haben wir da aber sicher

noch. Im Papierbereich war das Jahr 2023

stabil. Wir hatten leichte Zuwächse: Mit

dem Schwerpunkt auf Verpackungsmaterial

und einer umgebauten Papiermühle,

steigern Iggesund und SCA

sukzessive die Mengen. Wir sind damit

sehr zufrieden. Im Fährbereich haben wir

auch auf dem Klaipėda Dienst wieder

positive Zahlen. Auf die, im Jahr 2022

verlorenen 20 % Ladung, folgen nun

wieder Mengenzuwächse, die vor allem im

Zusammenhang mit den neu eingesetzten

Fähren auf der Route stehen. Und auch

wenn wir seit diesem Jahr statt der sieben

Seehafen Kiel weiterhin

erfolgreich

Die SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG schließt mit einem

Frachtvolumen von über 7,89 Mio. Tonnen und 2,82 Mio.

Passagieren für das Jahr 2023 ab. Mit einem breit aufgestellten

Passagiergeschäft im Fähr- (1,64 Mio. Fährpassagiere)

und Kreuzfahrtbereich (1,19 Mio. Kreuzfahrtpassagiere),

hohen Frachtniveaus auf den Skandinavien-Verkehren und

sich erholenden Mengen Richtung Baltikum verzeichnet

der Kieler Hafen sowohl im Fracht- (+3,1 Prozent) als auch

im Passagierbereich (+22 Prozent) ein gutes Wachstum

gegenüber dem Vorjahr – und erreicht in beiden Bereichen

Rekordergebnisse.

Landstromanlage am Ostseekai mit Illumination

Stena Line am Ostseekai in Kiel.

nur noch sechs Anläufe pro Woche haben,

ist die Mengentendenz durch die größere

„Aura Seaways“ deutlich positiv. Mit

einem höheren Passagierpotential steigt

nicht nur die umgeschlagene Menge,

sondern bietet auch Raum für Wachstum

im Passagierbereich.

RoPax. Die Perspektive ist positiv das da

mehr Passagiere gen Klaipėda reisen

werden?

Dirk Claus: Ja, im vergangenen Jahr haben

wir insgesamt 130.000 Passagiere abgefertigt.

In den ersten zwei Monaten dieses

Jahres sehen wir schon einen positiven

Trend im Vergleich zum Vorjahreszeitraum.

Seehafen Kiel

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

REPORT / 77

RoPax: Hafenerweiterung am Ostuferhafen

– wie ist der Stand und die Planung?

Dirk Claus: Die Gebäude des Kraftwerks

auf der von uns erworbenen Fläche sind

weg, aber die Fundamente müssen noch

be seitigt werden. Wir arbeiten parallel am

Planfeststellungsverfahren, dann wollen

wir die Fläche mit 6,5 Hektar integrieren.

Ich denke das wir im Jahr 2026 einen

ersten Bauabschnitt integrieren können.

RoPax: Was wird da zukünftig stattfinden,

da es ja keinen weiteren Liegeplatz

geben wird?

Dirk Claus: Wir wollen da Lager und

Logistikflächen schaffen. Durch das

GKK-Gelände ergeben sich Endzerrungen

auf den bestehenden Flächen, die zu einer

Optimierung der Prozesse im Fracht- und

Passagiergeschäft führen.

RoPax: Fährverkehr – wie kommt der

Rückgang zu Stande vor allem im intermodalen

Bereich?

Dirk Claus: Wir hatten in der Vergangenheit

bei Stena Line über 35% Anteil bei den

Intermodaleinheiten. Da haben wir in

Spitzenzeiten 26.000 Einheiten umgeschlagen.

Da ist leider einiges weggefallen

und auf die Straße zurück gegangen. Das

liegt zum einen an der Preispolitik und

auch der fehlenden Zuverlässigkeit der

Deutschen Bahn. Stena Line konzentriert

sich jetzt auf Verona und wird auf dieser

Strecke in Zusammenarbeit mit Kombiverkehr

einen Direktzug anbieten.

RoPax: Kiel hat eine super Stellung im

Kreuzfahrtbereich, trotz Covid und

Ukraine Krieg konnten Sie Ihre Position

halten und weiter ausbauen.

Dirk Claus: Wir sind breit aufgestellt im

Passagierbereich und wir merken, dass die

Nachfrage für Kreuzfahrten in die Ostsee

langsam wieder zunimmt. Wir sehen, dass

Kreuzfahrtreisen nach Rückgängen in den

Jahren 2022/2023 für die Jahre 2025/2026

wieder vermehrt in den Ostseeraum gehen.

