Eastern Caribbean News

Police from two countries in the eastern Caribbean are investigating the possible murder of two people believed to be U.S. citizens who owned a catamaran that was hijacked by three fugitives in the waters off the island of Grenada.The yacht's alleged owners, Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry, were last seen Sunday night, when three men escaped from the custody of Grenadian authorities. Police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines captured the men on Wednesday.The Royal Grenada Police…

Kristal Ambrose, a PD candidate at the World Maritime University, is the recipient of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize 2020. The award is the world’s foremost environmental prize and honors outstanding environmental activism through community and citizen participation on critical sustainability issues facing the planet.Ambrose founded the Bahamas Plastic Movement in 2013 to develop solutions to plastic pollution and to educate young people on the importance of a clean and healthy ocean.

Oil tankers that were sailing toward Venezuela have turned around and others have left the country’s waters as the United States considers blacklisting dozens of ships for transporting Venezuelan oil, according to shipping data and industry sources.The threat of tighter sanctions is already disrupting the global shipping market. Chinese oil firms are considering whether to decline to charter any tanker that has visited Venezuela in the past year, no matter where the ship is now or for what voyage, four shipping sources told Reuters on Tuesday.Washington is seeking to oust the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro by choking the oil exports that provide its main source of income.

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port San Juan set Port Condition X-RAY at 2 a.m. Monday for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgins Islands due to the possibility of sustained gale force winds greater than 39 mph from Tropical Storm Dorian that may arrive to the area within 48 hours.The Coast Guard strongly cautions the maritime community to remain vigilant and take the necessary precautions as Tropical Storm Dorian makes way into Eastern Caribbean waters.During Port Condition X-RAY port…

A second powerful storm in as many weeks was bearing down on a string of battered Caribbean islands, with forecasters saying Maria would strengthen rapidly into a major hurricane as it ripped into the Leeward Islands on Monday night. Maria's strength was building as it approached the Lesser Antilles, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, estimating its winds near 90 miles per hour (145 kph). "Maria is expected to become a major hurricane as it moves through the Leeward Islands," the forecaster said, marked by "rapid strengthening" during the next 48 hours. Maria is approaching the eastern Caribbean less than two weeks after Irma hammered the region before overrunning Florida.

Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, churned across northern Caribbean islands on Wednesday with a potentially catastrophic mix of fierce winds, surf and rain, en route to a possible Florida landfall at the weekend. Irma is expected to become the second powerful storm to thrash the U.S. mainland in as many weeks but its precise trajectory remained uncertain. Hurricane Harvey killed more than 60 people and caused damaged estimated as high as $180 billion when it hit Texas late last month. The eye of Irma, a Category 5 storm packing winds of 185 miles per hour (295 km per hour), moved away from the island of Barbuda and toward the island of St. Martin, east of Puerto Rico, early on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami reported.

A keel laying ceremony was held for Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) new cruise ship Norwegian Bliss at the shipbuilder Meyer Werft’s facility in Papenburg, Germany. During the ceremony, one of the keel blocks of the 167,800 gross ton vessel was lifted into the covered building hall, signifying a major milestone in the ship’s construction. NCL president and CEO Andy Stuart laid the traditional coin, etched with the outline of the ship’s signature hull designed by wildlife artist Wyland, before the block was lowered into place.

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.

Caterpillar Inc. has named privately owned Puerto Rico-based company Rimco as the official Cat dealer for Cuba. Rimco, a longtime Cat partner, currently serves as the company’s dealer for Puerto Rico and the Eastern Caribbean. The move comes in anticipation of the U.S. lifting its embargo on trade with Cuba. Upon easing of trade restrictions, customers in Cuba will be able to purchase Cat products through Rimco in accordance with U.S. and Cuba regulations. Philip Kelliher, vice president with responsibility for the Americas & Europe Distribution Services Division, said, "Cuba needs access to the types of products that Caterpillar makes and, upon easing of trade restrictions, we look forward to providing the equipment needed to contribute to the building of Cuba's infrastructure.

C&W Networks, part of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), the largest telecommunications service provider across the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and United States with more than 48,000 miles of subsea fiber-optic network has selected Xtera Communications, Inc., a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions, for upgrading its submarine cable systems in the western Atlantic ocean and the Caribbean Sea to 100G. By introducing Xtera’s 100G coherent solution, C&W Networks continues to offer robust services across 42 countries with superior reliability and scalability of international wholesale capacity.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced today that musician Pitbull will serve as godfather for its newest ship, Norwegian Escape, slated to be christened next month in Miami. On Monday, November 9, Armando Christian Perez, aka Pitbull, will be the honorary godfather and headline performer at a christening ceremony at PortMiami for the new ship Norwegian Escape. Currently under construction at Meyer Werft in Germany, Norwegian Escape will sail weekly seven-day cruises from Miami to the Eastern Caribbean beginning November 14…

Hurricane Fred strengthened early Monday in the eastern Atlantic as it approached the Cape Verde Islands, while the remnants of Tropical Storm Erika brought flooding to parts of South Carolina, according to U.S. forecasters. The center of Fred is expected to pass near or over the northwestern Cape Verde Islands, an archipelago off the west coast of Africa with a population of 525,000. Fred had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (137 kph), but was expected to gradually dissipate after passing the Cape Verde Islands, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Port Canaveral will homeport Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) largest ship and currently the third largest in the world—the Norwegian Epic—starting in November 2016, offering seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, as well as three- and four-day vacations to the Bahamas in 2017. “As a regular port of call for NCL ships, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to homeport the Norwegian Epic and welcome NCL guests into our community,” said Port Canaveral CEO John E. Walsh.

