Shippax
Newsletter– week 34

ILE
ROUGE sails to Canada from Perama

Longterm
chartered to Marine Atlantic, the
Stena RoRo-owned 30,551 GT ILE ROUGE
has left Perama, Greece, on 19 August
and is finally on its way to Canada
after an extensive conversion of its
accommodation spaces and RoRo access.
The vessel is already strengthened to
Iceclass 1A standards and is equipped
with three bow thrusters for excellent
manoeuvrability.

BLUE
STAR CHIOS back in service with
SOx scrubbers

After
being out of service for three months
at the ONEX Elefsis shipyard, the
13,955 GT BLUE STAR CHIOS has returned
to service with an enlarged funnel
construction housing exhaust gas SOx
scrubbers. Unlike some other ferry
conversions which have radically
changed the exterior appearance, the
Attica Group have tried to keep the
distinctive funnel shape while masking
the significantly larger area.

New
governance body launched to
oversee GHG emissions data in RoRo
shipping

The
Global Ro-Ro Community (GRC) has
established the GRC Council (GRCC), a
new governance body to oversee
emissions data management for a sector
representing roughly 80% of global car
carrier transport capacity.

The
council creates a formal structure for
the continuous assessment of emissions
accounting methods and data management
practices across the industry. It is
designed to give RoRo carriers, cargo
owners and vehicle manufacturers
access to dependable and transparent
greenhouse gas emissions information,
supporting decarbonisation across
supply chains more efficiently.

Sallaum
Lines launches dedicated European
road logistics arm

Sallaum
Lines has launched Sallaum Logistics
Ltd, a new dedicated European
automotive logistics company extending
the group’s maritime vehicle-transport
expertise into inland distribution
across Europe. Based in Vilnius,
Lithuania, the new company will handle
finished vehicle logistics from ports
to distribution hubs, dealerships and
other automotive customers,
positioning itself as a single
accountable partner for the final leg
of the vehicle supply chain that
Sallaum Lines’ ocean services have
traditionally ended at.

Irish
Continental Group posts higher
revenue as takeover vote nears
knife-edge

Key
points:

Half-year
results:

• Revenue
  up 16.1% to EUR 359.9 million;
  EBITDA up 7.3% to EUR 58.9 million
• Operating
  profit down 2.4% to EUR 24.0
  million; profit before tax down 2.9%
  to EUR 19.9 million, squeezed by a
  EUR 46.0 million rise in costs,
  mainly fuel (up EUR 10.2 million to
  EUR 64.2 million)

Volumes:

• Car
  volumes down 5.7% to 249,700 units
• RoRo
  freight up 4.1% to 409,500 units

Other
developments:

• Completed
  purchase of the OSCAR WILDE in May
  2026
• Received
  a termination notice from P&O
  Ferries on its Dover-Calais space
  charter

Takeover
offer:

• Bluefin
  Bidco Limited, backed by ICG’s own
  senior management, has a recommended
  EUR 8.00-per-share cash offer (28.2%
  premium), valuing ICG at roughly EUR
  1.2 billion
• On
  17 August, Bluefin said it would not
  raise the offer

Shareholder
pushback:

• Certain
  shareholders, reportedly including
  Oxy Capital, challenged the deal’s
  valuation
• The
  Independent Board rejected their
  arguments on 18 August and
  reaffirmed its recommendation to
  vote in favour

Danish
standard ferries put out to tender

Five
Danish municipalities issued an EU
tender on 18 August for the
construction of new battery-electric
ferries based on the Danish Standard
Ferry concept. The project aims to
create fleet synergies between Danish
municipalities operating publicly
owned ferry routes. The tender covers
five ferries.

Previous
experience with the construction of
electric-hybrid ferries is among the
requirements for shipyards seeking
pre-qualification. Broadly speaking,
the vessels will comprise two size
variants: four ferries measuring 40.4
metres long and 10.5 metres wide, and
one measuring 54.6 metres long and 12
metres wide (Aalborg Municipality).

