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Freight Service News

16 Feb 2024

Stena Line Commences Dublin-Liverpool Freight Route

Source: Stena Line

Swedish ferry operator, Stena Line has officially commenced its new Dublin – Liverpool (Birkenhead) freight service. The addition of the new route is expected to further boost the company’s freight volumes following a record year on its Irish Sea services in 2023.The return service will operate daily from Dublin in the morning, making the evening return journey from 12 Quays terminal in Birkenhead.The addition of the new service will be Stena Line’s seventh route in the Irish Sea region complementing its Belfast - Cairnryan…

22 Jan 2024

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Signs Korean Customer and Acquires Two RoRo Ships

(Credit: Wallenius Wilhelmsen)

Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the world’s largest RoRo vessel operator, has signed a multi-year shipping contract with South Korea’s construction machinery company and taken delivery of two vessels.Through its 80% owned subsidiary EUKOR, Wallenius Wilhelmsen welcomed the 2009-built, 6,600 CEU Morning Camilla vessel following the declaration of a purchase option under the long-term charter-in agreement.The purchase price is $30 million, well below the assessed charter-free valuation of around $70 million…

07 Nov 2023

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Bunkers First HSFO-Biofuel in Korea

(Photo: Wallenius Wilhelmsen)

The world's largest RoRo shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen reports its vessel Torrens is the first to bunker B30 HSFO-biofuel in South Korea. The bunkering took place during a call at Masan Port as part of the vessel's regular sailing schedule.A drop-in fuel that can be used in existing engines without any modification or tank cleaning, HSFO biofuel is a HSFO blended with UCOME (bio feedstock). The number of suppliers worldwide offering this particular fuel is currently very limited…

02 Nov 2023

NYC Exploring Ways to Move More Freight Via Waterways

© batman6794 / Adobe Stock

New York City is looking at ways to help shift freight transportation off of its busy roads and onto the waterways.The city's Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) on Wednesday jointly released a Request for Information and Expressions of Interest (RFEI) seeking private sector feedback to help it gauge industry challenges and opportunities, and explore ways to implement and support businesses to engage in waterfront freight operations.The initiative is part of NYC's "Blue Highways" program, launched under the city's previous mayor, Bill de Blasio.

10 May 2023

Stena Line Building Two New Ships for Irish Sea Service

(Image: Stena Line)

Ferry operator Stena Line announced it is building two new freight vessels for its expanding Belfast-Heysham freight service.Each of the two new 147-meter NewMax vessels has been designed to maximize freight volumes and will provide 2,800 lane meters of capacity which is an 80% increase on current ship capacities. The new vessels will be equipped to carry 12 passengers and 26 crew.The vessels will be able to operate on methanol fuel. Stena Line is currently working closely with…

20 Mar 2023

Mackinac Island Ferry Set for Electric Conversion

The Mackinac Island passenger ferry Chippewa will be converted from diesel to electric propulsion. Photo courtesy of Star Line/Mackinac Island Ferry Co.

A Mackinac Island passenger ferry will be converted to zero-emissions electric power with the help of a $3.06 million award from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Fuel Transformation Program (FTP) Part 2.Star Line, now known as the Mackinac Island Ferry Company (MIFC), will replace two 1988 diesel engines with two brand new electric propulsion motors on a ferry, the Chippewa, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 14,152 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and 887 metric tons of nitrogen oxides over the boat’s lifetime.

23 Jun 2022

Pacifica Shipping Adds Second Ship on NZ Coastal Service

(Photo: Pacifica Shipping)

Pacifica Shipping confirms it is introducing a second vessel onto its New Zealand coastal shipping service, which is expected to be operational mid-September this year.The vessel will add 1,300TEU extra capacity every week and will complement the existing coastal service provided by Pacifica Shipping’s MV Moana Chief, a 1,700TEU ship, which has been operating since August 2019.Country Manager for Pacifica Shipping and Swire Shipping New Zealand Brodie Stevens, said the service…

03 Jun 2022

MARAD Designates Four New Marine Highway Projects

© Betty Sederquist / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) today announced the immediate designation of four new Marine Highway Projects as part of the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). Projects in North Carolina, Alaska, and Puerto Rico will receive these designations. They can now apply for record levels of funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help address supply chain challenges.A Marine Highway Project is a planned service, or expansion of an existing service, on a designated Marine Highway Route.

