Fire on the Calypso
The Cypriot-flagged The Calypso (1967/11,162) was towed to Southampton on 6 May by the salvage tug Anglian Monarch. She was disabled by an engine room fire which broke out in the early hours of the morning, while she was about 16 miles off Beachy Head. There were no casualties among the 246 crew or 462, mostly Dutch, passengers. Owend by Louis Cruise Lines, The Calypso was en route from Tilbury to St Peter Port, Guernsey, and had been scheduled this summer to undertake the company's first ever series of cruises from the UK to the Baltic. Once her passengers were repatriated from Southampton, an assessment of the damage was carried out.

Jewel in the RCI crown
On 29 April 2006 the world's biggest ever cruise ship arrived at Southampton's City Cruise Terminal for a series of publicity events. Freedom of the Seas, the most recent addition to Royal Caribbean's fleet of 20 ships, and takes centrestage amongst modern cruising icons. As the first of RCI's 160,000grt UltraVoyager series, she is 15 per cent bigger than the Voyager class vessels. Built by Aker Finnyards in Turku, the ship was officially delivered to RCI in Hamburg on 24 April having left Finland three days earlier. Her official maiden voyage from Miami departed 4 June after extensive trade and media events had been held in Hamburg, Southampton and New York. She called at Southampton from 30 April to 3 May when she left for New York.

Dunbrody ready to tour
The replica emigrant ship, the 458 tonne three-masted barque Dunbrody, has been refurbished ready for a series of maiden national voyages during the summer. During March and April, she was given an overhaul which involved her masts being removed (as pictured above) and various other work undertaken on deck. She is due to complete a maiden voyage around Tuskar Rock and up Ireland's east coast to arrive in Dublin on 2 June as the main attraction in the Dublin Dockland's Maritime Festival. She will return to her New Ross home on 9 June and then, on 20 June, depart for Milford Haven, crossing the Irish Sea for the first time to join over 100 boats in the Milford Haven Estuary for the Sea Fair Haven Festival. Her return journey, leaving Milford on 1 July, will see her return to a homecoming party on 4 July.

Channel Seaways trade doubles
Guernsey-based Channel Seaways has doubled its freight volume between the Channel Islands and the UK as a direct result of its January 2006 move from Portland to Poole. Bulk cargoes of general construction materials, household goods and other consumables are exported through the port to the Channel Islands, from where various cargoes including scrap cars for recycling are imported on the sister ships Isis and Burhou 1 (both 1978/674gt). Kevin Mitchell