More
than 2 million passengers through
Andalusian ports in OPE’s first
two months

Key
points:

• Overall
  traffic: 2,169,080
  passengers and 545,359 vehicles
  crossed through Andalusian ports in
  OPE 2026’s first two months (15
  June–15 August), mostly North
  Africans living in Europe returning
  home for summer vacation.
• Andalusia’s
  share of Spain: These
  ports handled 96.9% of Spain’s total
  passengers and 95.9% of total
  vehicles.
• Year-on-year
  decline: Both passengers
  (-2.7%) and vehicles (-1.7%) were
  down slightly compared with the same
  period in 2025.
• Algeciras
  dominates: Spain’s
  busiest crossing port saw 3,258
  sailings, 903,658 outbound
  passengers, and 251,473 outbound
  vehicles — all down 5–8% from 2025.
  An additional 295,639 passengers and
  82,520 vehicles had already returned
  through it.
• What’s
  next: The return phase
  began 16 August and runs through 15
  September.
• Full-year
  forecast: Despite the
  early dip, 2026 is expected to
  finish about 3% above 2025’s totals
  (which were 3,488,885 passengers and
  857,784 vehicles overall, with
  roughly 3.37 million passengers and
  830,000 vehicles via Andalusia).

46
PCTC newbuilding orders so far in
2026

With
China’s vehicle exports hitting new
highs in the first half of the year,
and PCTC charter rates also reflecting
the demand for RoRo capacity, there
has been a spurt in newbuilding
activity, with 46 PCTCs contracted so
far in 2026 (as of 15 August), most
gaining favourable 2029 building
slots.

In
June, exports reached 1,037,000
vehicles, up 75% compared with June
2025. Exports for the first six months
of 2026 reached an incredible
5,096,000 units, up by 65.5%, with
NEVs taking a 46.2% share.

CM
RoRo to take delivery of two 7,800
CEU methanol PCTCs

CM RoRo
will gain two new 7,800 CEU PCTCs in
the next few weeks after they were
floated out from their building docks
on 29 June and 1 July. The CM WUHAN
will be delivered from the CMS Jiangsu
shipyard and its sistership, the CM
GUANGZHOU, from CMS Jinling. The
Deltamarin-designed 76,400 GT vessels
have a length of 199.9m by 37.7m beam.

Balearia
Canarias reports early freight and
passenger traffic gains

Balearia’s
renewed freight offering in the
Canaries has been boosted by a change
in vessel schedule. The newly
chartered 2023-built 4,070 lanem,
32,894 GT JOSEFINA DE LA TORRE, with
230 reefer sockets, has taken over the
schedule of the smaller 3,400 lanem,
30,998 GT VILLA DE TAZACORTE, leaving
Cadiz at 14.00 every Saturday, sailing
to Arrecife in Lanzarote, then to Las
Palmas before arriving early on Monday
morning in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The
vessel will then return via Las
Palmas, Santa Cruz de la Palma and
Tenerife to Cadiz.

PZB
appoints new man at the helm

Polska
Zegluga Baltycka (PZB) has announced
the appointment of Jaroslaw Kotarski
as president of its management board.
Kotarski took up his position as a
member and president of PZB’s
13th-term management board on 19
August, replacing Piotr Redmerski.

Redmerski
served as president of PZB from 2016
to 2021 and returned to the position
in 2024. PZB, which has operated under
the Polferries brand, and now one of
three partners of the POLSCA Baltic
Ferries on the southern Baltic with 11
RoPax vessel between Poland and
Sweden.

Antitrust
penalty on Caronte & Tourist
has been annulled

Italy’s
Council of State has annulled the EUR
4 million penalty imposed on the
Italian ferry operator Caronte &
Tourist by the Competition and Market
Authority (AGCM) in 2022 for alleged
abuse of its dominant position in the
Strait of Messina. The ruling
overturns a September 2025 decision.

The
court found insufficient evidence that
the market was closed to new entrants,
noting the presence of a public
competitor with only slightly lower
fares. It also ruled that a Ministry
of Infrastructure study had been used
for purposes not disclosed during the
investigation, undermining the
company’s right of defence.

Gestas
charters additional summer
capacity

Turkish
ferry operator Gestas has chartered
additional tonnage for the summer peak
season on its route across the
Dardanelles between Lapseki and
Gelibolu. The additional capacity is
provided by the 1,998 GT TEKIRDAG 59,
built in 2022.

