Trasmediterranea News

Acciona has reached an agreement to sell its 92.7% stake in Trasmediterranea to the Naviera Armas Group. Acciona's stake is being sold for 260.4 million euros, and the buyer will assume 127.3 million euros of debt owed by Trasmediterranea to Acciona group companies. The final price could increase by up to 16 million euros as a function of the combined group's future EBITDA performance. This transaction sets the company's enterprise value (100%) at  between 419 and 436 million euros. The deal will foreseeably be completed in the first quarter of 2018, once it has been approved by the Spanish competition authorities. The disposal responds to Acciona's goal of concentrating on its core strategic lines of business: sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy.

Spain's development ministry has said that a fire broke out on a ferry as it journeyed from Palma on the island of Majorca to Valencia in Spain. Spanish media reported that around 156 people had to abandon ship around 17 miles from Palma de Mallorca and were helped by emergency services. The Spanish Ministry of Works said the captain did not initially want to evacuate the ferry but passengers and crew eventually left the burning boat in lifeboats. The Sorrento was travelling to the coastal city of Valencia when the blaze began and quickly got out of control. "The ferry operated by Trasmediterranea was travelling from Palma de Mallorca…

Spanish emergency services safely evacuated around 150 people from a burning ferry crossing the Mediterranean from the island of Mallorca to the Spanish port of Valencia, government and port authorities said on Tuesday. The Sorrento ferry, belonging to the Italian company Atlantica di Navigazione although operated by Trasmediterranea-Acciona, sent out distress signals, the Ministry of Public Works said in a statement. Spanish newspaper websites showed pictures of the ferry belching out great clouds of black smoke. Although the captain did not initially want to evacuate the ferry, passengers and crew eventually left the burning vessel in lifeboats, the ministry said. The port authority said 170 passengers were rescued. Sea rescue services could not confirm the number.

Trade association Interferry is mounting a membership drive with ro-ro operators among key targets in a further move to strengthen its representation at the International Maritime Organization. Interferry, which has had IMO consultative status since 2003, recently became an associate member of the influential International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and has just set up a regulatory committee to direct safety and environmental submissions by its newly expanded delegation. Now the association – formed 35 years ago by passenger sector interests - is aiming for more ro-ro members after becoming increasingly involved in issues that also affect freight-only ferries.

Testament to the Spanish state-owned group's determination to raise performance throughout the organization, IZAR is on track to deliver a high-grade RoRo passenger ferry only 20 months after contract signing. The launch of the 6,300-dwt Murillo a month ahead of schedule has also underscored the latent scope of the shipyard at Seville, where a substantial upgrading and modernization program has been set in motion. Earlier concerns over work continuity at the premises, Spain's furthest inland shipbuilding facility, have been allayed by the decision to entrust Astillero Sevilla with the production of 70 double-bottom blocks for LNG carriers to be constructed by other yards within the group.

Marking an important stage in the regeneration of the RoRo ferry route network maintained by Compania Trasmediterranea, last spring's delivery of the 28,275-gt RoPax Sorolla strengthened the state-owned firm's position in the Balearics trade. Imbuing both a higher degree of service quality and operational flexibility in an increasingly competitive segment of the Mediterranean market, Sorolla was built at the Vigo yard of Hijos de J.Barreras. She underscored the emergence of the Galician shipbuilder as a growing force in RoRo construction. Privatized in 1998 through its sale by the erstwhile Astilleros Españoles (now encapsulated in IZAR) to a group of Spanish maritime and industrial interests, Barreras also supplied blueprints for sistership Fortuny to IZAR's Puerto Real yard.

Seville has delivered the largest RoPax ferry ever sailing under Spanish flag to its owner, Trasmediterranea. IZAR's Seville yard delivered the vessel on March 14, yard number 291, the 6,900 dwt RoPax Murillo, and will join Trasmediterranea fleet ahead of its scheduled delivery for next May. As the largest RoPax vessel ever owned by a Spanish company and sailing under Spanish flag, it exceeds the dimensions of any other vessel in Trasmediterranea's fleet, including the recently-delivered 564 ft. RoPax sisters Sorolla and Fortuny. Seville has introduced improvements in cargo and accommodation capacities on the Murillo, a project which followed the design carried out on the Merchant series of four vessels for Cenargo. Payload cargo has also been increased.

IZAR's Seville yard has delivered the largest RoPax ferry ever to sail under Spanish flag to owner Trasmediterranea. IZAR's delivered on March 14 its yard number 291, the 6,900 dwt RoPax Murillo. As the largest RoPax vessel ever owned by a Spanish company and sailing under Spanish flag, it exceeds the dimensions of any other vessel in Trasmediterranea's fleet, even the recently delivered 564-ft. (172-m) RoPax sisters Sorolla and Fortuny. Seville has introduced substantial improvements in cargo and accommodation capacities on the Murillo, a project that followed the successful design carried out on the Merchant series of four vessels for Cenargo. Payload cargo has been increased, as the accommodation, for instance, has been more than doubled. Length, (o.a.) 591 ft. Length, (bp) 553 ft.

