Shippax
Newsletter– week 35

Nova
Shipyard to build 52-metre HSC for
Navigazione Libera del Golfo

The
Turkish Nova Shipyard has signed a
contract with Italy’s Navigazione
Libera del Golfo (NLG) for the
construction of a new 52-metre
aluminium High Speed Craft passenger
vessel.

Freight
lifts Color Group, EU ETS drags it
back down

Key
points

• Operating
  revenues close to NOK 3.0 billion,
  up from NOK 2.9 billion in H1 2025
• EBITDA
  down to NOK 153 million from NOK 255
  million
• 1.52
  million passengers carried, against
  1.56 million a year earlier
• 78,000
  freight units (12-metre
  equivalents), up from 76,000
• EU
  ETS costs of some NOK 140 million,
  up from NOK 83 million — scheme now
  covers 100 per cent of relevant
  emissions, against 70 per cent in
  2025

Fjord1
to begin operations on busy E39
corridor without its four new
ferries

When
Norwegian ferry operator Fjord1 takes
over the concession for the busy
Lavik–Oppedal route from Norled on 1
September, just over 100 kilometres
north of Bergen on the E39 trunk road,
it will do so without the four
potentially autonomous newbuildings
ordered from Tersan Shipyard in
Türkiye in February 2024. The four
fully electric, 120-metre double-ended
ferries, which are being built ready
for automated docking and crossings,
will not be delivered from the Turkish
Tersan Shipyard in time for the start
of the contract. Fjord1 says the four
newbuildings are expected to be
delivered during the autumn.

Car
volumes up 17 per cent at the Port
of Gothenburg

The
Port of Gothenburg handled strong
cargo flows across its rolling cargo
segments during the first half of
2026, with new car volumes rising
sharply and intra-European RoRo
traffic continuing to grow, according
to the port’s volume report for the
period. Handling of new cars increased
by 17 per cent to 144,000 vehicles
between January and June.

Havila
Kystruten delivers strong earnings
growth in the second quarter of
2026

Key
points:

• EBITDA
  NOK 98 million, up 24% y/y; margin
  21% (19% in Q2 2025)
• Revenue
  NOK 479 million, +15%
• Ticket
  revenue NOK 287 million (+10%);
  onboard NOK 85 million (+32%, +6%
  per passenger night); contract
  revenue NOK 103 million (+22%)
• Occupancy
  83% (from 74%); cabin factor 1.86
  (from 1.88); passenger nights 99,800
  (+17%)
• 100%
  operational uptime across the fleet
• CO2
  emissions down 36% vs the coastal
  route’s 2017 baseline

Summer
2026 brought solid growth on Fjord
Line’s routes

Fjord
Line has recorded its best summer
ever. Never have so many passengers
travelled between Norway and Denmark
aboard the company’s vessels. Traffic
increased significantly compared with
last year on both the
Bergen–Stavanger–Hirtshals and
Kristiansand–Hirtshals routes.

Fjord
Line has also recorded growth in the
number of international tourists, who
now outnumber Norwegian passengers on
board. So far this year, almost 60% of
passengers travelling aboard Fjord
Line’s ferries to Bergen, Stavanger
and Kristiansand have come from
countries other than Norway.

Iceland’s
Government working group on ferry
plan sets off

A
working group tasked with developing a
new ferry plan, appointed by Iceland’s
Minister of Infrastructure Eyjólfur
Ármannsson in late summer, has now
begun its work. The group is expected
to complete its assignment by 1
December.

The
group has been tasked with analysing
the current state of ferry services
and developing a comprehensive
strategy and action plan for safe and
reliable ferry transport in Iceland.
The action plan is expected to include
an implementation schedule and cost
estimate for renewing the ferry fleet.
The working group was appointed in
accordance with Action 1.11 of the
parliamentary resolution on Iceland’s
transport plan for 2026–2040.