New
Clyde ferries launched at Cammell
Laird

In
August, APCL Cammell Laird launched
two double-ended ferry newbuildings
for Western Ferries’ route across the
Firth of Clyde, near Glasgow, between
Gourock and Dunoon. The two 50-metre
ferries, each with capacity for 40
cars and 220 passengers, were ordered
from the shipyard in May 2025.

The
newbuildings, to be named SOUND OF
SLEAT and SOUND OF SCALPAY, will be
delivered during autumn 2026.

Türkiye
– Trieste traffic increases due to
Grimaldi effect

The
latest H1 2026 traffic figures from
the Port of Trieste reveal a positive
gain of 5.37% in trailer volumes,
reaching 163,752 units. DFDS revealed
that they have maintained their
volumes but the RoRo share of the
total Turkey – EU traffic has
increased to 54%, with the remaining
46% travelling by road via Greece or
Bulgaria.

Glovis
giants arrive in Europe

With
four of the giant 10,800 CEU class now
delivered, the 102,588 GT GLOVIS
LEADER and its sister ships GLOVIS
LANDER, GLOVIS NOVA and GLOVIS
LIGHTHOUSE have all left China fully
loaded with new vehicles for European,
South Korean and American
destinations.

Fruit
exports from Turkey to Russia
under threat from drones

The
recent drone attack on the 5,613 GT
NADEZHDA, built at Frederikshavn
Vaerft in 1978, has interrupted the
profitable flow of fresh produce
exported from Turkey to Russia. The
majority of RoRo vessels sail on the
Samsun–Tuapse route, with several
weekly RoPax sailings also from
Istanbul and Karasu. The two largest
operators, Lider Line and Kalyoncu
Ro-Ro, are both closely connected with
some of Turkey’s major fruit
conglomerates.

Installation
of solar panels on FINBO CARGO
completed

Eckerö
Group’s RoPax FINBO CARGO is now
operating between Vuosaari, near
Helsinki, and Muuga, near Tallinn,
with a total of 120 solar panels
installed on its upper deck. According
to the company, the installation was
completed over the weekend of 15–16
August.

In
April, Eckerö Group announced that the
solar-panel retrofit aboard the
2,000-built, 1,950-lane metre RoPax
serving its freight-oriented route
would form part of a broader
energy-efficiency programme covering
its routes between Finland and
Estonia.

Bass
Strait newbuilding arrives at
Fayard after sea trials in
Skagerrak

SEAROAD
I passed through Gabet, the entrance
to Odense Fjord from the Kattegat, at
04:15 local time on 17 August after
four days of sea trials in the
Skagerrak and Kattegat. The
210-metre-long and 29.3-metre-wide
dual-fuel LNG-powered RoRo ship was
launched and named on 7 November last
year at Flensburger Shipyard.

Following
the latest sea trials, SEAROAD I has
entered the final stages before
delivery to Australia’s SeaRoad
Shipping, which will deploy the vessel
across the Bass Strait between
Melbourne, Victoria, and Devonport,
Tasmania.

New
CMA CGM 5,500 CEU PCTC floated out

The
first vessel in CMA CGM’s new
dual-fuel PCTC fleet has been floated
out of the building dock at Xiamen
Shipbuilding. The CMA CGM LAGUNA SECA
is the first of an initial quartet,
all chartered from Eastern Pacific
Shipping (EPS).

The
remaining three sister vessels are
under construction at the Fujian Mawei
Shipyard, which will be named CMA CGM
SUZUKA, CMA CGM INTERLAGOS and CMA CGM
CASTELLET, all of which are scheduled
for delivery in 2027.

Carnival
Corporation selects Silverstream®
air lubrication system for Ace
Class newbuilds at Fincantieri

Maritime
air lubrication technology supplier
Silverstream Technologies has signed a
deal with Carnival Corporation to
install the Silverstream® System on
Carnival Cruise Lines’ Ace Class
newbuild cruise vessels being
constructed at Fincantieri shipyard in
Italy, beginning with CARNIVAL DESTINY
arriving in summer 2029.

