Irish Continental Group Plc News

While orders for new vessels have continued to decline worldwide in 2017, the situation in the German and European shipbuilding market is different, with an increase of incoming orders. As shipping experts state: “…this is not a trend but a snapshot, but it indicates a high competitiveness of the German shipbuilding industry, particularly on technologically advanced projects.”The global mood barometer of the maritime industry had reached its lowest point in 2016. From the abyss confidence and order have carefully increased…

Irish Continental Group plc (ICG) said it has ordered a new cruise ferry set to be the world’s largest in terms of vehicle capacity, due for delivery in 2020. The new €165.2 million ($199.4 million) cruise ferry is being built by German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesselschaft & Co.KG (FSG), specifically for Irish Ferries’ Dublin - Holyhead services. It is expected to replace the schedule of the MV Ulysses, which in turn will replace the chartered-in vessel MV Epsilon. This will allow for the deployment of the W.B. Yeats (arriving mid 2018) full-time on the direct Ireland - France route alongside the MV Oscar Wilde. ICG said the new 67,300 gross ton cruise ferry will increase Irish Ferries’ freight and tourism carrying capacity on the fast-growing Dublin - Holyhead route.

David Ledwidge has been appointed to the position of chief financial officer at Irish Continental Group Plc (ICG).   A Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland and a Bachelor of Science graduate from Dublin Institute of Technology, Ledwidge joined ICG from accountants Deloitte in 2006.    Ledwidge has held various financial positions within the group, first as group risk accountant followed by his appointment as Irish ferries financial controller, and in 2013 was appointed Irish ferries finance director.

In a comment John B. McGuckian Chairman stated, ‘‘This was a positive half years trading with increases in revenue and operating profit driven mainly by higher freight carryings and lower fuel costs, partially offset by weaker passenger markets. In the prior year the group disposed of its subsidiary Feederlink and the comparatives set out in the Interim Management Report have been restated to exclude trading from discontinued operations. The Board of Irish Continental Group plc (ICG) reports that, in the seasonally less profitable first half of the year, the group recorded revenue of €120.9 million compared with €117.0 million in the same period in 2012, an increase of 3.3%.

Seven directors were elected to the Board of the UK P&I Club at its AGM in Athens on the 27th October. After obtaining a postgraduate degree in industrial engineering, Ibrahim Güngen founded Güngen Foreign Trade Co Ltd with his brother Mehmet in 1976 and the business quickly became the biggest importer of molasses in Turkey. Mr Güngen has been chief executive officer of Güngen Maritime and Trading since 1990. Dr Grahaeme Henderson, aged 56, joined Shell following a PhD in Engineering from Southampton University in 1980.

Irish Continental Group plc (ICG) announced that its ferry division Irish Ferries has entered into an agreement for RoRo cruise ferry Kronprins Harald from its current owners and operators , Color Line of Norway, for an investment , including modification and delivery costs. The vessel is being purchased for use on Irish Ferries route between Rosslare in Ireland and Cherbourg and Roscoff in France. With its current vessel Normandy Irish Ferries carries approximately 50,000 cars ,170,000 passengers and 2500 Freight Units on approximately 270 annual sailings on this route. The Kronprins Harald, which was built in in Finland in 1987…

A labor showdown crippled Irish Ferries for a fourth straight day Monday, as company officials and union leaders refused to budge from their demands, presented in rival plans to independent mediators, according to an AP report. In dispute is the company's widely condemned plan to pay off 543 unionized workers from its key Britain-Ireland routes and replace them with Eastern European workers at much lower wages. None of Irish Ferries' four vessels tried to sail Monday, partly because Ireland's largest labor union - the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union, known as SIPTU - warned that their members would refuse to let any of the company's vessels dock, according to the report.