Line Vessels News

The Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis has released U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Alert 06-23: Avoiding Load Line Requirements.The safety alert cites a recent marine casualty resulting in the total loss of a crane barge, estimated at over $6 million, and cautions about the risks associated with not complying with load line regulations.The incident occurred approximately 18 miles offshore of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico while the crane barge was being towed in calm weather conditions.

Stena Line and Yara Marine Technologies have signed a contract to install Yara Marine’s shore power solution on board four ferries as part of Stena Line’s efforts to minimize carbon emissions from their fleet. When connected to the local power grid at the port, the turnkey solution will allow these vessels to eliminate emissions and noise that would otherwise have been produced by the vessels’ engines.The installations aboard Stena Baltica, Stena Scandica, Stena Flavia, and Stena…

Carnival Corp.'s Princess Cruises has again pleaded guilty to violating its probation imposed as a result of its record $40 million criminal conviction for its "magic pipe" environmental crimes.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that Princess failed to establish and maintain an independent internal investigative office as required after pleading guilty to felony dumping and attempted cover-up charges in April 2017. An engineer aboard the Caribbean Princess revealed…

Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) said on Wednesday that it has secured an order from Australian shipping company TT Line Company to build two car and passenger ferries at the Rauma shipyard.The newbuild order comes after TT Line, also known as Spirit of Tasmania, withdrew from a previous memorandum of understanding (MOU) last July while the Tasmanian government-owned company investigated options to produce the vessels locally to help offset economic impacts from the coronavirus pandemic.RMC revealed Wednesday that negotiations resumed in March this year…

Three cruise ships will idle at the Port of Oakland without passengers while cruise operations are suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the port said Friday. The .Two Norwegian Cruise Line vessels, Regatta and Norwegian Jewel, have tied up at Oakland’s Outer Harbor Terminal, which is currently not in use for the port’s container shipping business. Another, Seven Seas Mariner, is docked at Howard Terminal on the Oakland Estuary, no longer considered large enough for container operations.

Finnish cruise ferry operator Viking Line announced Tuesday that it will suspend service between Helsinki and Stockholm due to the developing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Finnish authorities have closed the country’s borders during the state of emergency in effect in Finland.“To safeguard the security of supply between Finland and Sweden, we are maintaining service on the Turku–Åland–Stockholm route. We are also still making one sailing to Tallinn from Helsinki six days a week.

Carnival bought their first cruise ship Mardi Gras in the 1970’s, nearly 50 years ago, and registered her under the Panama flag, now the new Mardi Gras will keep the tradition of flying the Panama flag.In a ceremony at the Meyer Turku shipyard, The Mardi Gras, left the dry dock to be positioned in the water en-route to her new location to finalize its interior and exterior outfitting.With a capacity for 5,282 passengers, Mardi Gras marks a milestone for both Carnival and the Panama Registry.

Italian yacht manufacturer Ferretti Group said that its brand Custom Line has achieved its goal of 14 launches in 2019 and of the sale of two Navetta 33s in December alone.Three new launches were held during the last three months at the Ferretti Group’s Superyacht Yard in Ancona: Custom Line 106’ was launched on 28 October, a Navetta 42 on 3 December, and a Navetta 28 took to the water on 12 December.These latest débuts show once again the tremendous commercial success of 28-42 metre Custom Line vessels, the leaders in comfort, technology and design. As many as 14 Custom Line yachts were launched in 2019 at the Ferretti Group Superyacht Yard…

ChartCo will now be supplying the entire Carnival Cruise Line fleet with its benchmark regulation management solution, Regs4ships.Prior to signing the new contract with Carnival Cruise Line, ChartCo supplied 75% of the fleet of its parent company Carnival Corporation, including Princess Cruises, Holland America, P&O Cruises, Costa, Aida, Cunard Line and Seabourn. Under the terms of the new agreement, all 26 Carnival Cruise Line vessels will be provided with the Regs4ships solution.Regs4ships…

ABB shore power connectors retrofitted to three Holland America Line vessels will help these ships achieve low emissions in port anywhere in the world.Cruise line Holland American Line will retrofit three of its vessels with ABB’s innovative shore power connectors that allow the ships to draw on land-based electrical grids when docked in port.Holland America Line proactively encompasses programs that aim to reduce emissions and comply with international regulations and environmental guidelines – and seeks to exceed these requirements wherever possible.

In many cities where industrial activity is pushed to the fringe, Blohm + Voss on the Elbe is an iconic sybmol in the port city of Hamburg, a shipyard steeped in tradition but fully modernized to handle some of the most complex and high-value ship repair jobs in the world: a developed, ultramodern infrastructure and 421,000 sq. m. of yard.Blohm & Voss has seen it share of market cycles, and following the current long shipping crisis due to low charter rates, the repair backlog…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced the availability of $19.6 million in federal funding to support capital improvements and employee training at small U.S. shipyards. The grants are provided through the Small Shipyard Grant Program, and help eligible shipyards modernize operations, increase efficiency and reap the benefits of increased productivity. In 2013, U.S. shipbuilders directly employed 110,000 Americans and produced $37.3 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Available to U.S.

Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has advised The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), Japan’s largest bank, as facility agent for a syndicate of international lenders comprising itself, Development Bank of Japan Inc. and Societe Generale on the $180m refinancing of two K-Line LNG vessels, Arctic Voyager and Arctic Discoverer which are time chartered to Statoil ASA, the world’s largest offshore operator.   The WFW Hong Kong Asset Finance team advising on the transaction was led by Partner and Office Head Madeline Leong, supported by Senior Associate Ryan Tan, Registered Foreign Lawyer Rueben Tan and Legal Assistant Sandrea Mar. London Finance Partner Rob McBride provided advice on the hedging elements of the financing.