Auch wenn St- Petersburg weiterhin

nicht angesteuert werden kann, steigen die

Anlaufzahlen für die östlichen Ostseehäfen

wie Helsinki und Stockholm. Das wirkt

sich auch positiv auf den Kieler Hafen aus.

RoPax: Wenn wir bei der Kreuzfahrt

sind, wie ist der Trend zu kleinen und

Dr. Dirk Claus

“2026 ist die erste

Integration der neuen

Flächen am Ostuferhafen

geplant.”

JPE

mittelgroßen bis zu den ganz großen

Schiffen bei Ihnen im Hafen zu sehen?

Dirk Claus: Wir machen den „Turnaround“

für große und kleine Produkte

wie z.B. Hapag Lloyd, die wir in den ersten

Wochen des Jahres 2024 bereits zweimal

mit ihren hochwertigen Schiffen abgefertigt

haben. Wir haben im Kieler Hafen drei

große Liegeplätze, an denen wir alle

Schiffsklassen bis zu 6.500 Passagiere

abfertigen können. Ein wesentlicher Vorteil

im Vergleich zu anderen Häfen ist für

das Turnaround Geschäft unsere gute Innenstadtlage

und die unmittelbare Nähe

zum Bahnhof. Im Stopp-Over Bereich sind

wir auch gut positioniert. Wir liegen an

der Ostsee und Kiel bietet eine ideale Ausgangslage

für Destinationen nach Lübeck,

Hamburg, das Wattenmeer und die Schleswig-Holsteinische

Schweiz. Berlin ist international

natürlich sehr angesagt und

das kann man von Rostock deutlich besser

machen. Insgesamt sind wir in Kiel aber

gut aufgestellt für die Kreuzfahrtindustrie.

➔ Lesen Sie auf unserer Website

www.ropax.de das komplette Interview

mit Dr. Dirk Claus.

ENGLISH SUMMARY

SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG

closes with Freight volume of over 7.89

million tons and 2.82 million passengers

for 2023. The port recorded in

Ferry passenger business 1.64 million

ferry passengers and cruise sector 1.19

million cruise passengers, high freight

levels on the Scandinavian transports

and volumes towards the Baltics are recovering

both in freight (+3.1 percent)

and in Passenger sector (+22 percent)

showed good growth.

Seehafen Kiel

Stena Germanica

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

78 / REPORT

Sweden and I will have a next meeting in

September 2024 with the general director

we are going to start building a new intermodal

terminal here.

Port of Trelleborg – one year

ahead!

Port of Trelleborg, which is Scandinavia’s largest RoRo port,

has about 34 arrivals and departures every day. The four

shipping companies that currently operate the port are

TT-Line, Stena Line, Unity Line and FRS Baltic. Together

they have 15 RoPax ferries and one fast catamaran serving

Trelleborg to Travemünde, Rostock, Sassnitz, Swinoujscie

and Klaipeda.

Trelleborgs Hamn

RoPax: You will get more space and rail

tracks in the future? Our last meeting, we

spoke about the fence which you should

move to get more rail tracks.

Jörgen Nilsson: I’m really convinced it’s

not a big problem but it’s difficult for traffic

administration or in Swedish “Trafikverket”.

I have so many political people that

really would like to go in public and support

me with this because everybody talks

about move volumes from road to rail. We

are the largest RoRo port in Scandinavia

for trailer traffic. We have all the possibilities

to connect where Europe meets Scandinavia

with our network from Klaipeda to

Travemünde. We can bring all the volumes

in here and we can put it on the train. It

might be that it will not be up and running

2026 but as it looks for now I would say I

will be surprised if we will not be up and

running in 2027 and then we will create a

solution for 150,000 trailers. Three times

more than today.

RoPax: Today you have a capacity about

max 50,000 units.

Jörgen Nilsson: If we look at it today, you

know everybody would like to come in at

his wished time and they would like to go

out at their wished time. We have time

schedules, which will cause difficulties to

The port invests in the last years heavily

in its facilities and increased its capacities.

Today there are 500,000 square

meters space for cargo trucks and intermodal

and the port has now 5,400 meters

of quay. RoPax spoke with Port of Trelleborg’s

CEO Jörgen Nilsson about the

next steps and the high performance of

his port.

RoPax: How was the year 2023, did you

have a decrease or stable volumes?

Jörgen Nilsson: It depends how you look at

it, but we have a decrease about 5,2%.

