Ferries of the Bass Strait
The Theofolos, once Bass Strait ferry Abel Tasman was sold back in October to Crete based shipping company ANEN Lines, a subsidiary of ANEK Lines. She will soon make her last trip and will leave Greece for the final time under tow bound for Aliaga Turkey. A crew have come onboard to check the operation a few vital systems, and to see if they can raise the anchors. She will depart soon. More info as it comes to light.
Tasmanian’s are wondering whats going on with their new ships, and why construction hasn’t t started yet. Questions are being asked why the building hall remains empty and which ship will be built next.
At this stage, no one really knows for sure. Brittany Ferries Honfleur is meant to be delivered within the next few moths all going well. Although it is rumored the delay will go over a year from the scheduled delivery date of June 2019. Also the Ro/Ro hull 781 LIEKUT is in the fit out strange after being launched October of last year. She is due to be delivered in March.
Irish ferries new build 777 is meant to have begin construction by now, but as far as we know not even the first steel has been cut. It is quite possible the legal teams of FSG and ICG have locked horns, as there is no way FSG can deliver on time. Maybe they are in the process of renegotiation, or compensation for not building the ship at all. It’s all just speculation until an announcement is made.
The industry expects an announcement to be made soon, as ICG is a publicly listed company and can’t remain tight lipped forever. Once we know what is happening with the ICG new build, it will be clearer on when the TT-Line new builds will be built.
The advocate gives a bit of info here
DOUBT: After the contracted shipyard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft revealed it was in financial difficultues in February 2019, there have been ongoing concerns the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels will be delivered late. Concerns over the on-time delivery of the new Spirits of Tasmania continue with Devonport mayor Annette Rockliff saying she will write to the Premier next week seeking clarification on the issue because of their importance to Devonport.
After the German shipyard contracted to build the vessels Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft revealed it was in financial difficulties in February 2019, there have been ongoing concerns about the project with a European line whose ship is currently being built by FSG ahead of the Spirits confirming this week their order has been delayed further.
Cr Rockliff said the potential late arrival of the Spirits would have an impact on the council’s planning for capital expenditure over the next few years.
The Commonwealth has committed $3 million to beautify the Tasmanian sea entrance at Devonport and encourage visitors to explore the North-West.
DELAYED DELIVERY: The problems plaguing the German shipyard chosen to build the next Spirit of Tasmania ferries continue as its shipbuilding hall (bottom left) sits empty.
“We have federal funding that we’ve been able to delay to allow us to use it once we know where the new Spirits are going. We’ve been waiting for TT-Line and Tasports to make final arrangements about where the new Spirits are berthing in the river,” Cr Rockliff said.
“When I’ve been speaking about [the arrival of the new Spirits] it’s been in relation to 2022.”
Cradle Coast Authority chief executive Daryl Connelly said the ships were important to deliver visitors to the region to make use of tourism infrastructure such as recently upgraded coastal pathway.
“For our region to be able to get the most mileage out of that, the most return for that, we need to have those Spirits delivering more people here who will get off the boat and, not only ride their bike along the pathway, but will stop at cafes, shops and other experiences,” Mr Connelly said.
Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said he did not think a delay on the ships would have a significant impact on tourism in the short-term.
“The current ships still have a lot of life in them, do a stellar job, and passenger numbers continue to grow,” Mr Martin said.
“Obviously, we’re looking forward to seeing the next generation ships on the route as soon as possible. It is the largest visitor infrastructure project in [Tasmania], so it is exciting for the industry, especially in regional areas.”
Labor infrastructure spokesman Shane Broad said the government, instead of clinging to its previous statement the vessels would be delivered next year, needed to tell Tasmanians if this was just another broken promise.
“We need to know when building the new vessels will start and when they will be delivered so that tourism operators, business and exporters can plan their investments and passengers can look forward to more capacity,” Dr Broad said.
A government spokesperson reiterated the government was confident TT-Line would deliver the new vessels and the company remains in regular communication with FSG regarding its contracts.
