Northern Europe News

CMA CGM Group announced that the CMA CGM Fort de France, the first vessel belonging to its new fleet dedicated to the French West Indies, was christened on April 4th, 2019 in Martinique by Mrs. Annick Girardin, French Minister for Overseas Territories.This inauguration took place in the presence of Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, Tanya Saadé Zeenny, Executive Officer, Alfred Marie-Jeanne, Chairman of the Executive Council of the Martinique Regional Authority…

Singapore-based port operator PSA International, Poland’s sovereign wealth fund PFR, and IFM Global Infrastructure Fund (GIF), have agreed a deal with Australian infrastructure firm Macquarie to buy Poland’s largest container port DCT Gdansk.DCT Gdańsk is situated at the crossroads of the Baltic deep-sea trading routes and holds a strategic position as a major gateway into Poland and Central-Eastern European markets.Construction of the Port began in 2005 with the outgoing shareholders…

Hapag-Lloyd pilot gas-conversion leads the way for emissions reduction and decarbonizationMAN Energy Solutions has signed a contract for the conversion of a 15,000 TEU container vessel to dual-fuel operation. The container vessel MV SAJIR is owned by Hapag-Lloyd, a leading liner shipping companies, and normally serves a route from Asia to northern Europe via the Suez canal. The pilot project will entail the conversion of an existing, HFO-burning MAN B&W 9S90ME-C engine to a dual-fuel MAN B&W ME-GI (-Gas Injection) prime mover capable of running on HFO and LNG.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced that it has signed a long-term charter contract to operate Asia's largest (12,000m3-class) LNG bunkering vessel in Singapore, the world's largest fuel supply port, with Pavilion Gas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pavilion Energy.Demand for LNG as bunker fuel is expected to grow on a global scale as stricter SOx regulations take effect in January 2020. Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) is focusing considerable effort on development…

3 One Day Workshops - Southampton UK April 2-4, 2019As the digital age rapidly arrives all around us, it (or IT) may have overlooked that safety at sea is still all about people. To meet the changing requirements of modern fleets, smart organizations and specialist equipment manufacturers now need to work together to blend traditional safety methods with innovation.A unique program of three specialist safety days for the sub IMO / sub 80 feet professional sector is being held back-to-back at the Grand Harbor overlooking the port of Southampton UK this April.

The ferry business, unlike more industrial parts of the shipping business, touches wide swaths of the world’s population across continents. The membership of Interferry, the leading trade group for the industry, with non-Governmental organization (NGO) status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) includes 200+ members from all parts of the ferry spectrum. These include passenger ferries (including fast ferries), Ro/Pax and cruise ferries operating globally. In selecting “the best” we looked beyond the league tables of “the most” (passengers) and “the biggest” (fleet size).

As a part of the ongoing development of Stena Line’s Irish Sea route network, the Stena Forecaster has been transferred from Stena RoRo to Stena Line and will enter service on the Belfast – Liverpool route from today - Tuesday, 12 February 2019. Stena Forerunner will transfer back to the North Sea and operation on Rotterdam-Killingholm. Stena Line is one of Europe's leading ferry companies with 38 vessels and 20 routes in Northern Europe.“This is another important step in our expansion programme for our ‘diagonal corridor’ services to and from Belfast.

European spaceflight services company Telespazio and the shipping company Grimaldi Group have recently signed two contracts to strengthen the satellite communications capabilities of the Neapolitan shipping group on its fleet of cargo and passenger ships.Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo and Thales, said in a press release that the first agreement provides for managing on-board communications for RO/RO, RO/RO multi-purpose and PCTC (Pure Car & Truck Carrier) vessels in the Grimaldi Fleet that operate between Northern Europe…

Hamburg-based feeder operator Team Lines, which belongs to the Belgian Delphis Group,   will close down its business.The deteriorating market conditions in Northern Europe combined with the ongoing consolidation process in the maritime sector are said to be the reason why the Hamburg-based container feeder operator Team Lines Deutschland ceases its business operations from February 11, 2019.In a circular, the shipping company announced that In a circular, Team Lines Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG decided to discontinue all activities of Team Lines with effect from February 11th.

Finnish shipping company Meriaura has signed new time charter-in agreements covering five vessels.The five vessels that will join the company’s fleet include a deck cargo carrier, two multipurpose-heavy lift dry cargo vessels and two traditional dry bulk carriers said a press note from Meriaura, specializing in the transport of industrial raw materials and project cargo on the Baltic Sea and in Europe.M/S Enough Talk is a deck cargo carrier of the same type and size as Meriaura’s deck cargo carriers Aura and Meri.

