Dismantling to proceed
The four AMERICAN 'ghost ships', which have been laid up near Hartlepool for the last five years, are set to be dismantled by Able UK in the coming weeks after they were granted a licence for the work. The US Reserve Fleet vessels arrived at the Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre for dismantling but there followed a long-running battle over environmental concerns which delayed the work. The contract for dismantling a further 13 US Navy reserve ships was lost because of the delays.

Maersk orders new box ships
Bypassing its own financially-troubled shipyard in Lindo, the A. P. Moeller- Maersk group has gone to South Korea for $4 billion worth of new container ships. In late June the company awarded Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, a contract worth $1.6 billion to build 18 new 4,500TEU container carriers for Maersk Line's routes to Africa.

LD plan Boulogne service
After successfully reviving the Portsmouth-Le Havre route and taking over the Transmanche Ferries operation from Newhaven to Dieppe, LD Lines will expand further next summer by launching a service between Dover and Boulogne. Four return sailings a day from 1 July will use a new €35 million ro-ro terminal built by Boulogne Chamber of Commerce. LD Lines aim to carry 300,000 passengers, 130,000 cars and 120,000 lorries in the first year.

Incat 050 arrives in the UK
Incat 050, newly purchased by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, completed a delivery voyage from Tasmania to Portsmouth, where she is to be refitted by Fleet Support Ltd, arriving on 16 July. Built in 1998, the 96m vessel will be converted to carry 800 passengers and 200 cars for service between Liverpool and Douglas next year.

Brittany Ferries goes head to head with P&O
Brittany Ferries is starting a new cruise-ferry service from Portsmouth to Santander in northern Spain next April, using its €165 million flagship Pont-Aven (2004/40,859gt). There will be a weekly Monday departure offering 24-hour passages, which is a sailing time some eight hours faster than the southbound journey of the Portsmouth-Bilbao route operated by P&O for the past 15 years.

Hellespont expands fleet
of Greece, which traces its beginnings back to the formation of Papachristidis Co Ltd at Montreal, Canada in the post-war period, is expanding its fleet with a number of newbuildings, including the recently delivered Hellespont Credo.

LNG shipments on increase
Production and shipment of LNG is to increase in the coming months as new LNG plants in Asia and Qatar come on stream. Atlantic gas is also shipped to the Asia market and at the moment there have been record LNG carrier deliveries. Japan alone has increased LNG imports by 25 per cent, while owners of spare Atlantic LNG are shipping it to Asian markets paying higher prices than those in North America and Europe.


Nomadic to move
Nomadic, the former White Star Line tender, will be moved from Barnett Dock to a permanent home in Belfast's Hamilton Graving Dock before the end of the year. It is planned that the 220ft steamship, undergoing restoration by the Nomadic Preservation Society, will be opened to the public next year as part of a major tourist attraction.

East coast refit for Robin
Robin, the last remaining British steam coaster, has left London for the first time in 18 years for the first stage of a £2 million restoration programme. She was towed from the West India Docks by the tug Napia on 28 June bound for Small & Co's repair yard in Lowestoft to be dry docked.

Ocean Queens building to begin
Ten years on from when two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy were first mooted, plans which have been overshadowed by great uncertainty ever since, the UK government has at last given the go-ahead for construction work to start. In signing on the dotted line, the government stressed the ships, to be named HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, would be joint service assets and would greatly improve the UK's ability to project expeditionary air power.

Last Duke joins Armada
he Chilean Navy has completed the modernisation of its surface fleet with the handover of the last of eight second-hand frigates to replace its vintage County class destroyers and Leander class frigates. Almirante Condell was commissioned at Portsmouth on 28 May with the former HMS Marlborough becoming the fourth Chilean warship to bear the name.

Russia to scrap British nuclear subs?
ome of the UK's ghost fleet of 14 decommissioned nuclear submarines could end their days in a Russian scrapyard. At present, the UK does not have the facilities to reprocess nuclear components and has to store the submarines afloat.

New Chinese rescue tug on show
The impressive rescue tug Nan Hai Jiu 101, operated by the China Rescue and Salvage Bureau (CRS), travelled to Singapore earlier in the year to go on show to delegates of the International Towage & Salvage Convention 2008. The 4,091gt tug was completed in September 2007 and reflects the strenuous efforts being made by the Chinese government to dramatically improve rescue, salvage and counter pollution services in coastal and inshore waters and at sea.

Ursus joins Harms fleet
The fleet of Hamburg-based Harms Offshore Gmbh continues to grow rapidly, with five powerful new anchor-handling tugs entering service in three years with more new vessels to come. The latest delivery, Ursus, is sistership to Janus delivered in October 2007 by the Mutzelfeldtwerft Gmbh shipyard at Cuxhaven.

Princess sextet in Europe
Six Princess cruise ships will sail in Europe during 2009, with two making their debuts in the region. The 670-passenger Tahitian Princess (1999/30,277gt), which has sailed virtually exclusively in the South Pacific since being acquired in 2002, repositions to this side of the world after a 107-day world cruise departing from Port Everglades on 14 January.

Dream for Thomson
Louis Cruise Lines is to replace The Emerald (1958/23,428gt) with Norwegian Dream (1992/50,764gt) for charter to Thomson Cruises next year. The second of two NCL ships recently acquired by Louis, Norwegian Majesty (1992/40,876gt) will sail under the Louis banner when delivered a year later. Louis has not scheduled any sailings for The Emerald in 2009 because of her high fuel costs and the future of the 50-year old steam turbine ship must now be very uncertain.

Carnival Dream revealed
arnival's largest ever 'Fun Ship', the 130,000gt Carnival Dream, the first of a new class and currently under construction at Fincantieri's shipyard at Monfalcone, enters service on 21 September 2009. Her inaugural 12-day Mediterranean cruise from Civitavecchia to Barcelona includes calls at Naples, Livorno, Venice, Dubrovnik and Monaco.

Eurodam signs in at Southampton
In June 2008 the Holland America Line fleet became 14-strong with the delivery of Eurodam, the first of the innovative Signature Class ships. The keel of the new ship was laid on 9 February 2007 at the Porto Maghera yard of Fincantieri in Italy. Sea trials commenced in March 2008 and the ship was handed over on 16 June 2008.

Variety is the spice of Kiel
The annual Kiel Week naval gathering took place in June with a wide selection of ships visiting the German port. The German host ship was the multi-purpose frigate Bayern, which arrived on 19 June. The same day the Greek submarine Papanikolis, still not accepted by the Greek navy, was on trials from builders HDW in the Baltic.

Maritime magic in the Mersey
The latest Tall Ship extravaganza to come to British shores saw Liverpool and the Mersey play host to the Tall Ship's Races 2008 from 18 to 21 July. The event culminated in a parade of sail dwon the Mersey. The fleet of approximately 60 vessels gathered in formation and then proceeded downriver and out to sea, lead by the frigate HMS Argyll and accompanied by a small flotilla of other craft.