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The classification of Hamburg Süd’s recently-completed 85,676gt container ship Santa Rosa by Germanischer Lloyd has pushed the Germany classification society’s classified fleet to over 100 million gross tons, with more than 7,200 ships from over 1,...
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A fourth Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyer has been accepted off contract by the Royal Navy. The official handover of HMS Dragon took place shortly after the ship arrived in Portsmouth for the first time under a blue ensign. The billion-pound warship i...
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Carnival Corporation is ordering three new ships for two of its European-based brands. Costa Cruises is getting a 132,000gt 3,700-passenger ship from Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard near Venice, while a Memorandum of Agreement has been signed with Jap...
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Stena Line’s Irish Sea Central Corridor high-speed link between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire is switching to seasonal operation, with no sailings after the HSS 1500 catamaran Stena Explorer finished advertised 2011 sailings on 15 September, until a still-...
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During late July the new Berths 8 and 9 at the Port of Felixstowe were commissioned, and the new container ship MSC Kalina made her maiden call at the new terminal. Both of Mediterranean Shipping Company’s flagship Asia-Europe services, the Lion and S...
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Waverley Excursion’s Balmoral has again had her south coast itineraries disrupted by bad weather around the south-west tip of England, which delayed the vessel’s passage from the Bristol Channel and resulted in the cancellation of the Bridport (West...
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The 87,052dwt bulker Alam Penting broke records when she arrived on the Tyne from New Orleans on 4 August. At 229m long, the ship is the largest cargo vessel ever to berth at the Port of Tyne, and carried 75,000 tonnes of coal, the biggest volume ever h...
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In late July the 18,000-tonne oil products tanker Phoenix ran aground about 30 miles from Durban, on South Africa’s east coast. The 34-year-old ship, formerly Consel Pride, was heading from Lagos to scrapping yards in India with a skeleton crew ...
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It has been confirmed that MSC Cruises’ new flagship, MSC Divina, floated out at the STX France yard in St Nazaire on 3 September, will sail in the Western Mediterranean next summer, offering seven-night cruises from Venice to Bari, Katakolon, Izmir, ...
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Southampton hosted a couple of unexpected cruise visitors that had been diverted due to a severe storm that lashed Northwest Europe in September. Both vessels were due to call at Dover on 6 September but were diverted from the port, which at one point s...
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US-based salvage specialist Donjon Marine managed to lift the 100ft passenger catamaran Royal Miss Belmar off rocks near Great St James Cay in the US Virgin Islands in late August without damaging coral colonies at the site. The catamaran grounded while...
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German shipbuilder Meyer Werft has begun cutting steel for the fifth of Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice class cruise ships, the 3,030-passenger Celebrity Reflection. The 126,000gt vessel will debut in November 2012, following the recently-delivered Celebr...
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The Brazilian training ship NE Brasil visited London in September, arriving at HMS Belfast on 16 September and departing five days later. The visit was part of an annual training passage for cadets to enable them to put into practice theoretical knowled...
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The joint DFDS/Louis Dreyfus Armateurs’ take-over initiative for SeaFrance is one of three bids to be considered in Paris towards the end of October, the others coming from the troubled Calais-Dover operator’s main staff union CFDT and a little-know...
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P&O Ferries took Dover-Calais freight vessel European Seaway (1999/22,986gt) out of service on 30 September. The company explained: ‘This commercial decision will help us better match capacity to current levels of freight demand in the Short Sea s...
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DFDS is investing in new propeller blades for the three ferries in service between Dover and Dunkirk with the aim of reducing bunker consumption and environmental impact.
Built in South Korea by Samsung, Dunkerque Seaways (2005), Delft Seaways (2006) a...
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Engine troubles with Wight Ryder II (pictured) meant cancellations and changes to Wightlink’s Portsmouth-Ryde passenger service in late August. Solent and Wight Line’s Solent Cat (2000/74gt) was chartered to cover some sailings, with her crossings t...
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The one-ship UK operator Noble Caledonia is doubling the size of its fleet with the acquisition of the former Hebridean Spirit, which entered service in 1991 as Renaissance VI. She is a sistership of the 114-passenger Island Sky (1992/4,200gt), built as...
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Two Carnival sisterships ‘made contact’ with each other on 27 July in Key West, Florida. The 2,052-passenger 70,367gt Carnival Fantasy (1990) was manoeuvring to dock at the Mallory Square berth at around 0830, when her stern struck the stern of the ...
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All Leisure Holidays, parent group of Swan Hellenic Cruises, Voyages of Discovery and Hebridean Island Cruises, is investing more than £35 million in building up its fleet and refurbishing existing vessels. The 550-passenger Alexander von Humboldt (199...