When we look at the routes, we lost some

loads at the Klaipeda route. But it was not

so much, it was a better performance than

we expected because of TT-Line’s move to

Karlshamn with one vessel. But we lost a

little bit when we look at the lines to

Swinoujscie. TT-Line performed better

and Unity Line performed a little bit worse,

in total I would say it was roughly the same

level as the year 2022.

RoPax: How performed the German connections

to Rostock and Travemünde?

Jörgen Nilsson: The German connection

was quite ok. When it comes to Rostock it

was also a little bit less than last year and

Travemünde was also more or less on the

level as it was 2022.

RoPax: If I remember in 2022 on Travemünde

there was a decrease in the volumes.

Jörgen Nilsson: Yes, that’s correct because

Poland was increasing, I would say for a

long time. But I think we lost a little bit;

TT-Line was performing better but Unity

Line lost a little bit more.

RoPax: How was the performance in intermodal

traffic are you on the same level

as 2022?

Jörgen Nilsson: No, it increased with

12.4%. Even if the cargo volumes went

down by roughly 5% we had an increase in

intermodal traffic with 12.4%. We handled

40,000 trailers intermodal 2023.

“Intermodal

traffic increase”

RoPax: You are on your track because

you told me two years ago you have the

plan to handle 50,000 units per year until

2025.

Jörgen Nilsson: Yes, we are on schedule. I

had a meeting with the regional manager

for the rail traffic administration here in

The new canteen in Trelleborgs Hamn

new port building

operate over 50,000 units with the existing

facilities. We can manage up to 50,000

units. I think we can go up with 5,000 units

this year and 5,000 more next year. Then

we will have the new terminal and we will

offer more capacity for these peaks. I’m really

convinced that we will get the new terminal

ready in 2027 at latest. There is no

one to tell me this is not possible. Of

course, we have some dialogues regarding

how the new terminal should look according

to our standard. I would say that we’re

using the tracks that they have today. We

are going to do a total refurbish of everything

because we need to have another

construction. We are not thinking of having

these gantry cranes. We will use reach

stackers as it looks for now. One reason is

because of the private apartments that are

JPE

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

REPORT / 79

ND

Jörgen Nilsson CEO Trelleborgs (right)

on the other side of the street. We will have

problems immediately with the citizens for

disturbing their sea view. It will take a little

bit more space for us when we use reach

stackers but our operation will be much

faster, and we will have the space. We are

expecting to have four lengths of racks

based on Swedish standard, we will have

10 more tracks about 400 meters each

where we can put trains on for waiting.

Due to this plan of our increased capacity,

we will still be able to handle the railway

ferries.

Trelleborgs Hamn

RoPax: What is with your plans to get the

new gate here in the east part of the port

do you have more information about the

road plans?

Jörgen Nilsson: We are waiting for the ring

road around Trelleborg but that is not in

our hands. It will take longer time than we

have expected but when it comes to our

new intermodal terminal, we have much

more possibilities. It is really necessary

that we have the possibility to create fulllength

trains of app 720-750 meters from

Trelleborg. Then we don’t need to go inside

to Malmö. There is no space in Malmö and

it’s not possible to doing anything inside

Malmö. We compile the train there together

because it’s much more efficient. We can

go direct from here to Stockholm or Oslo

for example and much more other destinations.

On 750 metres we can work with 7

reach stackers that means we can work

from one side with 3 and from the other also

with 3 and we have one extra for failure

or other problems. I can buy 7 reach stackers

for the same price as for one gantry

crane and it will be faster and more flexible.

RoPax: Do you have enough drivers? Is

this also an issue here like in Germany in

some ports they have not enough drivers

for tugmaster, forklifts and stackers?

Jörgen Nilsson: No, we have an attractive

work model. We can compare ours with

the model in Rostock. I think we are paying

a lot more than in Rostock compared

to the working time per year. Today our

stevedores work seven days on one-week

shift and then they are free for seven days.

Additionally, they have six weeks also of

“I like to push things to be

fast and try it to be simple

and possible.”

holiday. That means they’re working 20

weeks in the year. Most of them have

sometimes an extra job in the free time. It

is very attractive, and we have no problems

to get drivers.

RoPax: If we look at your port development

you have reached the next stage of

the launch of your wonderful terminal

building in autumn 2023, and it looks

very good. What comes next?

Jörgen Nilsson: We are proud to be one

year ahead of our plan and we are going

forward.



Jörgen Nilsson.

