In memoriam
A South African warship made a rare visit to the UK to officially commemorate the 90th anniversary of one of the most tragic and contentious episodes in the nation's history. On 21 July, the frigate SAS Amatola sailed from Portsmouth with 150 guests and VIPs to a spot above the wreck of the troopship Mendi for a brief but symbolic memorial service.
New addition to Trinity House fleet
The 3,569gt multi-function tender Galatea was delivered to Trinity House at Harwich at the end of July, one year after being launched at Stocznia Remontowa SA, Gdansk, Poland.The vessel is the last of three ships ordered from that yard by the UK and Ireland's General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) in a £38 million deal.
Collision off Gibraltar
At around 0600 on 12 August, the Panamanian bulker New Flame (1994/26,824), owned by Greek-based Transmar Shipping, collided with the Danish double-hulled products tanker Torm Gertrud (2002/30,058) just off Europa Point. The former had left Gibraltar after taking on bunkers and was heading into the Mediterranean, while the latter was inbound to Algeciras.
Warships come to Kiel
The annual naval gathering for Kiel Week took place in June when the port once again hosted an impressive number of naval ships from different countries. The German host ship was the air defence frigate Hessen, which arrived on 14 June, followed by her half sister, the Dutch frigate De Ruyter.
Arctic accident
On 8 August, part of a glacier collapsed close to the expedition cruise ship Aleksey Maryshev (1990/1,698gt) as she edged closer to the ice. The collapse caused a huge wave which hit the ship, causing 17 British tourists to be injured, three of them seriously. The accident happened near the Hornsund Fjord on the southeast corner of Spitzbergen, 620 miles from the North Pole and 310 miles north of the Norwegian mainland. The ship was on day ten of a 12-day round-trip cruise from Longyearbyen, Spitzbergen's capital.
Daring exceeds expectations
The first of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyers has successfully completed her stage one sea trials off the west coast of Scotland. The shakedown voyage initially tested Daring's manoeuvring and navigational systems to prove seaworthiness. Her innovative all-electric propulsion system, another first for a Royal Navy warship, was also put through its paces during four weeks of trials.
In all her splendour
Italy's Fincantieri shipyard at Sestri has floated out Carnival Cruise Lines' new 113,300-ton Carnival Splendor, which will be the largest ship in the Carnival fleet when delivered next summer. The 3,006-passenger vessel will feature a host of innovations, including a 21,000ft2 Cloud 9 Spa, 68 spa staterooms and suites, a two-level 5,500ft2 children's play area, and the Carnival Seaside Theater giant outdoor movie screen.
Seatruck looking to Dublin?
Although delivery of Clipper Point, first of four new ferries from Spanish builders, has been delayed, expansion-minded Irish Sea ferry operator Seatruck is believed to have lined up a £6 million purchase of Celtic Link's Liverpool-Dublin freight service. Neither party has commented, but Clipper Group-owned Seatruck had been hinting at additional routes since announcing orders for the 1,830-lane-metre vessels from Spain's Huelva Yard. Clipper Point is now expected to join the Heysham-Warrenpoint service towards the end of September with second ship, Clipper Pace, arriving in January before Clipper Pennant and Clipper Panorama follow in March and May 2008.
Irish Ferries' debut date
Irish Ferries have announced that its latest acquisition, Color Line's Kronprins Harald (1997/31,914gt), will make a first departure from Rosslare to Cherbourg on Friday 30 November under the new name of Oscar Wilde.Thus, the 1,485-passenger/580-car vessel follows Irish Ferries flagship Ulysses and fast craft Jonathan Swift in receiving names with Irish literary connections. Bought by Irish Continental Group for €45 million earlier this year, and chartered back to Color Line until the end of summer schedules, Oscar Wilde will bring a 40 per cent increase in capacity on Ireland-France services.
New ro-pax ordered by LD
Louis Dreyfus Armateurs has ordered a 2,500-lane metre/950-passenger ro-pax vessel from Singapore Technologies Marine for introduction on the successful LD Lines service between Portsmouth and Le Havre in spring 2010. The contract also includes an option for a second vessel.
Condo ships on the horizon
Residensea's The World (2002/ 43,188gt) is celebrating her fifth birthday this year and remains the only condominium ship in service. The brainchild of Knut Kloster Jnr, the US$264 million vessel was built by Norway's Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder and has accommodation comprising 110 private apartments and 88 guest suites. The ship has the capacity for 1,090, although there are usually no more than 200 passengers at any one time, with a crew of 250.
Black Watch quarantined
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' Black Watch (1972/28,670gt) was quarantined in Stockholm on 28 July after a suspected outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease affected six of the 700 passengers aboard the ship during a Baltic cruise. They were hospitalised in Stockholm, but none of the other passengers or crew were allowed ashore. Swedish officials took samples of water from the ship to ascertain the cause of the illness, which is a highly contagious pneumonia-like infection. Two of the passengers were later confirmed as having contacted the disease.
Mersey cruise boom
Liverpool will be the 2008 European Capital of Culture and, with its new £19 million Pier Head cruise facility, is expected to see many more cruise ships on day transit calls in the future. Turnaround traffic will continue to use a facility at West Langton Dock. Cunard has scheduled Queen Elizabeth 2 (1969/70,327gt) to visit Liverpool on 3 October 2008 as part of her 'Farewell to the British Isles Voyage', which will also take in Cobh, Dublin, Belfast, Greenock, South Queensferry (for Edinburgh) and Newcastle.
More nuclear transport ships
Japan's Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding has won an order from UK company Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) for an additional two vessels that will be used to carry radioactive materials between Europe and Japan.
Record heavy lifter
Singapore's Sembawang Shipyard has secured a US$221 million contract from Avonway Ltd, a wholly-owned Cyprus-based subsidiary of Norway's Nordic Heavy Lift, to design, construct, outfit and commission a 5,000-tonne lifting capacity crane ship to be built to Det Norske Veritas classification rules.
Another 'largest ship'
The Swiss-based Allseas Group SA, an offshore installation contractor, has ordered what will be, dimensionally, the largest vessel in existence when she is completed in 2010. To be used for oil platform installation, decommissioning and removal work, as well as pipe-laying, the twin-hulled ship will measure 1,181ft (360m) by 383.8ft (117m).
Important purchase for Targe Towing
Scottish tug owner Targe Towing confirmed its purchase of three former BP tugs, dedicated to towage services at the Coryton oil refinery, with a short ceremony at Tilbury. The future of the trio of modern tanker handling tugs has been in doubt since the sale of the BP refinery in the Thames Estuary was agreed earlier in the year. All three tugs were purpose-built for the terminal by BP and operated under management by Targe, who also manage the BP tug fleet at Hound Point in the Firth of Forth.
Fairmount complete deepsea fleet
Fairmount Expedition, the fifth of the new Fairmount class of tugs, is now in service. The vessel was launched in February, named in Japan on 21 May, and, after extensive trials, joined the fleet of Netherlands-based Fairmount Marine BV early in June.
All this and more in the October issue of SHIPS MONTHLY, now on sale
Ships Monthly, 21 September 2007
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