DG
Sea Connect reports traffic
figures for Gulf of Khambhat
service

Indian
RoPax operator DG Sea Connect has
published preliminary traffic figures
on Instagram after just over five
years of operating its route between
Hazira, the port of Surat, and Ghogha,
the port of Bhavnagar, across the Gulf
of Khambhat in north-western India,
facing the Arabian Sea.

During
this period, DG Sea Connect’s only
RoPax ferry, the 1999-built, 6,118 GT
VOYAGE EXPRESS, which has capacity for
450 passengers and 670 lane metres,
has carried 1.7 million passengers,
230,000 cars and 220,000 trucks.

Fincantieri
launches OCEANIA SONATA in
Marghera

Fincantieri
and Oceania Cruises, a brand of
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.,
have launched OCEANIA SONATA at the
Marghera shipyard. Delivery of the
new-generation luxury cruise ship is
scheduled for 2027.

At
approximately 86,000 GT, OCEANIA
SONATA will accommodate 1,390
passengers and will feature extensive
public areas, high standards of
comfort and a design conceived to
offer an exclusive travel experience.

Marine
Atlantic officially welcomes the
ILE ROUGE

Named
after a small island located off the
Port au Port peninsula of
Newfoundland, the ILE ROUGE reflects
Marine Atlantic’s deep connection to
the people and places it serves. The
name honours both the history and
vibrant community of
Franco-Newfoundlanders in the
province, says Marine Atlantic in a
press release published 26 August.

As
reported by Shippax, ILE ROUGE, which
has been long-term chartered from
Stena RoRo, left Perama, Greece 19
August. Once in North Sydney, the ILE
ROUGE, will undergo final
preparations, crew training and
familiarization activities before
entering service later this Fall.

New
man at the helm of Go Nordic
Cruiseline

Peter
Hove Hildebrandt will take up the
position of Route Director at Go
Nordic Cruiseline on 1 September. The
company operates the two cruise
ferries NORDIC PEARL and NORDIC CROWN
between Copenhagen and Oslo. He
succeeds Kim Heiberg, who has worked
on the route for almost 30 years. DFDS
sold the service to Gotlandsbolaget in
2024.

End
of Common Travel Area affects
ferry passengers crossing the
Irish Sea

From
Monday 28 September, all ferry
passengers travelling between Ireland
and the UK will be required to present
a valid passport when crossing the
Irish Sea between the two countries
and thus passing through a national
border. In practice, this includes
both Stena Line’s and Irish Ferries’
routes between the two countries.
Previously, other forms of valid photo
identification were sufficient.

Increased
ferry-based volumes through
Stockholm’s five ferry ports

During
the first half of the year,
ferry-borne freight volumes increased
at Ports of Stockholm by just over 3%
to approximately 3.1 million tonnes.
Container traffic increased by 14%
compared with the corresponding period
in the previous year.

NFI’s
Norwegian ferry operator posted a
loss in 2025

Torghatten
AS, the major Norwegian domestic ferry
operator owned by NFI (Nordic Ferry
Infrastructure) together with its
Danish counterpart Molslinjen A/S,
recorded a decline in its net result
in 2025. The company, which has more
than 1,600 employees and operates a
mixed fleet of 74 conventional and
high-speed ferries across 47 routes,
posted a net loss of NOK 89.9 million,
compared with a profit of NOK 20.2
million the previous year.

Molslinjen
finds new CEO in the Netherlands

Molslinjen
has looked beyond Denmark to find a
successor to Kristian Durhuus, who
stepped down from his position at the
ferry operator in February this year.
Its new CEO will be 48-year-old Rolf
Nielsen, who will leave his position
as COO of Hanseatic Global Terminals
in Rotterdam.

Before
that, he served as Vice President,
Head of Hub Terminals, at APM
Terminals in The Hague, having
previously held several senior
positions at Mærsk.

AURORA
BOTNIA celebrates five years on
the Vaasa–Umeå route

Wasaline
is marking the fifth anniversary of
AURORA BOTNIA’s entry into service on
the Vaasa–Umeå route. Since entering
service in August 2021, AURORA BOTNIA
has completed 5,700 departures and
carried more than 1.3 million
passengers. The vessel has transported
nearly two million freight lane metres
and approximately 300,000 passenger
vehicles.