Marlink has added the first out of four additional Stena Line ships to its multi-band communications network. Marlink now serves the entire fleet of Stena Line vessels, ensuring high levels of connectivity for passengers and crew, in addition to operational applications and commercial businesses on board. Marlink will also further increase available capacity to Stena Line vessels with an additional 10-15%, following the tripled bandwidth increase in June 2016, ensuring that Stena Line can meet the on-going growth in demand for bandwidth at sea.

Ship recyclers in India and China will recycle eight vessels owned by Maersk Line. The ship recyclers have agreed in full to the A.P. Moller - Maersk Responsible Ship Recycling Standard. The deal gives Maersk Line greater fleet flexibility and vessels will be transferred to the recycling yards within coming months. In the coming years, Maersk Line expects to recycle a larger number of vessels than in previous years as more vessels are coming to their economical end of life. With Maersk Line’s fleet of more than 600 vessels, owned and chartered, any decision to recycle depends on a broad set of variables – not least the state of the market.

In light of the recent bankruptcy filing by Hanjin Shipping, The Port of Virginia has updated its policies and processes regarding the movement and loading of Hanjin vessels and containers. The following policy is effective as of Sept. Line onto a Hanjin vessel. Line vessels. These restrictions were requested by Cosco Container Lines, "K" Line, Yang Ming Line and Evergreen Line, which with Hanjin, compose the CKYHE shipping alliance. After careful consideration, the port agreed today to comply with the request. Beginning Aug. 31, 2016, the port enacted its own restrictions regarding the movement of Hanjin freight. • Not accepting any Hanjin containers for export at any of the port’s marine or intermodal terminals.

Two major bridge refit contracts have been completed by Radio Holland USA on Holland America Line’s cruise ships Oosterdam and Prinsendam. The bridge refit on board the M/S Oosterdam was concluded in Palermo, Sicily in early May. Then just days later Radio Holland continued with a bridge upgrade project for the M/S Prinsendam, which took place in Freeport, Grand Bahama. The latest refits follow refit work on M/S Noordam and Westerdam in 2014 and 2015. Rob van den Hof, Nautical Superintendent of Technical Operations from Holland America Line…

Birkenhead based IPS Marine Fabrications is continuing to ramp up growth in the passenger ferry market after completing work on two Stena Line vessels. The firm, run by maritime engineering specialists Paul Smith and Peter Hillan, has delivered a package of insulation and fabrication work for the Stena Ro-Pax Superfast ferries VII and VIII. All repairs were completed on the move while the vessels continued service between Belfast and Cairnryan in Ireland, ensuring no operational downtime.

Cargo worked at the Port of New Orleans’ public docks in 2014 totaled 8.37 million tons, the highest total since 2000 and up 28 percent compared to the prior 12-month period, the port reported. Imported steel and container cargo led the growth, as imported iron and steel rose 101.6 percent in the 12-month-period to 3.54 million tons. Overall breakbulk tons totaled 3.76 million tons, up 51.7 percent and container tons topped 4.61 million tons, up 13.5 percent compared to the prior year. “It was a busy year for the port and these numbers reflect the success we’ve realized from the combined efforts of the entire port community,” said Gary LaGrange, port president and CEO. “This is great news and creates momentum for our terminal operators and customers.

WESMAR (Western Marine Electronics) announced that its heavy duty Bow Thrusters have been selected for three new 165-foot, 600-passenger excursion and sightseeing ferries operated by Circle Line Cruises, the New York City sightseeing company. Circle Line Cruises made the announcement in January as part of its 70th Anniversary celebration. They currently operate a dozen boats in New York Harbor and move more people in the city than anyone else, including thousands of school children and visitors from all around the world.

Azipod XO propulsion units will power two new vessels that Meyer Werft will build for Norwegian Cruise Line. ABB has been awarded a contract worth $60 million to deliver Azipod propulsion and power systems to two Norwegian Cruise Line vessels. The Breakaway-Plus class cruise ships will be built by Meyer Werft of Germany and delivered in Q2 2018 and Q4 2019. The new 164,000 gt vessels will be equipped with ABB's Azipod XO electrical propulsion systems, which are already featured on several of Norwegian Cruise Line’s new vessels, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway as well as the larger Breakaway-Plus class ships, Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Bliss, currently under construction at Meyer Werft. ABB will also deliver complete electric power plants, generators and drives to the ships.

NAPA and ClassNK announced a deal with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K Line) to install an eco-efficiency and operational optimization solution, ClassNK-NAPA GREEN, on three additional vessels. The vessels will be fitted with the software in June 2015 after the ClassNK-NAPA GREEN suite of systems proved itself on a trial installation early in 2014. The self-learning component of ClassNK-NAPA GREEN, the dynamic performance model was also found to be accurate during the same trial.

Travelers looking for an intimate, mid-sized cruise experience in the Caribbean have 126 itineraries to choose from during Holland America Line’s 2014-15 Caribbean season. well as partial transits of the Panama Canal. The diverse itineraries visit 30 ports and give discerning guests more options than any other premium line exploring the region. From October 2014 through April 2015, ms Eurodam, ms Maasdam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Noordam, ms Ryndam, ms Westerdam and ms Zuiderdam sail regular Caribbean voyages, while ms Amsterdam and ms Prinsendam each sail one December holiday cruise in the region. The ships feature 21 different seven-, 10-, 11- and 14-day itineraries that can be combined into longer Collectors’ Voyages ranging from 14 to 25 days.