Call Port News

Norwegian Cruise Line's ship Norwegian Sun has returned to call Port Canaveral its homeport for another year. Also returning are the popular all-inclusive cruises to Cuba.Starting today (April 15), the Norwegian Sun, which in 2018 became the first homeported cruise ship to sail from Port Canaveral to Cuba, will offer four-, five- and seven-day cruises to Havana, Cuba, with select sailings also calling to Key West during its four-day cruises.Ports of call during the Sun’s five- and seven-day voyages include Key West, Nassau, Bahamas, or Norwegian’s private island beach at Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. “We are excited that the Norwegian Sun is returning for another season of cruises to Cuba,” Port CEO Capt. John Murray stated.

A 15-year contract will see a new ESVAGT service operation vessel (SOV) support MHI Vestas Offshore Wind in the Deutsche Bucht (DeBu) Wind Farm project. ESVAGT will deliver the SOV for MHI Vestas in August 2019. The new contract is not only the longest in ESVAGT’s history, but it is also the largest in terms of value. “This contract builds on the strong relationship we have had with MHI Vestas since 2010,” said ESVAGT A/S Chief Executive Officer, Søren Nørgaard Thomsen. MHI Vestas and ESVAGT have collaborated on the Belwind 1 and Nobelwind 1 offshore wind farm projects in Belgium since 2010…

Governor Nathan Deal, Port of Savannah officials and the maritime community were on hand to welcome the COSCO Development, the largest containership to ever call on the U.S. East Coast as it handled 5,500 containers, a record for Georgia’s ports. “This is another example of how the Port of Savannah is the gateway not just for the U.S. Southeast, but for America’s East Coast,” said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. During the ship’s 30 hours at dock, up to six cranes moved 10,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent container Units) on and off the vessel, which translated into more than 50 percent of the vessel’s entire volume for its maiden voyage to the U.S. East Coast. With a capacity of 13,092 twenty-foot equivalent container units, the Development measures 1,201 feet long and 158 feet wide.

The President and CEO of the MPA, Sylvie Vachon, together with the Minister for Maritime Affairs, Jean D’Amour, the Mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, and the Mayor of the Borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Réal Ménard, today announced the signing of an agreement for the establishment of an industrial port zone (IP Zone) in Montreal. The members of the local committee mandated to establish the Montreal Zone IP are: the City of Montreal, the City of Montreal East, the Montreal Metropolitan Community, CargoM and the relevant departments and agencies. Under this agreement, the government will fund up to 70% of costs associated with implementing the related development plan, to a maximum of $125,000.

The Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship Norwegian Jade will set sail from Port Tampa Bay during the upcoming winter cruise season. Port Tampa Bay officials welcomed the 2,402-passenger ship for the 2016-2017 fall/winter cruise season. Norwegian Jade is replacing the Norwegian Star, which sailed from Tampa last year, according to a news release. Norwegian Jade will sail Sundays to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatán and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' new southern Belize destination, Harvest Caye. The ship will also operate two eight-day holiday sailings this month that add a stop at Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala. Guests sailing on Norwegian Jade will also be able to enjoy further Caribbean adventures with two 10-day and two 11-day Eastern Caribbean cruise from Tampa.

The Port of London saw larger ships than ever calling last year as the tonnage of cargo handled at Thames terminals climbed to 45.4 million metric tons (up 2 percent from 2014). PLA chief executive, Robin Mortimer said, “Last year a number of operators introduced new, bigger ships and records were broken. The record breakers included containership, UASC Barzan and cruise ship Viking Star. The 400 -meter-long Barzan set a new benchmark as the biggest-ever ship on the Thames when she called at London Gateway Port in September.

International container shipping company CMA-CGM of France announced that it will begin service within the next couple of weeks to the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. The Port of Baltimore has been added to CMA-CGM’s Liberty Solo service which also includes visits to ports in Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, New York, and Charleston. “This is great news for the Port of Baltimore and for the thousands of men and women who work here,” said Maryland Port Administration (MPA) Executive Director James J. White. “CMA-CGM is one of the largest container shipping companies in the world. The Port of Baltimore averages nearly 40 container moves per hour per crane, one of the fastest and most efficient rates among East Coast ports.

The Georgia Ports Authority Board approved Monday $86.5 million to purchase four new ship-to-shore cranes and 20 new rubber-tired gantry cranes (RTGs) used to handle containers at Garden City Terminal. “Our continued infrastructure investments enable us to work larger vessels and provide faster service to our customers,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. This latest order of new cranes is scheduled to arrive in February 2016, and will give GPA a total of 20 Super Post-Panamax cranes and nine Post-Panamax cranes, more than any other single, self-funded terminal in the U.S.

