Tirrenia News

Danelec Marine, a supplier of marine Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs), announced that it has received VDR retrofit orders from its distributors in Italy and the Netherlands. Telemar SpA has taken orders for 11 Danelec DM400 VDRs from Italian shipowner Tirrenia, replacing the existing VDRs on its fleet of passenger and cargo ships’ operating on routes in the Mediterranean. Founded in Naples in 1936, Tirrenia was acquired by Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione on July 19, 2012. Telemar was founded in 1947, and is one of the world’s largest international managed satellite service and navcom maintenance providers with 14 operating companies in 12 countries. Aage Hempel, distributor for Danelec Marine in the Netherlands, is supplying VDRs for eight dry cargo ships operated by Feederlines.

After an in-depth investigation, the European Commission has concluded that part of the support measures that Sardinia had granted to the maritime company Saremar in 2011 and 2012 was incompatible with EU state aid rules. In particular, a capital injection not approved on market conditions and the compensation for carrying out certain maritime services have provided an undue economic advantage to Saremar that its competitors did not have. Saremar needs to pay back this undue advantage of around €10.8 million in total, to remedy the distortion of competition this has created. At the same time the Commission concluded that two letters of comfort issued by the Region did not guarantee any financial obligation of the company and did not therefore constitute State aid to Saremar.

Italian ferry operator Tirrenia has been awarded Rina’s COMFORT class notation for two high speed ferries. The 1,800-passenger 43 knot Scorpio, and the recently built 2,700-passenger 29 knot Bithya, have been recognized by Italian classification society RINA as compliant with COMFORT Class. The certification has been awarded to the two ships following a comprehensive series of tests carried out during normal operations at sea. Scorpio serves the Civitavecchia to Olbia route and Bithya serves the Genova to Porto Torres route. At the end of the tests, the ships have been found compliant with the noise and vibration limits established by RINA to ensure an outstanding level of passenger comfort.

After consistent annual growth of between seven and nine percent, the global containership market is experiencing severe conditions, with the collapse in charter rates and continuing, extensive capacity additions to the fleet at a time of stagnation in the world economy. The international trade downturn, exacerbated by the broader economic impact of the terrorist outrages in the U.S., has resulted in the deferment of contracts for the much-vaunted, proposed new generation of linehaul vessels over 8,000-TEU capacity. The events in the liner sector underscore shipping's propensity for extreme market conditions, over-and-above the cyclical patterns that have traditionally been experienced in the bulker and tanker fields.

GE Marine Engines has been supplying integrated propulsion systems for a variety of commercial and military marine customers for more than 25 years. GE's complete line of aeroderivative gas turbines includes the LM500 (6,000 hp), LM1600 (20,000 hp), the LM2500 (33,600 hp), the LM2500+ (40,500 hp) and the LM6000 (57,330 hp). For instance, the first gas turbine-powered fast ferry in Greece entered service in the summer of 2001. This Corsaire 14000-class monohull is powered by two GE LM2500+ gas turbines in a combined diesel and gas turbine (CODAG) arrangement with two diesel engines. The ship was built for operator Maritime Company of Levos (NEL), Piraeus, Greece, by Alstom Leroux Naval Shipyard in France.

A safety survey found that three of the four worst performing ferries in Europe sail from British ports. The survey of 26 ferries by European motoring organizations gave the lowest rating to P&O European Ferries' "Pride of Rathlin," which sails from Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland. P&O Portsmouth's "Pride of Hampshire," which connects Portsmouth and Cherbourg, and SeaFrance's "SeaFrance Monet," which sails from Dover to Calais, were also judged to have "poor" safety standards. The "Oglasa" ferry, which connects Piombino and Portoferraio in Italy and is operated by Toremar, a subsidiary of Italian state-owned Tirrenia di Navigazione, was the fourth boat to be given a "poor" rating by the survey.

A safety survey has found that three of the four worst performing ferries in Europe sail from British ports. The survey of 26 ferries by European motoring organizations gave the lowest rating to P&O European Ferries' "Pride of Rathlin", which sails from Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland. P&O Portsmouth's "Pride of Hampshire", which connects Portsmouth and Cherbourg, and SeaFrance's "SeaFrance Monet", which sails from Dover to Calais, were also judged to have "poor" safety standards. The "Oglasa" ferry that connects Piombino and Portoferraio in Italy and is operated by Toremar, a subsidiary of Italian state-owned Tirrenia di Navigazione, was the fourth boat to be given a "poor" rating by the survey.

Northrop Grumman Corporation's Sperry Marine unit has received an order to supply 39 VoyageMaster Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) systems for one of Italy's largest ferry fleets. The VoyageMaster systems will permit the ships to meet the new IMO and EU carriage requirements mandating installation of an approved VDR system after July 1, 2002. the equipment. Sardinia and Tunisia. The VDR, similar to an aircraft "black box," records vital information concerning the ship's position, movement, physical status and command and control for the period leading up to and following an incident. The data, including voice recordings from bridge microphones and VHF radio, is stored in a hardened memory capsule for recovery and analysis by safety investigators following an incident at sea. training.

GE Marine Engines announced that 36 GE LM aeroderivative gas turbines have accumulated more than 600,000 hours operating aboard 16 fast ferries. "Fast ferry operators have selected our gas turbines for a variety of propulsion system configurations. This milestone further demonstrates the outstanding reliability and availability of the LM gas turbines for fast ferry applications," said Karl Matson, general manager of GE Marine Engines. The Stena Explorer, a Highspeed Sea Service (HSS) catamaran, is the fast ferry that has operated the longest using GE gas turbines. The ship, which began operation in June 1996, is still in service today.