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During March and April US and British warships and submarines launched a barrage of cruise missiles against a number of air defence systems in Libya. With a mandate authorised by UN Security Council Resolution 1973 more than 100 Tomahawk land-attack mis...
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HMS Bulwark has emerged from an 11-month upgrade and maintenance period carried out at HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth. The £30 million refit took place during the ship’s first major docking period since being commissioned in April 2005. The amphib...
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The 18,455gt casino ship Long Jie (1972/18,455), which first entered service 39 years ago as Royal Caribbean’s Sun Viking, has been sold to Chinese interests, renamed Oriental Dragon and will operate cruises from Shanghai to Korea and Hong Kong. She i...
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Saga Cruises’ new acquisition is to be named Saga Sapphire when she enters service on 23 March 2012 after a major refit. The 37,301gt ship is currently sailing as Bleu de France for CDF Croisieres de France, a subsidiary of Spain’s Pullmantur, itsel...
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Despite recent political unrest in Egypt, Costa Cruises will maintain a year-round presence in the Red Sea in 2012. Costa Allegra (1969/28,430gt) will be deployed in the region between December 2011 and March 2012, as will Grand Voyager (2000/24,391gt),...
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Spanish operator Happy Cruises has chartered the former Delphin Voyager (1990/21,884gt) for weekly Mediterranean and Adriatic cruises until October, using Venice, Piraeus and Istanbul as base ports. She takes over the published itineraries of one of Hap...
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Princess Cruises unveiled details of the new 141,000gt, 3,600-passenger Royal Princess, due to enter service in spring 2013. She is the first of a new series and not an evolution of the successful Grand class ships, although certain signature elements w...
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A legal wrangle looks likely after LD Lines parent Louis Dreyfus Armateurs cancelled the order for Norman Leader, the 12,000gt vessel reported to be costing the equivalent of £78 million and specifically designed for the English Channel service linking...
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Residents of Dover have given a massive thumbs-down to Dover Harbour Board’s privatisation plans. In a referendum organised by the Dover People’s Port Trust, 5,244 voted for a port owned by the people of Dover, with just 113 against the idea. Organi...
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With strife in Libya continuing, two ferries were used as hospital ships early in April. Ankara, the Turkish vessel which with sister Samsun evacuated foreign nationals from Bizerta when crisis started in February, returned to evacuate wounded civilians...
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A former Irish Sea freight workhorse, once P&O’s Ibex, has opened a new Boluda Lines service from mainland Spain to the Canary Islands. Reyes B (1979/6,310gt), built in Japan to serve P&O’s Fleetwood-Larne route, later had North Sea spells a...
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TransEuropa Ferries ended its Ramsgate-Ostend route commercial agreement with LD Lines during March, ‘to better adapt to market demand and tonnage requirements of both operators.’ The announcement came several days after the LD-owned Ostend Spirit, ...
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Since publication of the article Soviet Workhorses (see SM, Nov 2009), the scrapping of the one-time class of 22 Leningrad-built ro-ro vessels has accelerated sharply, with only two of 11 vessels then remaining not having been scrapped in the last 18 mo...
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The tug tender Calshot (pictured at 42 Berth) has moved to a permanent new home in Southampton. After 12 years alongside a busy ro-ro jetty, the 1929-built vessel has been moved to a new position near Town Quay.
It is hoped the former Red Funnel Towage...
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On the morning of 28 March Condor Ferries’ 86m Incat catamaran Condor Vitesse collided with the French fishing vessel Les Marquises, in foggy conditions north-west of Chausey, in French waters. The ferry was on a crossing between St Malo and Jersey, a...
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Germany’s Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) has been utilised to test an optimised model of a 9,000TEU container ship being developed by FutureShip, a subsidiary of Germanischer Lloyd and the Marine Design & Research Institute of China. Shipowners S...
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French container carrier CMA CGM of Marseilles are offering a 76-day voyage around the world on six of their medium-sized container ships for those who do not like cruise ships. The vessels involved, CMA CGM Blue Whale, Dolphin, Florida, Kingfish, Sword...
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German liner operator Hamburg Süd has gone to China’s Shanghai Shipyard for a series of eight new container ships, the first time the company has ordered ships in China. The medium-sized newbuildings have been contracted for at a price of $50 million...
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Another unwelcome chapter has been added to the short and checkered history of HMS Astute after a serious firearms incident. The nuclear-powered submarine was alongside Southampton during a port visit when two naval officers were shot without warning by...
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On 19 March a crew member from RMS St Helena was airlifted to hospital by the Portland Coastguard helicopter Rescue 106 after he fell nine feet between two metal containers. The 23-year-old man suffered a broken arm after the accident, which occurred wh...