NORWAY

FINLAND

SWEDEN

Nynäshamn

ESTONIA

Gothenburg

Frederikshavn

Halmstad

Grenaa

Karlskrona

DENMARK

Ventspils

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LATVIA

RUSSIA

Belfast

IRELAND

Cairnryan

Heysham

Killingholme

Dublin Liverpool Immingham NETHERLANDS

Holyhead

GREAT BRITAIN

Rosslare

Hoek van

Fishguard Harwich Holland

Rotterdam

Trelleborg

Kiel

Rostock

Travemünde

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Gdynia

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RUSSIA

LITHUANIA

BELARUS

BELGIUM

Cherbourg

LUXEMBOURG

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UKRAINE

PORTUGAL

MOLDOVA

AUSTRIA

FRANCE

HUNGARY

SWITZERLAND

SLOVENIA

ROMANIA

CROATIA

BOSNIA AND

A sustainable future

HERZEGOVINA

based on caring

SERBIA

ITALY

MONTENEGRO

KOSOVO

BULGARIA

MACEDONIA

SPAIN

ALBANIA

GREECE

For us at Stena Line, sustainability means the ability to sustain in the long run. Our

TURKEY

commitment to a sustainable future is based on a broad understanding, one that

is based on care: care for the planet, the humans, and the business.

ALGERIA

TUNISIA

MOROCCO

Read more about our work and services at stenalinefreight.com

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

80 / REPORT

operate without these political strikes. The

unions are expecting that the government

will start some negotiations with them, but

there might be another strike this spring.

Increased Passenger Volumes

for Helsinki Port

Helsinki is one of the busiest passenger ports in Europe with

daily ferry connections to Tallin, Stockholm and Travemünde.

It is also Finland’s leading general port for foreign cargo

traffic, serving both the business world and well-being of

the Helsinki region and the nation. In the last month the

port was hit by a political strike and only accompanied cargo

could be moved.

Helsinki Port

RoPax. Is there no quick resolution to

the strikes?

Ville Haapasaari: The reason for the strikes

is the new legislation that includes new

labour laws. The government is pushing

for change and one element is to limit the

right to political strikes. Hopefully the

government will get that law in to force in

May 2024, then this kind of prolonged

political strike action will no longer be

possible. It is a difficult situation. Last year

we also had a long strike at the ports, but

the latest situation is political, like a

demonstration. We expect the economic

growth to resume in the autumn of 2024.

RoPax. How does the strike affect your

revenue and your figures?

Ville Haapasaari: I think this strike will

cost the port 1 million Euro in revenue, but

we have had some positive developments

after shifting unaccompanied trailers to

transportation by truck. But we have been

30-35% below our 2023 figures during the

strike weeks. Also, industries have stopped

production due to the strikes because the

warehouses are full and the goods could

not be supplied to clients. These companies

then lay of all personnel whilst there

is no work.

In 2023 the port recorded higher passenger

volumes, but not at the levels seen before

Covid. Helsinki now has two green

shipping corridors in place, one to Tallin

and another as part of the X-Press Feeder

service, which will operate using green

methanol as fuel. RoPax spoke with CEO

of Port of Helsinki, Ville Haapasaari,

about the situation.

RoPax: Your valued client Finnlines

plans to order new Ro-Pax vessels with a

higher capacity for the future. Do you see

Helsinki becoming even more attractive

as a destination if the port hosts more

vessels with greater capacities in the future

as a follow-on from Finnline’s concept

of newbuilds?

Ville Haapasaari: Yes, I think so. The port

is more reliant on people travelling to Finland

to stay for a period of time rather than

cruise traffic. It is interesting to consider

the potential benefits from the new ferries.

It would be good if we could see such a

type of ship as the Superstar Class vessels

„Finnsirius“and “Finncanopus” here in

Helsinki serve a route to Germany.

RoPax: How was the year 2023 for the

port of Helsinki?

Ville Haapasaari: It was better than 2022.

We as a company made a negative result in

2021 and 2022 due to the lack of passenger

business. In 2023 we achieved our first

positive result since the pandemic. Passenger

traffic picked up quite well and the port

handled over 9 million passengers. Before

the pandemic the port saw 12 million passengers

in a year. That was a positive result

in 2023 but the economic situation in Finland

and Europe saw a negative trend in

cargo traffic. Since Covid began, the port

has maintained a very good development

in cargo handling. In 2023 there was an 8%

increase in cargo volumes and for 2024 the

expectations were that the volumes would

pick up. However, now the situation is

“Since Covid began, the

port has maintained a very

good development in cargo

handling.”

really difficult, and the port has been

burdened with the political strikes here in

Finland. The port had to close for a total

close of 5 weeks due to the strikes.