A recent Tasmanian Government parliamentary hearing has head the Victorian Ports Corporation has put forward an unacceptable deal to continue to dock at Station pier. TT-Line are said to be considering other ports to dock the ferries after 2022 when the current contract runs out.
Transport Tasmania Minister Michael Ferguson told a government business enterprise scrutiny hearing on Friday the offer put to TT-Line by VicPorts was quite unacceptable in terms of pricing and conditions.
“I’m not in a position to provide numbers as they are subject to a negotiation,” Mr Ferguson said.
“What we won’t be able to accept is unreasonable price charges that affect our business and affect business and passenger costs.”
If there do end up docking there again, Vic ports will need to make substantial upgrades for the new ships to be able to dock there, as the design includes 3 decks of loading and a 9m wide bow ramp, the widest ever installed on a Ro/Ro ship.
Currently there is no update from FSG. TT-Line are claiming that the ships will be delivered by March 2021, which will not happen unless a miracle occurs, as FSG are yet to start work on the Irish ferries vessel to be delivered before the Tasmanian twins.
Leader of the Tasmanian Government, Premier Will Hodgman will be in Europe next week to drum up trade for Tasmanian exports and is being urged by the opposition to meet with FSG representatives to ensure on time delivery of the vessels and that tax payers money is safe.
His itinerary features visits to the Thales Underwater Systems facility in France, as well as the Navantia shipyard in Spain.
“The government isn’t taking the time to fly a couple of extra hours and get to Germany and sort out the problems with this troubled shipbuilder,” Dr Broad said.
Ferries of Tasmania has leaned that project manger of the new builds Tony Johnston has resigned for unknown reasons. This comes just months after former project manager Massimo Soprano resigned. Massimo was responsible for getting quotes from ship yards all over the world and working out what was needed etc. He is now working on getting new builds for New Zealand.
https://www.examiner.com.au/story/6496334/premier-urged-to-meet-with-troubled-shipbuilder/
The old Victorian Reliance was replaced earlier this year, by the Chinese built Victorian Reliance II. It is beveled that Toll shipping will withdraw Victorian Reliance II which is suffering from leaking shaft seals. Experts from Europe will fly to Australia to undertake the work with the ship in the water.
The old Victorian Reliance has been laid up in Singapore since being replaced, awaiting sale. She has sailed back to Tasmania to fill in from the end of November. She is culturally moored in Bell Bay.
Theofilos of the bankrupt Greek NEL Lines, former Bass strait ferry Abel Tasman was due to go to auction in the next few days, but in a surprise move the central harbor master of Elefsis has cancelled the public auction. Information has come to light that the ferry has been sold to a ANEN Lines for a price of 380,000 Euro. It is unclear what they will do with the ship. Due to the poor condition of it there is still a strong possibility Theofilos may go for scap, but here is to hoping she will sail again. . We will see over the coming days and weeks what will happen.
TT-Line’s latest annual report says they had revenue of $260.3 million (2017/18: $244.6 million). Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $63.4 million (2017/18: $57.0 million) and after tax profit was $44.1 million (2017/18: $44.4 million).2019Releasing its 2018/19 annual report, operators of the Spirit of Tasmana ships, TT-Line have reported record revenues of $260.3 million, a pre-tax profit of $57.7 million and an after tax profit of $44.1 million for the year ended 30 June 2019.
Chairman Michael Grainger said passenger numbers for the year remained at record levels in line with last year at 446,869.
The Spirit of Tasmania vessels were valued at 67.5 million euros each as at end 30 June 2019
From an operational perspective, the number of sailings increased by eight (867 in 2018/19 compared to 859 in 2017/18). This included a record 169 day sailings, breaking the previous record of 156 day crossings established in 2017/18.”
Freight volumes also achieved record levels for the year supporting the additional investment in tonnage for freight across Bass Strait,” he said.