SAMPIYON
MELEKLER sails for Filo Denizcilik

Turkish
shipping company Filo Denizcilik,
which has served Northern Cyprus for
many years, has purchased the 2,171
lane-metre RoRo LYKTO. Now renamed
SAMPIYON MELEKLER in honour of the
Champion Angels school volleyball
teams from Gazimagusa who died in the
2023 earthquake.

AMIRA
delivered to Thassos Ferries in
Greece

The
latest double-ended ferry to enter
service in Greece is the AMIRA,
joining Thassos Ferries’ route from
Keramoti to Limenas in Northern Greece
on 2 July. Like the rest of the
Thassos fleet such as the ANASSA M,
the ferry has an eye-catching white
exterior livery with added red stripes
as well as a very striking orange
interior décor.

The
1,976 GT ferry was built by the Kouri
Shipyard in Amaliapoli to INSB class.
The ship is 102 metres long, 20 metres
wide, has a passenger capacity of
1,146 persons and 203 cars.

La
Méridionale changes chief
executive again, just eight months
after naming Étienne Melliani

Étienne
Melliani is stepping down as chief
executive of La Méridionale, just
eight after taking the helm. He will
be succeeded on 1 September by
Charles-Henry de Lignac, who has
served as the company’s deputy
commercial managing director,
according to reports first published
by La Provence and Le Marin.

Marine
Atlantic announces huge
infrastructure investment

Canadian
ferry operator Marine Atlantic
announced approximately CAD 270
million in Nova Scotia infrastructure
investments. The investment is as part
of a new multi-year capital
infrastructure program to modernize
critical shore-side infrastructure,
improve service reliability and
support the long-term delivery of
safe, efficient ferry service between
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and
Labrador. The program will renew and
expand key marine transportation
infrastructure, and long-term
operational resilience.

Dublin’s
MP2 project gets MacGregor
linkspan

A major
step forward in Dublin’s MP2 port
plans has been taken with the delivery
of a new double-level linkspan for the
new Berth 53, which will be the
easternmost RoRo berth in the port.
This is the largest linkspan so far in
Dublin, designed to service future
generations of RoPax vessels.

Fabricated
for MacGregor by Crist in Poland, the
two-level linkspan weighing 890 t was
delivered by flat-top barge. It is
expected that the berth, compatible
with the largest size of
new-generation RoPax, will be used by
Stena Line for its connection to
Holyhead.

SUPERFAST
V returns to service after repairs
at Viktor Lenac in Rijeka

The
Visentini-class RoPax, the 32,581 GT
SUPERFAST V, delivered in 2021 and
recently long-term chartered by
Superfast Ferries for their Patras –
Venice route, was sent to the Viktor
Lenac Shipyard in Rijeka for engine
repairs at the end of June.

The
vessel has suffered frequent machinery
breakdowns since its delivery, which
hopefully have been permanently
rectified. It is equipped with two
Caterpillar MaK 12V43C main engines
with a combined output of 25,200 kW.
The vessel is now on its way to Venice
and is expected to imminently return
to service after missing most of the
peak summer season.

New
Türkiye–Russia route apparently
suspended

In
cooperation with logistics company Geo
Grand Line Global, Turkish RoRo
operator Lider Shipping launched a
RoRo freight service between Trabzon,
Türkiye, and Novorossiysk, Russia, on
14 July. However, the service, which
was to be operated by Lider Shipping’s
RoRo SAMPIYON TRABZONSPOR, appears to
have been suspended.

Ferry
disaster on Lake Kariba

As of
13 August, 44 of the 153 people on
board, including five crew members,
had been confirmed dead following a
ferry disaster 11 August in the
Zimbabwean part of Lake Kariba. The
vessel involved was the
non-IMO-registered passenger ferry
MBUYA NEHANDA, operated by RIDA (Rural
Infrastructure Development Agency)
under the Zambian government.

SEAROAD
I on sea trials

The
long-delayed RoRo ship under
construction at Flensburger Shipyard
for the Australian Searoad Shipping
has finally left the yard for sea
trials. The 43,080 GT SEAROAD I was
launched last November and is on track
to be delivered later this year if all
goes to plan.

The
210m long by 29.3m beam RoRo has a
3,792 lane metres capacity on four
decks plus 100 cars. The vessel is
fitted with two Wärtsilä 9L46DF
dual-fuel main engines with a combined
output of 20,600 kW, sufficient for a
service speed of more than 20 knots.