30 Sep 2021

NORDEN Moves Into Port Logistics

Through a complex operation to offload bulk salt, NORDEN is optimizing the supply chain for customer Empremar.At a chemical plant in California, 30,000 tonnes of salt is being offloaded from a bulk carrier onto a private terminal. The salt will be taken directly to the plant and used to make chlorine.This shipment is one of eight per year that NORDEN will make for Chilean salt miner Empremar. While NORDEN has been shipping salt to the US for Empremar for 20 years, this is the…

14 Sep 2021

CMA CGM Invests in Brittany Ferries

Illustration only - Credit:PackShot/AdobeStock

CMA CGM Group, a shipping and logistics giant, has agreed to make a €25 million investment, including €10 million in quasi-equity, in Brittany Ferries, the largest ferry company operating under the French flag, to support Brittany Ferries’ post-Covid-19 recovery.Brittany Ferries said the partnership would help to unlock synergies between the two companies in passenger and freight transport. "By harnessing the respective areas of expertise of the CMA CGM Group and Brittany Ferries, it will also help promote the development of cross-Channel shipping and underpin France’s position in the sector.

01 Sep 2021

VIDEO: Inside the New Ferry Pair for Isles of Scilly Steamship

Image courtesy BMT

As the bid package goes out to shipyards, Sylvain Julien, Director, Naval Architecture, Specialized Ship Design, BMT, discusses how local stakeholder demands and futureproofing shipboard technology drove the design of a pair of ferries for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company.The Isles of Scilly Steamship Company Ltd. has provided a lifeline to the Isles of Scilly since it was formed in 1920. When attention turned to designing a pair of new vessels – one passenger and one cargo – to service the island…

19 Aug 2021

US Announces New Marine Highway Route and Six Marine Highway Designations

© boygek / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Thursday announced the designation of six new Marine Highway Projects and a new Marine Highway Route as part of the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The AMHP encourages the use of America’s navigable waterways for the movement of freight and people as an alternative to land-based transportation. Since its inception, the AMHP has designated 46 Marine Highway Projects. A designation makes projects on Marine Highway Routes eligible for grants when AMHP funding is available.

08 Jan 2021

Ireland Eases Customs Rules as Low Demand Stops Ferry Sailings

A Stena Line Vessel - Credit:Stena Line

Ireland's tax authority temporarily eased post-Brexit customs arrangements after some trucks were unable to deliver goods from Britain, difficulties that prompted the largest Irish Sea ferry operator to cancel some sailings from Friday.Britain's departure from the EU's orbit introduces reams of paperwork and costs that must be completed to move goods across the new customs border. For Irish firms, it means a 12-fold rise in the number of import and export declarations, the tax…

21 Dec 2020

Stena Line Considering Doubling Ireland-France Freight Services

© penofoto.de / Adobe Stock

Ferry firm Stena Line has brought forward a planned doubling of its direct Ireland to France freight service in response to “huge demand” from Irish hauliers hit by the closure of the French border to arrivals from Britain.While freight services were exempt from Ireland’s ban on Sunday on travel to Britain over fears of a new coronavirus strain, around 3,000 lorries take the shorter route to mainland Europe via the so-called British “land-bridge” each week.Stena had planned to add a second ship to its service from Ireland’s Rosslare harbor to the French port of Cherbourg from Jan.

18 Jun 2020

Brittany Ferries Cancels Newbuild Order

(Image: Brittany Ferries)

French shipping company Brittany Ferries has terminated its contract with German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) for the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled RoPax ferry, the shipyard announced Thursday.Stefan Denkhaus, general representative of FSG, said, “We cannot understand the customer’s decision, and the termination came as a surprise. According to the calculations of all experts, the completion of the 774 will take 11 to 12 months. The customer…

29 Aug 2019

Inland Container on Vessel Logistics Advance

File Image: American Patriot Container Transport LLC

Missouri Port Authorities Team Up To Advance Plan For Statewide Initiative That Focuses On Innovative Inland Waterway Container-On-Vessel Freight Service.Missouri Governor Michael Parson visited the Mississippi River town of Herculaneum on August 12 to find out more about statewide efforts to deliver a new option to transport freight along the inland waterways and what role an innovative waterway vessel could play in moving larger volumes of goods and commodities along both the Mississippi River and Missouri River and their tributaries.

