Five Star News

China's first domestically-built large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, has departed from Shanghai for sea trials.The 135,500 gross tonne vessel was built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. It is being classified by Lloyd’s Register and China Classification Society.The vessel has 2,125 guest rooms and can accommodate up to 5,246 passengers. The public entertainment area is over 40,000 square meters (nearly six standard football fields) over 16 floors.

Swan Hellenic has taken delivery of SH Diana, its third expedition cruse ship built by Helsinki Shipyard.The 125-meter-long, 12,100 GRT newbuild is the largest ship in the Swan Hellenic fleet. Accommodating 192 passengers, SH Diana is slightly larger than 152-passenger SH Minerva and SH Vega launched from Helsink Shipyard in in December 2021 and July 2022 respectively.The Finnish shipbuilder in December sold the ship to Swan Hellenic at auction after the original buyer, Russian-owned GTLK Europe…

Finnish shipbuilder Helsinki Shipyard said it has secured an order to build a third luxury expedition cruise vessel for British operator Swan Hellenic.The new vessel is scheduled to be delivered at the end of 2022, and like the two ships already on order, it is designed for the global cruise market, with an emphasis on high-latitude cruises, the shipbuilder said. Helsinki Shipyard said design work is already underway and that construction is slated to begin in the summer of 2021.The order follows a keel laying ceremony held in September for the 113-meter…

Nakilat  announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 with a net profit of $76 million compared to $64 million during the same period in 2019, with an increase of 18%.Despite the ongoing challenges of the global pandemic, Nakilat continued to uphold operational management of its LNG and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vessels.Additionally, Nakilat group continued to strengthen its value proposition, with the ship repair, offshore fabrication, towage and…

London-based international law firm Watson Farley & Williams has advised TUI Cruises GmbH on its acquisition of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises from TUI AG for US$1.3bn, excluding net debt.According to the the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in summer 2020. The deal includes the acquisition of HL Cruises’ luxury and expedition fleet, consisting of two five-star plus luxury vessels and three expedition cruise ships, by TUI Cruises. This expands TUI Cruises’ existing fleet to twelve cruise ships, which will enable it to participate in the growth of the cruise industry as the…

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini attacked France and Germany on Tuesday over their role in a European Union investigation into a planned merger involving Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri."What has happened is extremely serious, France and Germany behaved wrongly.

A retired U.S. Navy captain pleaded guilty to criminal conflict of interest charges and a former U.S. Navy master chief was sentenced to 17 months in prison today on corruption charges. The defendants are among the latest U.S. Navy officials to plead guilty and be sentenced in the expansive corruption and fraud investigation involving foreign defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis and his Singapore-based ship husbanding company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA).Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Adam L.

Rotterdam’s cruise season starts on 15 March. AIDAperla will arrive for the first time at the Cruiseport Holland Amerikakade at 08.00 hours on that day. The vessel replaces the AIDAprima. AIDAperia was taken into operation in 2017 and is a sister vessel of AIDAprima. Only the interior differs from the Prima. The vessel will also sail weekly between Hamburg, Southampton, Le Havre, Zeebrugge (Brussels) and Rotterdam. Until November, AIDAperla can be admired on the Wilhelminapier every Thursday. The ultra-modern vessel is equipped to convert LNG - liquefied gas - on board to power the vessel’s hotel function. A truck will deliver the LNG. With some 80 arrivals, it promises to be a busy cruising season in Rotterdam.

Niels-Erik Lund began his passenger ship career in 1969 as a trainee in a Danish passenger shipping company, DFDS. In the nearly 50 years since, the passenger and cruise shipping industry has changed many times over, with consistent growth being the only similarity between then an now. Today Lund, President & CEO of Sunstone Ships, Inc., has an unfettered view of the expedition cruise sector that he helped to create. With the expedition and luxury cruise segments set for fast growth, Maritime Reporter spoke to Lund to help put the market in better perspective.

The Chairman of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ACSC) Rauf Veliyev and Konstantin Anisimov, the General Director of Moscow River Shipping Company (MRSC) signed in Baku a memorandum of cooperation in cruise shipping in the Caspian region with the use of the new cruise passenger vessel "Peter the Great". The agreement was signed during the visit of the Russian delegation headed by Konstantin Anisimov to Baku. The agreement provides for joint activities on study and development of optimal routes for cruise passenger vessels, such as ports of the Black Sea - inland waterways of the Russian Federation - Astrakhan - ports of the Caspian Sea; Moscow-Baku; Astrakhan - Makhachkala - Baku; Baku-Anzali- Nowshahr -Turkmenbashi-Aktau-Astrakhan and others.

The next stage of construction for the second of the two new expedition ships for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has been set in motion with a keel laying ceremony for the HANSEATIC inspiration held on October 18, 2017, in the Romanian port of Tulcea. The cruise line’s CEO, Karl J. Pojer, laid a specially produced coin in the first steel block of what will become the ship’s hull. As with its sister ship, the HANSEATIC nature, the coin was welded into the block and will bring the new vessel good fortune on all future expeditions. The keel laying of the HANSEATIC inspiration at the Vard shipyard in Romania will be followed by more milestones, such as the float-out of the hull and the completion of the external construction work.

