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Brittany Ferries orders LNG cruise ferry from STX France

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 14 January 2014 14 January 2014

STX France SA has signed a contract with the French owner Brittany Ferries for a LNG ferry. Due for delivery at the end of 2016, this ship sets major milestones in the field of motorisation and energy storage and opens the way to a new generation of environmental friendly ships.

The ship bearing the name code PEGASIS (Power Efficient GAS Innovative Ship) is one of the 34 projects of the New Industrial France and results from ECORIZON programme. She materializes several years of cooperation with Brittany Ferries (BAI). The project which has received also support from GICAN, French Maritime Cluster and Regional Council of Pays de la Loire, exceeds the new regulatory requirements in terms of exhaust gas emissions settled by MARPOL convention which will be reinforced on January 1st, 2015. The “Dual-Fuel” engines using Liquefied Natural Gas as the main source of energy will cut out her SOx emissions and will reduce her NOx emissions by 80% CO2 by 20%.

With her 210 meters long and her about 31 meters width, this ferry will be provided with 675 passenger cabins and will be able to host 2,600 persons on board among whom 2,400 passengers. She will be provided also with 3 garage decks (among which a mobile car-deck) for HGVs and light vehicles. The maximum cargo capacity will be 80 trucks, and in mix-cargo configuration, the ship will be able to carry 40 trucks and 650 light vehicles.

This contract represents about 2.6 million working hours for STX France and its sub-contractors. Production is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2015. It will be enforced after settlement of the financing issues.

"After years of Research and Development at the service of such an innovative project as this environmental friendly ship, it’s a deep satisfaction to see it coming out. We are happy to renew cooperation with Brittany Ferries for whom we have built the Bretagne in 1989. The “entente cordiale” spirit existing among our respective teams is a guarantee of success for the project running. Thanks to the cooperation of various players, the French network of environmental friendly ships is about to born," declares Laurent Castaing, STX France Managing Director.

Costa Crociere names Paul Soulsby Senior Vice President Shared Services

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 10 January 2014 10 January 2014

Costa Crociere has appointed Paul Soulsby to senior vice president shared services, a newly created position in Costa Crociere's top management structure. Soulsby will report directly to Michael Thamm, chief executive officer of Costa Crociere S.p.A.

"I am certain that Paul's experience and knowledge of our company and our business will allow him to successsfully undertake this very important assignment in Costa," said Thamm. "He will make a substantial contribution to further strengthen our business structure, developing synergies between common practices of the main staff functions."

Most recently Soulsby held the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer of AIDA Cruises where he was responsible for finance as the cruise line increased its capacity from 1,180 to 18,800 berths. He also served on the company's executive committee. He joined AIDA Cruises as finance director in 2001.

Prior to AIDA Cruises, Soulsby held positions at Minit Service GmbH, P&O Nedlloyd Srl and P&O Containers B.V.

Updated: Kristina Cruises sells only ship, continues as tour operator

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 09 January 2014 09 January 2014

Kristina Cruises, the Finnish cruise line that has owned the 12,000 gross ton Kristina Katariina, has sold the vessel as part of its debt restructuring programme, and it will continue in the future as a tour operator.

The ship has been bought by group of investors, and is managed FleetPro Ocean, the Miami based company previously known as International Shipping Partners. The vessel was handed over to the buyer on 8 January in the Canary Islands.

Kristina Cruises cancelled a programme of fly cruises in the Canary Islands at the end of November and said it would seek debt restructuring, a Finnish version of the Chapter XI procedure in the US. A court in Finland approved the company’s application after its biggest creditors had supported it.

Kristina also offers a programme of river cruises in Europe, which is using a chartered vessel and which has not been impacted by the debt restructuring process. It says it plans to continue trading as a tour operating company.

Foschi resigns all positions at Carnival Corp & plc group

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 09 January 2014 09 January 2014

Pier Luigi Foschi, member of the Boards of Directors of Carnival Corporation & plc Chairman of Costa Crociere, S.p.A. and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Carnival Asia, a division of Carnival plc, said on January 6, 2014 that he will be retiring from the Boards of Directors effective immediately and from employment with the companies at the end of the financial year, which concluded 30 November 2013, Carnival Corp & plc said in a statement .

The companies concerned have entered into a Mutual Separation and Settlement Agreement with Foschi, which provides for, among other things, non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality covenants as well as a general waiver of claims against Carnival, its affiliates, officers and directors by Foschi. Carnival Corporation will pay Foschi €1,000,000 in consideration for his waiver of claims and €250,000 in consideration for the non-competition and non-solicitations obligations provided for in the Settlement Agreement.

Scandlines turns to other yards for quotes as STX Finland fails to arrange working capital

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 04 January 2014 04 January 2014

Scandlines, the Danish-German ferry company controlled by the London based private equity group 3i, has asked quotes from a number of European yards for two large short haul ferries as STX Finland, with whom it has an initial contract from July, had failed to arrange working capital to build the planned ships, Finnish media reports say.

Anette Ustrup Svendsen, head of corporate communications at Scandlines, told the Turun Sanomat daily that the company has made an offer to acquire two ferries built at a shipyard in Stralsund in Germany that were due to enter service with Scandlines as Copenhagen and Berlin, but which it refused to accept due to their excessive weight and consequently lower than contracted deadweight tonnage. The shipyard went bankrupt as a result and the incomplete vessels and its other assets are in the hands of administrators.

The two ferries would need to be substantially modified before Scandlines could accept them, she told the Finnish daily, adding that the company has asked a few other European yards for quotes for two ferry newbuildings and that it hopes to receive the quotes as soon as possible.

STX Finland is not entirely out of the picture: "From the technical point of view, STX (FInland) would be the best option for us. However, we need to look at other optins too, because we are half a year behind schedule," she concluded.

The situation in Finland took an acute turn for the worse in late November, when STX Finland said that talks with Scandlines to finalise the order agreed in principle in July had been terminated as financial details could not be put in place on time.

Media reports in Finland have suggested that tumbling block was a weak balance sheet of STX Finland, which had prevented Finnvera, the Finnish state guarantee institution, from issuing guarantees of construction time loans to STX Finland.