Gotlandsbolaget’s
operating result holds steady as
FuelEU Maritime credits offset
weaker passenger volumes

Key
points

• Revenue
  for Q2 2026 rose to SEK 1,003.4
  million (961.1)
• Adjusted
  operating result was SEK -17.2
  million (-17.7)
• Net
  financial items came to SEK 67.3
  million (-13.4)
• Profit
  after tax was SEK 23.5 million
  (-53.6), equivalent to SEK 9.4 per
  share
• Destination
  Gotland passenger volumes fell 5.9
  per cent in the quarter, mainly due
  to a weak June
• Go
  Nordic Cruiseline carried 169,358
  guests across weeks 25–33, down 4.8
  per cent, with revenue per passenger
  up slightly
• The
  acquisition of a 30 per cent stake
  in Nordic Ferry Infrastructure
  (NFI), via NP HoldCo AS, received
  regulatory approval in early July
  and has been completed
• A
  new credit facility of up to SEK
  1,200 million was signed during the
  quarter
• Construction
  of the new catamaran GOTLAND HORIZON
  X has reached a major milestone,
  with its first hull section lifted
  into place
• Destination
  Gotland’s Trafikverket agreement is
  confirmed to move home to Gotland
  from Denmark
• Gotlandsbolaget
  has begun examining a possible move
  from Nasdaq First North to Nasdaq
  Stockholm’s main list

Höegh
Autoliners orders six more
Aurora-class car carriers,
extending programme to 18 ships

Höegh
Autoliners announced that it has
ordered six additional Aurora-class
vessels, extending its newbuilding
programme to a total of 18 ships. The
order was placed with China Merchants
Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.
(CMHI), with the new ships scheduled
for delivery between 2029 and
2031. Alongside the firm order, Höegh
Autoliners secured an option to build
four further vessels on the same
terms, exercisable within six months,
plus slot reservations for another
four ships, with notice due by 31
December 2027.

New
RoRo vessel SKIPANES delivered to
Smyril Line

Smyril
Line has taken delivery of its new
RoRo freight vessel SKIPANES from the
CIMC Raffles shipyard in Yantai,
China. SKIPANES and her sister ship
AKRANES are Smyril Line’s first
purpose-built RoRo newbuildings,
designed together with Danish naval
architects Knud E. Hansen specifically
for the route linking Europe, the
Faroe Islands and Iceland, with an
emphasis on year-round North Atlantic
performance as well as crew comfort
and well-being.

HAMANASU
to enter service on 1 September

Shin
Nihonkai Ferry, one of the largest
ferry operators in Japan, has
announced that its latest RoPax,
HAMANASU, will enter service on the
Otaru–Maizuru route on 1 September
2026. HAMANASU is being built at
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’
Shimonoseki shipyard, but an issue was
confirmed during construction, and the
delivery was significantly delayed.
She was originally set to enter
service on 29 June 2026.

YAIMA
MARU to reduce services to once a
week from October 2026

Shosen
Yaima/Yaima Line’s YAIMA MARU will
reduce services to once a week from
October 2026, according to local
media. The 21,535 GT YAIMA MARU
started operation between Ishigaki
(Japan) and Keelung (Taiwan) on 28 May
2026, sailing twice a week on the
eight-hour route.

Currently,
YAIMA MARU carries passengers only.
Shosen Yaima/Yaima Line intends to
also carry cargo, but cargo transport
is not yet in sight as of now,
according to local media.

Three
US-based RoRo operators awarded
new Joint Global Sealift Charter
contracts

U.S.
Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)
awarded the Joint Global Sealift
Charter contract to seven commercial
shipping companies. This contract
provides global, short-term dry cargo
time and voyage charters using RoRo,
multi-purpose, or vehicle carrier
vessels (among others PCTCs) to
support USTRANSCOM’s strategic sealift
missions. Companies receiving the
contract include the
RoRo/PCTC-operators American Roll-On
Roll-Off Carrier LLC, Farrell Lines
Inc, and Liberty Global Logistics LLC.
The non-RoRo operators receiving the
contract are Federated Maritime LLC,
Patriot Shipping LLC, Schuyler Line
Navigation Company LLC, and Waterman
Transport Inc.