Rolls-Royce said it has signed a deal with WestSea Yard, part of Martifer Group, to equip an expeditionary oceanic cruise ship for Portuguese based cruise company Mystic Cruises. The vessel, to be called the MS World Explorer, will be the company’s first expeditionary oceanic cruise ship. The MS World Explorer will offer expeditionary cruise itineraries in Antarctica from November to March and this new vessel’s inaugural Antarctic season is already fully chartered to, and being distributed globally by, Polar Cruise Company Quark Expeditions.

June 20, 2017 began the next construction stage for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ first newbuild expedition cruise vessel, HANSEATIC nature. During a keel laying ceremony at the VARD shipyard in Tulcea, Romania, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises CEO, Karl J. Pojer, placed a coin inside the steel block; the coin was welded into the block and will accompany the ship on all its future cruises. HANSEATIC nature‘s keel consists of two steel blocks: each block is 9 meters long, 11 meters wide, 1,5 meters high and weighs 33 tons.

Vessel sales for April 2017 (as of May 1) as prepared by Shipping Intelligence, Inc., New York.

The popular five-star expedition ship, the MS HANSEATIC is set to remain in the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises fleet for six more months, until the end of September 2018. The first of the Germany-based cruise provider’s two new expedition ships will be launching in April 2019. The international preview brochure, due to be published in mid-December, will contain two international cruises on board the HANSEATIC, as well as three international expedition cruises on board the BREMEN. The cruises on the BREMEN are intended to serve as a transition until the launch of the new international expedition ship, which will offer bilingual (English/German) cruises. “We are preparing our fleet for the future with our two new expedition ships.

Vard Holdings Limited announced that it has secured contracts to build four luxury expedition cruise vessels with French cruise company PONANT. The contracts follow on a Letter of Intent (LoI) reached in March 2016, which set out several conditions to be met including satisfactory financing. All conditions have now been fulfilled and the contracts have become effective. The ice-class expedition cruise vessels will be approximately 10,000 gross tons, about 131 meters long, 18 meters wide and will have a cruise speed of 15 knots.

The marine terminal of Vadinar Oil Terminal Ltd (VOTL), which is part of Essar Ports Ltd, has been the best performing terminal in the Kandla Port Trust (KPT) for two consecutive years. The terminal recently received a certificate of appreciation from KPT, which crossed 100 million tonnes of cargo throughput for the first time in FY 2015-16. VOTL is an integrated oil terminal located in Vadinar, Gujarat with 58 million tonnes capacity and handles crude oil and petroleum products. The facilities consist of an offshore SPM (Single Point Mooring), two jetties, 3.12 Million KL tankages for storage, and rail and road gantries for dispatch of petroleum products.

A state-of-the-art containership designed by the Schulte Group to meet the most stringent international environmental standards is already outperforming in terms of design and performance and attracting positive attention in the industry. The 5,400 TEU Carl Schulte, along with its two sister vessels, Christa Schulte and Clemens Schulte, has many environmental features as standard. Her owner Bernhard Schulte, together with her manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), succeeded…

Drydocks World, an international service provider to the shipping, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors, announced it has received a five star rating from the British Safety Council for the Occupational Health and Safety. The company underwent a detailed, quantified and objective audit conducted by the British Safety Council on occupational health, safety management systems and a number of key safety indicators. Drydocks World’s management continually focuses on principles that enhance operational excellence, sustainable development and creating a culture to increase the safety of employees.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB)  released its investigation report (M14P0121) into the June 12, 2014, capsizing and sinking of the fishing vessel Five Star in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia. The Five Star was on its way back to Kelsey Bay, British Columbia, after a three-day crab-fishing voyage, with the master and one crew member aboard. The vessel was carrying approximately 1,250 kg of crabs in 22 holding cages stowed on the deck. While underway, approximately one third of the catch was transferred to a large empty tote positioned on the centerline of the deck and secured to port and starboard of the vessel. Later in the voyage, the vessel encountered increased winds and one-meter waves affecting the vessel on its stern quarters.

The design evolution of Blyth Workcats will be on display at Seawork on Stand B27 where the company will be showing examples from its versatile range. Well known for their robust seaworthiness and economical performance, workboats from this well-established Essex yard are able to perform tasks that range from fisheries patrol, wind farm support, surveying, dive support, passenger ferry, fishing charter and general harbour maintenance activities. With a range consisting of 10, 11, 12, 14, 18 and 20-metre catamarans all Blyth Workcats are constructed from GRP to offer important advantages over metal-hulled boats including lower running costs and a much lower purchase price.

Petter Sundet, Captain of Edda Fortis, discusses with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News the evolution of top-notch accommodation in the offshore environment. Please provide a brief bio. Specifically, how did you come to a career in the marine industry, and ascend to your current position? I first went to sea when I was 16 years old, to see the world. The first years I sailed as a deck hand, then as an ordinary seaman and then became an Able Seaman which was as far as you could go without any formal education. During this time I worked on general cargo ships, oil tankers, and OBO carriers.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has become the Official Global Partner of the World Corporate Golf Challenge (WCGC), the largest and longest running corporate amateur golf event. The new venture is set to expand international participation, branding and media attention, making the event the "must-play" golf tournament of the year for business executives around the globe. An established event, held consecutively for 20 years, WCGC now plans to launch new tournaments in emerging and established markets across every continent to increase the number of business executives taking part worldwide. The ambition is to host events in over 60 countries and recruit more than 40,000 high level executives, representing approximately 25,000 companies year on year.