Cruise and Ferry Review - Summer/Spring 2020

1 3 9 Operator Vessel Yard Pax Cost Del. estimate Brittany Ferries Honfleur Flensburger 1,660 US$225m 2020 Brittany Ferries Galicia CMI Jingling Weihai 1,000 – 2020 Viking Line Viking Glory Xiamen Shipbuilding 2,800 US229m 2020 Irish Ferries Ro-pax Flensburger 1,800 US$235m 2020 Algerie Ferries Ro-pax Guangzhou Shipyard International 1,800 US$175m 2021 Stena Line Stena Embla CMI Jingling Weihai 1,000 – 2021 DFDS Cote d’Opale CMI Jingling Weihai 1,000 – 2021 DFDS 2 ro-pax Guangzhou Shipyard International 600 – 2021 Viking Line Viking Glory Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry 2,800 – 2021 Spirit of Tasmania 2 LNG cruise ferries Rauma Marine Constructions 2,000 – 2021 Stena Line 2 E-flexer CMI Jingling Weihai 1,200 – 2022 Brittany Ferries Salamanca CMI Jingling Weihai 1,000 – 2022 TT-Line Ro-pax CMI Jingling Weihai 800 – 2022 BC Ferries Ro-pax Remontowa Shipbuilding 600 US$60.6m 2022 Tallink Grupp Ro-pax Rauma Marine Constructions 2,800 US$275m 2022 Onorato Armatori Group 2 ro-pax Guangzhou Shipyard International 2,500 – 2022 P&O Ferries 2 ro-pax Guangzhou Shipyard International US$286m 2023 Finnlines 2 ro-pax CMI Jingling Weihai 1,100 US$297m 2023 Brittany Ferries Santoña CMI Jingling Weihai 1,000 – 2023 Notable ferries orders up to 2023 considerably larger than the current Finnlines vessels on the route. Fuel efficiency is at the heart of the design, so the vessels will have the largest battery packs installed on a ferry to date. “This investment aims at energy efficiency and emission reduction, but at the same time, it is an investment for the highest passenger comfort,” said Emanuele Grimaldi, CEO of Finnlines, in a press release. “We want to lead the development of high-quality ro-ro and ro-pax services in the Baltic Sea region. Our ongoing €500 million (US$550 million) newbuild programme will ensure that we continue to provide premium services to our customers.” TT-Line is another European operator entrusting Jinling to build its newest ferry, which is expected to enter service on the Baltic Sea in 2022. The ferry is designed to achieve a five-star environmental rating on the Clean Shipping Index. She will have several energy-efficient solutions, such as air-conditioning that uses a cold recovery system to repurpose re-gasified LNG. TT-Line also has an option to build a second vessel. Challenging Jinling for ferry construction dominance is Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI), which delivered the LNG-powered Thjelvar to Rederi AB Gotland on December 2019. The ship is a sister to Visborg, which was the first LNG-powered ro-pax built in a Chinese yard. GSI currently has ferries on order for DFDS, Algérie Ferries and Cosco Shipping Ferry Co. The yard also won a €260 million (US$286 million) contract from P&O Ferries for two new ferries for the Dover to Calais service. They will be the world’s largest double-enders and start service in 2023. In addition, GSI is building two luxury ro-pax ferries for the Onorato Armatori Group. Destined for Moby Line’s Livorno-Olbia route in Italy, each of the ferries will accommodate 2,500 passengers and have 3,800 lane metres for freight. The 69,500gt ferries will be LNG-ready and their fuel consumption is expected to be 30% lower than that of Moby Lines’ older vessels. The first newbuild is scheduled for delivery in 2022. Elsewhere in China, construction of Viking Line’s new cruise ferry Viking Glory continues apace at Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry. The newbuild will enter service on the Turku-Åland-Stockholm route between Finland and Sweden in early 2021 and has been designed as a further evolution of the 2013-built Viking Line flagship, Viking Grace. It’s not just big ship contacts filling Chinese order books, however. Afai Southern Shipyard in Panyu Guangzhou is set to build a 36-metre, 296-passenger fast ferry designed by Incat Crowther for Denmark’s Samsø municipality. This is Afai’s first fast ferry contract from a northern European customer. The catamaran will operate between Aarhus and Samsø off the Jutland Peninsula. Back in Europe, Finland’s Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) is building the new vessel for Tallink Grupp’s route between Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia. At 50,000gt and around 212 metres long with capacity for 2,800 passengers, the €250 million (US$275 million) ship is the biggest RMC has ever built and is scheduled for delivery in early 2022. In addition, RMC is also building a ro-pax ferry for Wasaline, set to operate between Vaasa, Finland and Umeå, Sweden. Aurora Botnia is set for delivery in April 2021 and will be powered by an LNG dual-fuel and battery solution linked to azimuth thrusters. Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk, Poland has also secured an order for a fourth Salish-class LNG-powered, double-ended ferry from Canada’s BC Ferries. Identical to the three 107.2-metre-long Salish-class vessels built by Remontowa in 2016-2017, the new vessel will debut on the Southern Gulf Islands services in 2022. BC Ferries will then have six LNG-fuelled ferries. CFR