The Port of Seattle says it will welcome Pacific International Lines (PIL) to its harbor in February. PIL’s new Asia Pacific Northwest Service (ANW) will call Terminal 30 in partnership with China Shipping Container Lines’ (CSCL) and United Arab Shipping Company’s (UASC) existing joint service. The service will have a port rotation of Nansha/ Hong Kong/ Yantian/ Ningbo/ Shanghai/ Pusan/ Seattle/ Vancouver/ Nansha. The service gives fast and reliable transits for imports to the PNW and beyond, while providing expanded options for exports.

The largest containerized cargo ship in Port Everglades’ history, equal to the size of an air craft carrier, is calling at the South Florida seaport, Monday, October 22. The MSC Texas, at 1,095-feet long, 141-feet wide and 90,745-gross-registered tons, can carry as many as 8,238 20-foot containers when fully loaded at a draft of 47.6 feet. The ship is coming from Northern Europe on a weekly service into Port Everglades. Previously, the largest container ship to call at Port Everglades, also an MSC ship that came in March 2011, was 1,066-foot-long, 140-foot wide, 89,954-gross-registered-tons. MSC is one of the leading global shipping lines in the world. “Container ships are increasingly larger because it makes good business and environmental sense to carry more cargo per voyage.

Antillean Marine Shipping Corp., a long-time Miami River ocean carrier company, is expanding its business to Broward County’s Port Everglades. The family-owned and operated company has been one of the Miami River’s anchor marine cargo companies since 1963. The move to Port Everglades will enable Antillean to handle higher cargo volumes and transshipment opportunities with other carriers. Antillean Marine will be operating from Port Everglades Terminals (PET) with regular liner service to ports in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and Panama. Port Everglades’ officials estimate Antillean Marine will bring to the South Florida seaport over 60,000 containers annually. The first Antillean ship to call Port Everglades is the Michael J.

The Coast Guard detained a merchant vessel Wednesday evening for having an inoperable emergency fire pump on board. The merchant vessel Suijin, which is homeported in Panama, was boarded at the Blair Terminal in Tacoma by a Port State Control Boarding Team from Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Puget Sound to conduct a routine examination. The boarding team began the inspection at 11:00 a.m., while testing the emergency fire pump it was discovered that the Suijin’s emergency fire pump was inoperable, which is a Safety of Life at Sea violation. The Suijin was then required to take corrective action prior to departing the Blair Terminal. The Suijin temporarily fixed the pump and was given permission by the Coast Guard to proceed to their next port of call, Port Hueneme, Calif.

inoperable emergency fire pump on board.The merchant vessel Suijin, which is homeported in Panama, was boarded at the Blair Terminal in Tacoma by a Port State Control Boarding Team from Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Puget Sound to conduct a routine examination. fire pump it was discovered that the Suijin’s emergency fire pump was inoperable, which is a Safety of Life at Sea violation. The Suijin was then required to take corrective action prior to departing the Blair Terminal. The Suijin temporarily fixed the pump and was given permission by the Coast Guard to proceed to their next port of call, Port Hueneme, Calif. The vessel must have the pump replaced before leaving Port Hueneme.

Gulf Africa Line (GAL) will begin U.S. East Coast port calls in Jacksonville, effective with Blue Master voyage 0504 (northbound) and 1204 (southbound). "In our ongoing effort to create greater value for customers, we have identified significant opportunities in Jacksonville for a large portion of the range of cargoes we regularly carry," said David Groves, GAL Owner's Representative, located in Houston, TX. In order to maintain schedule integrity, the Port of Savannah will no longer be served as of the same Blue Master voyages. Vessels will call Talleyrand Terminal in Jacksonville, offering additional benefits to the service, including modern dry…

Radiance Shipping Line, Inc., a newly formed shipping and transportation logistics company based in Palmetto, Florida, is proud to announce the purchase of the ROLO LUZ B. This roll-on, roll off / load on, load off cargo vessel has 740 lane meters of capacity, enabling the transportation of up to 50 freight containers or a combination of freight and vehicles, as well as many other types of cargo. Additionally, the vessel will have the capacity for an additional 132 containers (Lo-Lo). The LUZ B will also have a minimum of 50 refrigeration spaces, further enabling the ship to maximize capacity. vehicles, rolling stock, heavy machinery, agriculture equipment, refrigeration containers, trailers, rail vans and pallets. Additional details regarding cargo capacity are available upon request.