Two new Ro-Paxes are being delivered to an Australian owner while a US cruise company will soon place a 998-guest ship into service. Ferry operators in the US and Scotland have meanwhile placed orders for replacement vessels.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has selected the US$714.5 million bid from Florida-based the Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) to build three new 160-vehicle hybrid-electric ferries.
Washington State Ferries (WSF) will move forward with the contracting process, following the first competitive bid for ferry construction in more than 25 years, the governor's office said via a press release earlier this week.
The new Spirit of Tasmania Ro-Pax ferry, Spirit of Tasmania IV, departed Leith, Scotland, on June 30 to begin its 14,857-nautical mile (27,512-kilometre) delivery voyage to Hobart, Tasmania.
The 212-metre, 48,000-gross-tonne ship will travel via Gibraltar, the Cape Verde Islands, Cape Town, and Mauritius. According to TT-Line CEO Chris Carbone, the vessel is expected to reach Fremantle, Western Australia, in approximately six weeks, weather permitting.
Viking Cruises has taken delivery of a new cruise ship built by Italian shipyard Fincantieri.
Viking Vesta belongs to a new series of vessels that Viking will place in the small cruise ship segment. Viking Vela, the series' lead ship, was delivered by Fincantieri in 2024.
The Shetland Islands Council of Scotland has awarded Parkol Marine Engineering a contract to build the vessel that would become the new ferry for Fair Isle.
Parkol Marine secured the £5.6 million (US$7.7 million) ferry construction contract following a recent open tender exercise.
Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) has delivered the Spirit of Tasmania V, the second of two new roro-passenger (Ro-Pax) ferries for Australia’s TT-Line Company on June 26.
The new Ro-Pax ferry, along with its sister ship Spirit of Tasmania IV, which was delivered in 2024, will operate on the route between Geelong and Devonport in the Bass Strait. The two new ferries replace predecessors that were also built in Finland in the 1990s and offer significantly higher passenger, vehicle, and freight capacity.