RoPax. Is the strike on-going?

Ville Haapasaari: In February it started for

one week and in March we had four weeks

of strikes. In April the port started to

Voussari Port with Star class RoPax of Finnlines

RoPax: Do you have passengers visiting

again from Asia, including Japan, South

Korea and China, like before Covid

times?

Ville Haapasaari: This market sector is still

very limited. If I look at the other Scandinavian

countries, they are back to pre-

Covid passenger levels but here we have a

totally different situation because we have

a lack of Asian tourists. We had approx.

over 1.5 million passengers visiting

Finland from Asia per annum but now we

are getting more tourists from the south

due to the increase in local temperatures

in summertime. In the winter we also

get an increase in passengers for Lapland.

We have enough snow there plus the air

connections have increased in the past

year.

Helsinki Port

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

REPORT / 81

RoPax: How is the trade between Estonia

and Helsinki?

Ville Haapasaari: The cargo volume has

dropped by -6% but the volumes in passenger

business have improved. However,

compared to 2019, the figures are less at

-10%, but there is an increase again since

2023. Some shipping companies that

operate a Ro-Pax service from the port of

Vousaari to Muuga in Estonia have

approached the port of Helsinki with a

view to operating from Tallinn. The market

has yet to recover and there is plenty of

capacity on the existing ferries.

RoPax: How is the Western Port project

progressing regarding volumes and

restructuring?

Ville Haapasaari: There is a bit of a delay

with the planning and overall progress

because of political issues. We want to

build a tunnel from the harbour to the

Ville Haapasaari

JPE

to Travemünde and Stockholm. From July

2024 we open another green corridor with

X-Press Feeders when they commence a

feeder service with methanol-powered

vessels between Helsinki and Antwerp.

They will be bunkering the methanol in

Rotterdam because today we cannot

provide it due to not having the required

infrastructure. Finland has two other

green corridors, Turku- Stockholm and

Vaasa-Umea.

RoPax: How do you see the effect of ETS

on your shipping lines from Helsinki?

Could it shift cargo flows to shorter

routes and other ports?

ai171473441717_RoPax 2024 PORT OFKIEL 178x126.pdf 1 03.05.2024 13:06:58

Ville Haapasaari: I think overall we are

worried about cost increases, but I think

shipping companies will put the additional

cost into their prices. I think somebody

must pay but the question is will having it

really affect the cargo volumes and the

production output in Finland. We were really

worried 15 years ago about the rules to

operate with zero sulphur, and we thought

we would lose a lot of our exports and

would have to double the prices. But, in the

end, we lost nothing. Hopefully, ETS will

have the same kind of consequence, and we

will not see costs increase and prices rise.

RoPax: Thanks for the talk.•

Helsinki Port

“The cargo volume has

dropped by -6% but the

volumes in passenger

business have improved.”

western highway in Helsinki. There is quite

a lot of opposition to the project so now

C

there is a lot of discussion concerning

alternative routes for the tunnel. I think it M

will take more time and we will start

Y

maybe in 2027 with completion in 2031. It

is not easy to develop such a project in CMa

city area, but we are progressing.

CY

RoPax: The ports of Lübeck, Trelleborg

and TT Line have signed a Memorandum

of Understanding for a green

CMY

ship-

K

ping corridor to strengthen their services

against future competition from the

Fehmarn Belt tunnel. Might you also

create something like that with Lübeck

and Finnlines?

Ville Haapasaari: We have a green corridor

between Helsinki and Tallin as

announced in autumn 2023. This is a kind

of umbrella arrangement with all parties

working together, plus we are calculating

both the benefits and a reduction in

emissions. The next step for us in the

maritime sector would be with the routes

MY

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

82 / REPORT

Das Trailer Geschäft war relativ stabil. Das

Papiergeschäft war durchwachsen im

zweiten Halbjahr wurde es etwas schwächer

und zum Winter weniger aber im Januar

und Februar hat es wieder angezogen.

Unternehmensgruppe Lehmann

in Lübeck – Herausforderungen

im Schienen-Hinterlandverkehr

Die Unternehmensgruppe Lehmannn in Lübeck betreibt vier

eigene Hafenterminals mit einer Kai Länge von mehr als 2500

Meter. Das Unternehmen ist breit aufgestellt und bietet den

Umschlag und die Abfertigung von RORO, LOLO, Stückgut,

Massengut, Schwergut, hochwertige Güter wie Papier und

Zellulose sowie Fahrzeuge aller Art an.

