Ships Monthly gets brighter and better
Readers will notice that this issue of Ships Monthly is slightly different. With new typefaces and new layouts, it has got cleaner and crisper, while retaining the core values that keep it market leader. The design refresh makes the magazine easier to read. We will of course continue to publish the high quality photographs and articles that make the magazine so popular amongst professional and retired seafarers, shipping enthusiasts and maritime professionals. Looking to the future, we intend to retain the Ships Monthly brand in its position as market leader, and plan to make the magazine even more appealing to those in the shipping world. We hope that our specially commissioned features and outstanding photos will continue to be enjoyed by all our readers.

Final Sailing?
A long time resident of San Francisco Bay the 57-year-old cruise ship Independence left the Bay under tow on 8 February, reportedly for Asia and most probably for demolition.

Gloomy future for Riverdance
Prospects for successfully salvaging the ro-ro freight ferry Riverdance, aground on the North Shore at Blackpool since the last day of January, were looking increasingly remote at the beginning of March. The 6,041gt Seatruck vessel had rolled over on her starboard side with the main vehicle deck, lower hold and engine room flooding with each tide.

Wightlink's New Vessel Launched
Wight Light, first of three new ferries for Wightlink's Lymington-Yarmouth passenger and vehicle service, was launched at Brodogradiliste Kraljevica on 26 January (pictured below) with the naming ceremony performed by a seven-year-old Croatian girl, Nevia Pravdica. Sister vessel Wight Sky, constructed alongside Wight Light, is due for launch in March, and both are expected to be completed in time for the 2008 summer season.

SeaFrance plans for new craft
Newly purchased ferry Jean Nicoli (2002/20,385gt) will be handed over at the end of March, and SeaFrance then plan a €15 million refit before a Calais-Dover route debut on 1 July. Yards have been asked to tender for the work which will see passenger capacity almost doubled from the current 750 to 1,200 through conversion of cabin areas into public rooms.

HD Lines talk of UK link
Following reports that Condor Ferries is on the market for £300 million, rival HD Ferries says it is looking to accelerate plans to start services from Jersey and Guernsey to UK mainland ports.

Stena's North Channel HSS Upgraded
There has been a £2 million upgrade of passenger areas on the HSS1500 catamaran Stena Voyager, employed by Stena Line on the Northern Corridor Irish Sea service between Stranraer and Belfast. Main expenditure has gone on extension of the premium class forward lounge to provide 160 seats for passengers paying a £14 'Stena Plus' supplement for each crossing

False Start For Flagship
The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious has been hit by a number of mechanical problems at the start of what was supposed to be a four-month deployment to the Indian Ocean. The ship's first unplanned U-turn was just two days out of Portsmouth when she was forced to return to port to head off the potential breakdown of one of her main food refrigerators.

Consigned to history
The Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service has ceased to be, with Serco Denholm taking over its operations from 1 April. The end comes following the finalisation of a £1 billion contract for the future provision of marine services (FPMS) in and around the Royal Navy's three main naval bases. Under the new arrangement, Serco and joint venture partners Denholm Shipping will manage, operate and maintain around 110 vessels in port areas and beyond for the next 15 years.

Finnjet To Become Da Vinci
The acquisition-hungry Club Cruise has purchased the former ferry Finnjet (1977/32,975gt) from Sea Containers for around US$11 million and is to have her rebuilt as the 1,600-passenger cruise ship Da Vinci at the T. Mariotti Shipyard in Genoa, well established in major cruise ship conversions, among them Costa Marina (1969/25,558gt), Costa Allegra (1969/28,430gt), Minerva (1996/12,231gt) and Seven Seas Navigator (1999/28,550gt).

Astoria replaces Maxim Gorkiy
Phoenix Seereisen is replacing the 788-passenger Maxim Gorkiy with rival Transocean's smaller 500-passenger Astoria (1981/18,591gt) in April 2009, having announced it is to retire the veteran in November after a 20-year long charter from Sovcomflot. Astoria is being chartered from Club Cruise which also charters Albatros and Alexander von Humboldt II to Phoenix.

Van Gogh sails on
Van Gogh (1975/15,402gt) is to continue cruising for the British market under the banner of a new company set up by her owners, Club Cruise, following the collapse of Gloucester-based Travelscope in December 2007. Van Gogh Cruises will be manned by a dozen former staff from the defunct company, specifically to continue marketing and operating the vessel.

Largest Finnish-flagged ship
Finland's Neste Shipping has placed the 117,000dwt Aframax tanker Stena Arctica under the Finnish flag in the hope that the Finnish government will introduce a new shipping policy in line with those in most other EU countries.

Kite pulls ship across Atlantic
Germany's SkySails and Beluga Shipping are now testing the concept of partially powering a cargo vessel using a giant kite (see SM, April 2006). The multi-purpose heavylift vessel Beluga SkySails left the port of Bremerhaven for Guanta in Venezuela during mid-January equipped with a computer-controlled kite measuring 160m2, which the ship's owners are hoping will cut fuel consumption by as much as 20 per cent and also reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Bulk carrier salvaged in Danish Great Belt
Dutch salvage specialist Multraship successfully refloated the 74,403dwt bulk carrier Trans Pacific east of the island of Samso in the Danish Great Belt on 6 February after the 2004-built vessel grounded on sand and gravel in late January.

Maersk rules the waves
The AP Moller-Maersk group of companies keeps making news. On 15 December 2007 the eighth of the ultra-large PS series of 11,000TEU container ships was named Eugen Maersk at the company's yard at Odense. The previous month, Edith Maersk had been named, while the company announced the appointment of a new CEO, Nils S. Andersen.

High-visibility IMR vessel
One of the first offshore vessels to be delivered this year by Aker Yards, Brattvaag, Norway, is Edda Fauna, an Inspection, Maintenance & Repair (IMR) vessel designed for operation by Østensjø Rederi A/S, Haugesund in northern waters.

US Coast Guard's First National Security Cutter
The US Coast Guard's first National Security Cutter (NSC) Bertholf (WMSL 750) is expected to be handed over within the next few weeks following completion of sea trials. As the first of eight planned NSCs in the USCG's multi-million dollar Deepwater Programme, the 418ft vessel is powered by a combined diesel-gas turbine plant driving twin screws giving a maximum speed of 28 knots.

Al this and more in the April edition of Ships Monthly
Now on sale