“At the time of writing, the Company was in close discussions with European shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) regarding contracts for the construction of two new roll-on-roll-off ships to replace the current two vessels.While FSG’s financial difficulties were widely reported during the year, the Company has solid contracts in place with the shipbuilder to build the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels”
https://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/media/718477/spirit_of_tasmania_annual_report_2018-19.pdf
In other news, as of last week both Spirit of Tasmania vessels are now running on low sulfur fuel. Spirit of Tasmania I had undergone modification to run on Diesel, with the thought that low sulfur fuel would not be available in Australia. It has come to pass that it is now available and the ships are being monitored for any negative effects in the fuel delivery systems, such as pumps and injectors, as sulfur helps with lucubration..
In short, the deal for Moby AKI and Wonder were to be sold to DFDS and in turn King Seaways and Princess Seaways is off, due to the bad financial situation at Moby, its bank Uni Credit has blocked the release of the mortgage, preventing the sale. Moby say they will seek compensation, but maybe too late as only a few weeks ago they avoided bankruptcy only because of this deal.
DFDS say the King and princess will stay on the route, but only until a solution is found, which could be the Moby AKI and wonder at the bankruptcy auction of Moby if they cant sort their bad situation out.
On 6 September 2019, DFDS entered into an agreement with the Italian ferry company Moby to acquire two ferries, Moby Wonder and Moby Aki, for deployment on the Amsterdam-Newcastle route.
Moby would in turn acquire the two passenger ferries currently operating on Amsterdam-Newcastle, King Seaways and Princess Seaways.”
The agreement was expected to be completed in the second half of October 2019 but Moby has unfortunately not been able to meet the delivery terms of the agreement. The agreement has therefore been cancelled.
DFDS will continue to explore solutions for a renewal of the ferries on the Amsterdam-Newcastle route in line with the fourth pillar of the WIN23 strategy: Creating more value for passengers.
https://www.dfds-news.com/featured/agreement-with-moby-cancelled/?fbclid=IwAR3RAPNTM7e9B4ea2PxEaYBMCGCi2GwcdtZZ1nA5uLeteMHJsZmH43-KcHw
Rome, Oct. 29 (askanews) – The sale of some ships of the Moby shipping company to the Danes of Dfds was blocked by Unicredit, with “very serious” damages for the Italian group. The president of Moby, Vincenzo Onorato, said after receiving “communication from the Danish company Dfds of the termination of the purchase contracts of the ships Moby Wonder and Moby Aki, as well as of the sale of the ships King Seaways and Princess Seaways. The contracts should have been executed with the delivery of the ships by the second half of October 2019 “.
The resolution “is attributable to the responsibility of Unicredit which, as a security agent, has not given its consent to the release of the mortgages that burden, in favor of all the guaranteed debt, on the ships Moby Aki and Moby Wonder, although it was contractually held to do this “.
“The story is unbelievable and unjustifiable – claims the shipowner – because Moby has requested, as usual, the assent to the cancellation of mortgages since September 20, 2019 and today Unicredit has not even bothered to answer officially, limiting itself guilty to wait the deadline for delivery “.
“Moby – adds Onorato – will act in a court of law against Unicredit to obtain compensation for the very serious damages caused by the latter”
It looks like the auction of the fomer NEL Line ships has been delayed, meaning the old Abel Tasman will probably be with us for a bit longer yet.
Translation: In the postponement of the auction hastings, which were due to take place on 11/9, for the ships Aiolos Kenteris 1, Aiolos Kenteris 2, TAXIARCHIS, THEOFILOS and MYTILINI, the postponements were postponed by the judicial authorities after the 3
According to the auction data, for AEOLOS CENTER 2, the price of the first bid was set at € 1,000,000 while for the other 4 ships € 120,000
King and Princess Seaways have been sold to Italian operator Moby Line, with the Moby Aki Andy Moby Wonder to replace King and Princess on the North Sea. The Moby sisters will be renamed Amsterdam Seaways and Newcastle Seaways. This deal has been in the pipeline for many months, It is believed DFDS had concerns about the condition of the Moby sisters lack of maintenance .