Huge
public investment in Alaska Marine
Highway System

The
U.S. Federal Government has awarded
over USD 410 million in grant funding
across six applications to support the
Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) in
rural Southeast Alaska. The funds
allocate USD 161.2 million for ongoing
vessel operations, crew, fuel, and
maintenance across 20+ communities in
line with the AMHS 2045 Long Range
Plan, USD 153.4 million to design and
build a replacement for the 1974-built
ferry LeConte, USD 37.6 million for
the Cascade Point Ferry Terminal to
shorten Juneau–Haines–Skagway sailings
by roughly one-third, USD 33.4 million
to modernize the Kake Ferry Terminal
for larger fleet vessels, USD 20.6
million to expand the Saxman Seaport
freight capacity, and USD 4 million to
upgrade reservation and customer
operations systems.

Strategic
Marine delivers first of three new
catamaran ferries for Bintan
Resort Ferries

Strategic
Marine has delivered PUTRI MAYANG
SARI, the first of three new 43-metre
catamaran ferries it is building for
Bintan Resort Ferries (BRF), at a
naming ceremony at its Singapore
shipyard. The vessel, which had its
keel laid in September 2025, can carry
up to 293 passengers across two decks,
including 57 Emerald Class seats, and
will serve the Singapore–Bintan route
as part of BRF’s fleet renewal
programme.

New
Bass Strait ferry attracts
considerable attention during
Devonport trial call

More
than 2,000 locals gathered along the
banks of the Mersey River at the
entrance to Devonport, Tasmania, at
around 07:00 local time on 23 August
as Spirit of Tasmania’s SPIRIT OF
TASMANIA IV called at its home port
for the first time. The two-day trial
call took place ahead of the vessel’s
planned entry into service across the
Bass Strait between Devonport and
Geelong, near Melbourne, in October.

Scandlines
continues plug-in hybrid upgrade
on the Rødby–Puttgarden route

Scandlines
has sent the second of its two
German-owned Rødby–Puttgarden ferries
for the planned conversion from hybrid
to plug-in hybrid operation, which the
company announced in June 2025.
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN left the route
across the Fehmarn Belt on 23 August,
sailing for BLRT Group’s Western
Shipyard in Klaipeda, Lithuania.

Fincantieri
and Viking sign contracts for two
new cruise ships

Fincantieri
has signed contracts with Viking for
the construction of two new ocean
ships, The deal exercises options the
two companies agreed in April 2025 and
extends a partnership that now spans
28 vessels.

The new
ships will be built at Fincantieri’s
shipyard in Ancona, Italy, with
delivery scheduled for 2032.
Classified as small cruise ships, each
vessel will have a gross tonnage of
approximately 54,300 GT, accommodate
998 passengers across 499 cabins, and
be built to the latest environmental
and navigational regulations,
incorporating modern safety systems.

Höegh
Autoliners Q2 impacted by higher
bunker costs

Höegh
Autoliners’ Q2 figures were somewhat
disappointing despite a 4% increase in
revenue to USD 376m. EBITDA was down
by 16%, compared with Q1, to USD 122m
and net profit before tax also slumped
by 16% to USD 85m. This was on the
back of a 39% hike in bunker
expenditure, costing an additional USD
21m.

SUPERFAST
VI launched

The
largest vessel yet in the Superfast
fleet, the 47,062 GT SUPERFAST VI, has
been launched from its building berth
at the China Merchants Shipbuilding
(CMS) Weihai shipyard. At 239.7m long
with a 27.8m beam, she is the 14th and
largest vessel built to Stena RoRo’s
E-Flexer design. Due for delivery in
spring 2027, the vessel will carry
1,500 passengers with 850 beds across
254 cabins, while her three freight
decks offer 3,320 lane metres for
trucks and trailers.