Britain’s marine industry launched of Maritime 2050, the UK Government’s first ever long-term strategy to support and grow the sector.Described as both visionary and aspirational, Maritime 2050 highlights the Government’s recognition of the importance of maritime – worth over GBP40bn to the UK economy, more than aerospace or car manufacturing – and focuses on the desire to cement the UK’s place as the world's leading maritime nation into the second half of the 21st century.Maritime 2050 is published at a time when the UK faces intense competition from maritime nations in the Far East…

CMA CGM Marco Polo, the largest container ship in the world, docked at the major international seaport Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) in the southern Vietnamese province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, commencing a new weekly service to transfer cargo directly from Vietnam to Northern Europe.Important guests, including senior government officials will attended the vessel maiden call’s celebrations jointly organised by CMIT and CMA CGM at the Cai Mep terminal in Ba Ria Vung Tau Province.CMIT…

CMA CGM will retain the only Containerships brand for its intra-European operations, giving up MacAndrews, which had already erased OPDR."Containerships: from April 1st, 2019 a single brand resulting from the union of two experts of intra-European transport CMA CGM reinforces its strategy aimed at densifying its regional coverage to the benefit of its clients," said a press release from MacAndrews.According to the French container transportation and shipping company, by joining the forces of two recognized experts of intra-European multimodal transport…

The CMA CGM Group, a leading shipping group, has announced its subsidiary Containerships, an expert in Intra-Europe which it acquired in October, took delivery on December 12th of its first container ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Containerships Nord.With Containerships, the CMA CGM Group reasserts its ambition for LNGThe 1,400-TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) Containerships Nord  is the first of an order for four LNG-powered container ships. The following vessels…

The world's largest privately held cruise company MSC Cruises has today announced a new partnership with renowned German chef Harald Wohlfahrt.Voted one of the Top 10 Chefs in the World, and the only German chef to hold a three Michelin Star rating for 25 years in a row, Chef Wohlfahrt represents the best of Germany’s cuisine and embodies MSC Cruises’ commitment to offering new and exciting food options for its guests. Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The world-class expertise of Chef Wohlfahrt brings an exciting new chapter to our onboard dining experience.

Norwegian company Hurtigruten, the world’s largest expedition cruise operator, is continuing to push the boundaries when it comes to green travel with its order for three hybrid-powered vessels nearing completion, the first ship being due for delivery in May 2019.Two of these revolutionary ships are currently under construction at the Kleven Yard in Ulsteinvik, Norway, the MS Roald Amundsen and its sister ship, the MS Fritjof Nansen, both of which are custom-designed to cope with some of the most extreme conditions seen on our planet, each having a specially-designed, ice-strengthened hull.

The Norwegian government has postponed a decision on whether to mandate the construction of an oil processing terminal near the Arctic tip of northern Europe until the third quarter of next year, it said on Friday.If built, the onshore Veidnes terminal would receive crude via a pipeline from Equinor's offshore Johan Castberg oilfield, which is expected to start producing in late 2022.Equinor originally ditched plans for an onshore terminal in order to save costs, preferring instead to load oil on to crude tankers at the field before exporting it to global markets.Parliament earlier this year u

Global port operator DP World says it has completed the acquisition of Danish logistics firm Unifeeder for $748 million.DP World’s full acquisition of Unifeeder Group from Nordic Capital Fund VIII was announced in August, but finalized on Thursday."DP World PLC is pleased to advise that it has closed the transaction to acquire 100% of Unifeeder Group from Nordic Capital Fund VIII and certainminority shareholders," said one sentence statement from the Dubai-based global marine terminal operator."Unifeeder Group is now part of the DP World Group…

Nieuw Statendam, the new cruise ship of Holland America Line, was presented at the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard in Venice. Holland America Line is a brand under Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise operator.The vessel is the 16th Holland America Line ship built by Fincantieri and is the line’s second Pinnacle-class ship after Koningsdam, delivered in 2016.The 99,902-ton vessel accommodates 2,666 guests and is the ultimate expression of the Holland America Line brand.

Three one-day workshops - Southampton, U.K. - April 2-4, 2019NEXT GEN 2019 is a series of specialist one-day workshops run back-to-back on April 2-4, 2019. The program combines hot topics and international maritime experts with dynamic panel discussions. The Grand Harbor is a conference venue overlooking the historic port of Southampton, U.K. Workshop Lead John Haynes said, "In recent years less people are expected to do more work and time is becoming scarce for everyone in the marine industry.

PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group)'s large-capacity  LNG-fueled Aframax tanker Lomonosov Prospect has successfully completed its first commercial voyage along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to deliver a cargo of petroleum products from the Republic of Korea to Northern Europe.The high-latitude voyage from Cape Dezhnev at Chukotka to Cape Zhelaniya of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago took the Arc4 vessel 7.8 days to complete, during which the tanker covered a distance of 2194 nautical miles.During the voyage…

On Sunday October 28th with the visit of the “AIDAbella” Port of Kiel closed its latest cruise shipping season.This year the port has been visited 166 times by 33 different cruise ships with a combined gross tonnage of more than 11 million. For the first time close to 600,000 cruise ship passengers, 16.4% more than last year, have passed through the port’s terminal facilities to end or embark on cruises.Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel(Seehafen Kiel GmbH & Co.

APM Terminals’ Moín Container Terminal (MCT) in Costa Rica has been granted permission by the National Council of Concessions (CNC) to start commercial operations at its first deep-sea berth. This is a key step for the terminal, which is on schedule to be fully operational in February 2019.The permit, which is subject to meeting all safety and service requirements, will enable the transfer of all commercial container ships currently serviced at Puerto Limón and Puerto Moín to the MCT.