Atlantic Islands News

Canadian operator One Ocean Expeditions (OOE) announced it has recommissioned a 1991-built expedition cruise vessel.RCGS Resolute, previously Society Adventurer and later Hanseatic, was built in the early '90s as one of the industry’s first purpose-built passenger expedition cruise vessels.With the arrival of RCGS Resolute, OOE said it will continue to offer sailings to remote destinations such as Canada’s East Coast, the Canadian High Arctic and Antarctica, and will introduce new destinations including Central and South America as well as the North Atlantic Islands.“One Ocean Expeditions’ fle

Britain said on Thursday it had summoned the Argentine ambassador to explain the latest war of words over the disputed Falkland Islands which included a threat to prosecute British energy firms operating in the area. Last week, Premier Oil Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd said they had made an oil and gas discovery at a well off the south Atlantic islands, the first in a nine-month drilling campaign. Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez called the announcement "almost provocative", and Argentine officials warned they were planning legal action against oil firms operating near the Falklands, which lie 300 miles off the Argentine coast and 8,000 miles from Britain.

Lerwick Harbour, Shetland Islands, Scotland, logs best cruise season yet, with number of vessels visiting setting four new records. 37,572 passengers, topping the previous highest figure of 30,843 in 2010. 52 cruise ships, beating last year’s record of 50. 1,531,097 gross tonnes of shipping, up on the previous record of 1,220,455 gross tonnes in 2010. 3,105 passengers on a single vessel at Lerwick - Costa Pacifica, on 2 July, passing her previous record of 3,007 in June, 2011.

Britain's Foreign Office is investigating a report that an Argentine port authority had said it would bar ships registered in the Falkland Islands from docking. A yacht master reportedly informed authorities that after a brief stop in Ushuaia, on Argentina's southern tip, he was notified by port officials that they would not allow him to return because his vessel was registered in the Falklands. Argentina continues to claim the Falklands as its own territory and has only just begun to improve ties with Britain, nearly two decades after the two countries went to war in 1982 over the British-ruled south Atlantic islands.

Seabourn Cruise Line's recently refurbished Ultra-Luxury Resort Cruiser Seabourn Sun will sail its first World Cruise under its new name and insignia in the winter of 2001. Seabourn Sun will place the world at the fingertips of travelers as it circumnavigates the globe in 99 days. A wide selection of segment voyages offer shorter holidays of 10 to 80 days, or guests can pick the number of days they like - an ideal opportunity to experience a favorite slice of the world. "We have made a substantial investment to assure that Seabourn Sun will represent a new standard of elegance for mid-size cruising vessels,'' said Larry Pimentel, CEO and President of Seabourn Cruise Line and Cunard Line.

In what has become an all too familiar scenario, another Carnival cruise ship reported engine problems and ended floating aimlessly while passengers onboard no doubt fumed. The latest in a string of high-profile mishaps for the world’s largest cruise company involved its ship Destiny, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew. By Wednesday afternoon, technicians had reportedly restored partial power, but only after it had drifted for 27 hours in the Atlantic off the Turks and Caicos Islands. Power to the two electric propulsion motors of the cruise liner Destiny was lost about 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) Tuesday, leaving the ship adrift about 60 miles (97 km) east of Grand Turk, one of the Atlantic islands that make up the British colony north of Hispaniola, the company said.