Viking
Line first-half income falls as
associated companies weigh on
result

Key
points:

• H1
  2026 sales down 0.8% to EUR 214.0
  million (EUR 215.8 million);
  operating income EUR -12.0 million
  (EUR -11.2 million); income before
  taxes EUR -18.6 million (EUR -17.2
  million)
• Q2
  2026 sales up 0.7% to EUR 129.3
  million (EUR 128.4 million);
  operating income EUR 6.8 million,
  broadly flat year-on-year
• Weaker
  results from associated companies
  Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö, Alandia
  Försäkring Abp and joint venture
  Gotland Alandia Cruises AB were the
  main drag on the period’s income
• No
  full-year 2026 forecast issued;
  Board expects income before taxes
  for 2026 to be lower than in 2025
  due to higher energy prices and
  associated-company performance
• Passengers
  on wholly owned vessels fell
  slightly to 1,980,954 (2,003,861),
  but estimated market share rose to
  31.8% (31.6%), with a notably
  stronger showing in the passenger
  car segment
• Cargo
  volumes fell to 68,153 units
  (71,324) as Viking Line held pricing
  rather than chase volume; cargo
  market share eased to 18.5% (19.5%)
• Investments
  totalled EUR 11.0 million, chiefly
  the docking of VIKING GRACE

WW
Q2 as expected with capacity sold
out

Wallenius
Wilhelmsen have reported their Q2
results, which were in line with
market expectations. Revenue increased
by 4% to USD 1,305 million but EBITDA
dropped by 9% to USD 349 million QoQ.
EBIT was down 18% to USD 175 million
and profit to USD 138 million.

Along
with other operators active in the
PCTC sector, Wallenius Wilhelmsen
continued to face the challenges of
the closure of Hormuz, higher bunker
prices and the extra costs of routing
via the Cape. WW reported that they
have a contract backlog of USD 6.5
billion, including USD 460 million of
contracts finalised in Q2.

DFDS
chair to step down as Q2 profit
surges and July volumes soften

DFDS is
to reshape its Board of Directors,
with long-serving Chair Claus V.
Hemmingsen stepping down. The
governance move was disclosed minutes
ahead of DFDS reporting Q2 2026
revenue up 10% to DKK 8.6 billion and
EBIT nearly tripling to DKK 454
million, prompting an upgraded
full-year outlook and confirmation
from new CEO Michael Hansen that a
strategy review is under way. DFDS
also reported that July 2026 ferry
volumes were soft across most
corridors, with freight lane metres
down 3.2% and passenger numbers down
1.6% year-on-year.

Ukrainian
military unit reports further
attacks on Russian Kerch ferries

Ferry
capacity across the Kerch Strait
between Russia and the
Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula has
fallen to around 25% of its original
level following further Ukrainian
attacks. This was reported by the
Ukrainian drone unit USF Unit 414
“Magyar’s Birds” on social media.

More
than one million passengers
travelled with Scandlines in July

It has
been a busy summer for Scandlines,
which operates the Rødby-Puttgarden
and Gedser-Rostock routes. In July
alone, 1.173 million passengers
travelled on the company’s ferries
between Denmark and Germany, slightly
more than the 1.152 million recorded
last year.

NEOLINER
ORIGIN on coffee charter with Café
William

The
sail-powered 13,278 GT RoRo NEOLINER
ORIGIN has taken a short break from
its transatlantic service to transport
a load of coffee for Canadian
specialist, Café William. The vessel
loaded over 1,000t of organic
Fairtrade green coffee in Santa Marta,
Colombia and Puerto Cortés in
Honduras.

Former
STENA NAUTICA arrives on new route

After
three months laid up in Frederikshavn,
the former STENA NAUTICA departed on
10 August under its new name, ECKERÖ
LINK. Its first stop was a trial call
at Långnäs in the Åland Islands on 12
August, before arriving at Naantali,
Finland, later that evening. The
1986-built STENA NAUTICA was placed on
the second-hand market by Stena Line
following the closure of the
Halmstad–Grenaa route on 30 April this
year.