On June 1, Federico Syassen was appointed managing director of the Madrid office of MAN B&W Diesel. His responsibility has been extended to cover the two-stroke sector, after Sven Christensen, who was previously responsible for this sector, left the company. Carlos Keller has taken over responsibility for PrimeServ Spain’s after-sales activities. Federico Syassen has been with MAN B&W Diesel for 10 years, the last six of which he has spent in the sales force for stationary works. His biggest projects during this time have included the sale of more than twenty V48/60 engines for power plants to the Spanish ENDESA Group for the Canaries and Balearic islands as well as for the Spanish enclave of Ceuta / Melilla.

Incat recently signed a contract for two 112m high speed vehicle-passenger catamarans for a ferry operator in Japan, the Libera Corporation. Due for delivery in June 2007, the first Evolution One12 112m vessel will operate at around 40kts, with the capacity to carry up to 800 persons and 412 cars or 520 lane meter of trucks and 286 cars. The second vessel will follow twelve months later. Incat is also currently fulfilling an order for delivery of a 98m vessel to European client, Acciona Trasmediterranea who already has three Incat vessels in service. (Source: http://www.ferret.com.au)

Ro-Ro and passenger ferry Murillo was successfully launched September 19 at IZAR Seville yard. This yard number 291 construction is expected to be delivered on schedule to join Trasmediterranea's fleet next year. The construction took 20 months to complete,with new vessel becoming the shipowner's largest, exceeding dimensions of the recently delivered ro-pax sisters Sorolla and Fortuny. Murillo will accommodate nearly 550 passengers, 396 in cabins and 150 in seats, and will also have 4 garages with a length totallin 2,196 lane m. The design and operation of the Merchant series of four vessels previously built for Cenargo was a reason for Trasmediterranea to request a similar vessel.

This past March, IZAR's Seville yard delivered the largest RoPax ferry ever to sail under Spanish flag to owner Trasmediterranea — the 6,900 dwt RoPax Murillo. As the largest RoPax vessel ever owned by a Spanish company and sailing under Spanish flag, it exceeds the dimensions of any other vessel in Trasmediterranea's fleet, even the recently delivered 564-ft. (172-m) RoPax sisters Sorolla and Fortuny. Seville has introduced substantial improvements in cargo and accommodation capacities on the Murillo, a project that followed the successful design carried out on the Merchant series of four vessels for Cenargo. Payload cargo has been increased, as the accommodation, for instance, has been more than doubled.

Independent Spanish shipbuilder Hijos de J Barreras has again showed its mettle by delivering two specialized vessels within the space of just a few days, and by landing a three-ship contract to take its orderbook into mid 2003. Three years after being spun-off from the former Astilleros Espanoles (AESA), the Vigo yard demonstrates how a well-managed and motivated undertaking can successfully make the transition into private control. It provides a template for broader Spanish endeavors to slim the state's holding in a number of industrial sectors, not only shipbuilding. Barreras always displayed something of an independent style within AESA (now IZAR), of which it was part for nearly a quarter-century.

The CLT propeller recently underwent real-world testing, which proved, according to its designer and manufacturer that the propeller can help to reduce or eliminate hull-induced vibrations and noise levels. Independent studies were conducted aboard Superfast Levante, which demonstrated that: the cavitation level developed on the CLT propeller blades is negligible from the ship's structural integrity point of view; vibration and noise levels are excellent in terms of comfort on board; and the contractual ship speed was much better than predicted. Superfast Levante is a 7,200 dwt RoRo cargo vessel delivered by Union Naval de Valencia (UNV) to Trasmediterranea, the major Spanish operator of RoRo vessels and ferries. The ship was ordered to operate between Cadiz and the Canary Isles.

The largest Spanish flagged RoPax ferry, named Fortuny, has been delivered by IZAR's Puerto Real shipyard to the Spanish shipowner Trasmediterranea. The contract for the construction of this ferry was landed by Puerto Real yard, formerly part of Astilleros Españoles group, on July 30, 1999. The new ferry has become the fastest vessel to join the owner's fleet, with a 23.5 knot speed on the engines' 85 percent continuous service rating. On trials, the vessel reached a top speed or more than 25 knots. Propulsion power is supplied by four 7,240 kW diesel engines rated at 500 rpm, coupled by pairs to two shaft lines and two CP propellers. Maneuvering equipment includes two 1,000 kW bow-tunnel thrusters. With an overall length of 566 ft. (172 m), a breadth of 86 ft.