Die Reedereiabteilung betreibt derzeit

10 Minibulker auf den Europäischen

Meeren für den Transport von Bulkladungen

ein neues Schiff wird dieses Jahr

die Flotte vergrößern. RoPax sprach mit

den beiden Geschäftsführern Sven Lohse

und Henrik Lehmann über die derzeitigen

Herausforderungen.

RoPax: Wie war das Jahr 2023 für die

Unternehmensgruppe Lehmann im Bereich

der Reederei ?

Auf der Reedereiseite war das Ergebnis

sehr stabil und noch gut aber nicht so gut

wie die Jahre 2021 und 2022. Der Markt

wird jetzt gerade etwas weicher. Die Eissituation

hat etwas geholfen in Finnland.

Sven Lohse

Lehmann

Die Zeitcharterraten für Kümos sind derzeit

stabil. Das ist nach wie vor der Situation

geschuldet, dass es zu wenig Schiffe auf

dem Markt gibt. Es wird zurzeit viel auf

Korntrakten gefahren, wir fahren auch zu

60% auf Kontrakten. Wenn das Eis weg ist,

dann wird man sehen wie das Baltikum

sich aufstellt und wie die Ernte ausfallen

wird.

“Im Jahr 2023 war der

Intermodale Verkehr sehr

herausfordernd.”

RoPax: Ist die Lehman Gruppe vom

Streik in Finnland betroffen?

Im Reederei Bereich laufen wir überwiegend

nur private Häfen an wo gearbeitet

wird. Bei einem weiteren Kunden, wo im

Hafen die letzten Wochen gestreikt wurde,

haben wir den Fahrplan entsprechend

kurzfristig geändert.

RoPax: Wie ist das Jahr 2023 im RoRo

Umschlag im Hafen gelaufen?

Lehmann

RoPax: Wie ist der Containerumschlag

gelaufen?

Im Jahr 2023 war der Intermodale Verkehr

sehr herausfordernd, bedingt auch durch

die vielen Streiks auf der Schienenseite.

Somit wurden viele Verkehre wieder auf

die Straße verlagert. Dann läuft das nicht

über unser Terminal, sondern direkt zum

Kunden. Heute haben dreimal die Woche

Züge nach Schweden sowie nach Lehrte

und Verona in Italien. Aktuell machen uns

die Verspätungen der Züge innerhalb

Deutschlands sorgen, weil dadurch sich

auch alle weiteren Abfahrten im Zweifel

verspäten. Eine weitere Herausforderung

sind die erhöhten Preise bei Bahn Akteure,

dadurch entstehen leider wieder

Verlagerungspotentiale auf die Straße.

Zusammenfassend war das Geschäftsjahr

2023 schon herausfordernd, gerade im

Papier und KV-Bereich ist das Volumen

etwas runter gegangen. Im Massengutbereich

haben wir dafür aber ein Plus

verzeichnen können. Die zwei Jahre davor

waren die Zahlen sehr gut, von daher ist

das Bild insgesamt stabil durch unsere

Diversifikation. In den ersten Monaten

des Jahres 2024 sind die gesunkenen

Energiekosten ein positiver Faktor. Auf der

anderen Seite haben wir weiterhin

gestiegene Personalkosten durch die

erhöhten Mindestlöhne. Da haben wir

jetzt das Thema mit den Kunden das wir

die Erhöhungen zumindest teilweise

weiterreichen müssen und dass bei der

angespannten Marktlage in der Industrielandschaft.

Dazu kommen auch noch die

höheren Kosten unserer Lieferanten auch

getrieben durch die hohen Personalkosten.

➔ Lesen Sie auf unserer Website

www.ropax.de das komplette Interview

mit Henrik Lehmann und Sven Lohse

ENGLISH SUMMARY

The Lehmannn group in Lübeck

operates four own port terminals with

a quay length of more than 2500

Meter. The company has a broad base

and offers handling of RORO, LOLO,

general cargo, Bulk cargo, heavy

cargo, high value goods such as paper

and Cellulose and vehicles of all kinds.

The shipping department is currently

operating 10 minibulkers on the

European Seas for the transport of

bulk cargo a new ship will be this year

expand the fleet.

RoPax 13 / 05.2024

GRIMALDI GROUP

The FIRST GREEN

Ro-Ro OPERATOR

in the MEDITERRANEAN

Pursuing sustainable

maritime transport

www.grimaldi.napoli.it

RoPax13

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