12 Apr 2019

HHLA Strengthens Intermodal Network

Metrans AS, a subsidiary of terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), has ordered ten Vectron MS locomotives from Siemens Mobility Czech Republic.The locomotives will be built at Siemens Mobility’s factory in Munich-Allach, and deliveries are scheduled from the end of 2019 until spring 2020. The locomotives will be operated in cross-border freight service in Central and Eastern European countries."It is our pleasure to expand the Metrans vehicle fleet by ten multisystem Vectron locomotives from Siemens Mobility. This underlines our ambition to continue growing along the transport streams of the future. The acquisition of additional locomotives will help us to be even more flexible and reliable in responding to the wishes of our customers…

29 Jan 2019

GB Railfreight Launches New Intermodal Service from Felixstowe Port

The rail freight company in the United Kingdom, GB Railfreight has launched a new intermodal rail freight service connecting the Port of Felixstowe with the Birch Coppice terminal in the Midlands.The first locomotive on the service left Birch Coppice at 14:14 on 23 January 2019 and arrived at Felixstowe at 20:14, having passed through Hams Hall, Leicester, Peterborough and Ipswich along the way. Made up of 33 platforms, the service transports a mixture of intermodal containers, and will initially run 5 days a week.Commenting on the new service, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at the Port of Felixstowe and Executive Director of Hutchison Ports, said: "We are delighted to welcome this latest service offering from GB Railfreight.

30 Jul 2018

Container-Shipping Firms Focus on Asset Optimisation

Asset quality, size and diversification will determine the success of shipping companies in the next 18 months as higher costs, tighter environmental rules and worsening global trade relations risk offsetting buoyant demand and capacity reductions.Only container-shipping companies with the biggest fleets and most efficient vessels are likely to turn a profit this year and meet longer-term challenges, says Scope Ratings in a short report out today. Container shipping is a capital-intensive business. A.P. Møller-Mærsk, the industry leader, spends around USD 1bn a year on new ships. When owners have little control over cargo rates, and differentiating one freight service from another is difficult…

24 Jun 2018

Kenya Plans More Cargo Train to De-congest Mombasa Port

The standard gauge rail (SGR) freight service will increase the number of daily trains on the Mombasa-Nairobi route in the next five months to facilitate faster movement of cargo between the port and the inland container depot (ICD) in Embakasi, reported the Nation. The report quoted China Communications Construction Company chairman, Lu Shan,  as saying that the trains will have increased to 28 by December. He added that currently, they are operating 12 freight trains on a daily basis. As of now, the ICD has capacity to handle 450,000 Twenty-Foot equivalent Units (TEUs) per year, up from its original design of 180,000 TEUs. It receives four trains daily, carrying 108 containers each.

28 Dec 2016

Innovative Boats: Marine News' Best of 2016

Image: Vard Marine

Marine News looks back at the past 12 months and showcases the best of North America’s workboat design shop and shipyard output. In a year where some stakeholders might not rank 2016 as the best of years in the shipyard or on the waterfront, we might disagree. And, there is plenty to write about. New contracts, deliveries and designs all combine to show that the collective workboat waterfront is moving forward, with technology, the environment and replacement tonnage requirements as the main drivers.

03 Nov 2016

Gothenburg, Rotterdam New Service Begins

The opening of a new freight service to Rotterdam is a welcome development, presenting further opportunities for Swedish industry. The company behind the new service is the ro-ro* carrier CLdN, whose vessels will call at the Port of Gothenburg twice a week. A new freight service has been introduced between Gothenburg and the continent, operated by Luxembourg-based ro-ro company CLdN. The company’s vessels will depart twice weekly from Logent Ports and Terminals at the Port of Gothenburg, bound for Rotterdam. “Rotterdam is a highly important freight hub for many Swedish import and export companies. A further alternative means of reaching Rotterdam is now available…

29 Sep 2016

Avalon Freight Services Redefines the Shortsea Shipping Formula

Photo: Avalon Freight Services

Anything but business as usual, trusted partners operate innovative, environmentally correct and cutting edge equipment – in a decidedly niche trade. A  new freight service began operation in southern California this past April. For the businesses and residents of Catalina Island who depend on freight from the mainland, this new service aims to provide the safest, fastest, quietest, most efficient, eco-friendly and state-of-the-art freight transportation in the island’s history. Customers will also benefit from the use of unique and innovative tonnage built specifically for this niche trade.

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