New Orleans builds enviable cruise traffic on top of a carefully crafted business plan. It may surprise you to learn that, on the lower Mississippi River, cruise traffic now accounts for over one fifth of all revenue at the Port of New Orleans, a major cargo hub. With recently modernized terminals, able to handle big ships, the Crescent City last year accommodated over a million cruise passengers, setting its fourth straight record. How they did it is perhaps more impressive than what they have created…

Today marked the steel cutting for a Royal Caribbean’s new Oasis class cruise ship. Scheduled to be delivered in 2018, the new vessel will join Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and the third Oasis-class ship as Royal Caribbean’s fourth in the Oasis class. The steel cutting, marking the official start of construction, took place at the STX France shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, where the third Oasis-class ship also is being built. The first Oasis class ship, Oasis of the Seas…

Re-emerging from a 24-day drydock at Grand Bahama Shipyard, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas returned into service this weekend to offer vacationers one of the best cruise ships for incredible Caribbean’s adventures. The ship showcased its new features to more than 1,700 of the cruise line’s value travel agent partners on an exclusive two-night sailing before embarking on its first regular itinerary on Sunday, Feb. The newly revitalized Freedom of the Seas will amaze guests with a range of new tantalizing dining options, new staterooms categories, the new retro-chic R Bar lounge, and a bow-to-stern refresh of the entire ship’s furnishings.

On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at 4 p.m., the Port of Galveston along with Moody National Bank, Texas First Bank, Hometown Bank and Webber L.L.C. will celebrate the expansion of Cruise terminal 2. The ceremony will take place at the Port of Galveston in front of cruise terminal 2 located on Harborside Drive. The three Galveston County community banks have worked together on financing for a $13 million expansion of the Port of Galveston’s Cruise Terminal No. 2. Each bank pitched in for the unique funding package for the expansion of Cruise Terminal No. 2 to accommodate larger vessels and more passengers. When completed next spring, Cruise Terminal No. 2 will feature 150,000 square feet of space and have a seating capacity of over 2,000 passengers.

Norwegian Cruise Line executives and officials from the German shipbuilder MEYER WERFT took part in the keel-laying ceremony of the new cruise ship 'Norwegian Escape' in a traditional ceremony at the shipyard. During the official ceremony, block number 35/41, one of 86 blocks that will comprise the 164,600 gross ton vessel, was lifted into the covered building dock as the start of the block assembly for the new ship. In the dock, Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line’s president and chief executive officer, laid the traditional "lucky coin," before the 400 ton block was placed by the 800 ton crane. “We are pleased to start construction of Norwegian Escape", says Sheehan.

An elongated area of low pressure located about 350 miles east of the Lesser Antilles has a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Thursday. "Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for development during the next day or so, and a tropical depression could form while the system moves west-northwestward at 15 to 20 miles per hour across the Lesser Antilles and over the eastern Caribbean Sea," the Miami-based weather forecaster said. The NHC said the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola and eastern Cuba could limit development of the system during the first part of the weekend…

Multiple sources reported that Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise vessel, has encountered difficulties with its propulsion system, impeding full speed capabilities. The ship is reported to be functional, but sailing at reduced speeds. Because of the propulsion issue, the 1,187-foot vessel and its passengers of the ship’s past two Eastern Caribbean sailings were forced to experience shorter port calls to compensate for longer sailing times. USA Today reported that Royal Caribbean is currently looking into the issue and searching for means to fix it.

Citing strong performance and growing consumer demand, Carnival Cruise Lines today announced its’ largest and newest line of ships will sail from the Port of New Orleans beginning in April 2014. First, Carnival will deploy the 3,006-passenger Carnival Sunshine to New Orleans Nov. 18, replacing the current 2,984-passenger Carnival Conquest. The Carnival Sunshine recently underwent a massive $155 million transformation. The Carnival Sunshine will sail regular seven-day western and eastern Caribbean itineraries from New Orleans through April 2014 – when Carnival will reposition the 3…

Standing on the naming platform with the ship's Captain Tony Draper, The Duchess of Cambridge pronounced, "I name this ship 'Royal Princess'. The Duchess then cut the rope that sent a giant Nebuchadnezzar-size bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne toward the ship, officially welcoming Royal Princess into the fleet of Princess Cruises at the Southampton ceremony. Internationally renowned percussive orchestra Mass Ensemble performed with its signature "Earth Harp," an architectural instrument with strings that extended 1,000 feet and was played as it hovered over the nearly 2,000 ceremony guests.

A new interactive display on Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA) has been launched at IMO Headquarters and online at www.pssa.imo.org. A PSSA is an area that needs special protection through action by IMO because of its significance for recognized ecological or socio-economic or scientific reasons and which may be vulnerable to damage by international maritime activities. To date, IMO has designated 14 PSSAs. The new display and website include videos, pictures, maps, and graphic displays…