Concert Hall News

Beginning immediately, two 20-foot containers with colorful graffiti are part of Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet. On them can be seen crocodiles, jungle vegetation and ice hockey players painted in graffiti style. With these unusual containers, Hapag-Lloyd is strengthening its partnership with Crocodiles Hamburg, the city’s professional ice hockey club. The containers will be integrated into the normal operations of the world’s fifth-largest liner shipping company, and their first voyage will take them to Colombia. Whoever spots them while underway – in a port, on a ship, in storage or on their way to Hapag-Lloyd customers – is invited to take a photograph of them and share it on Facebook or Instagram under the hashtag #crocotainer.

“You see that ship. That’s our ship,” says Karsten Saevik, as he directs our attention to the virtual image of one of his platform supply vessels on a computer screen in a darkened room. Saevik is one of four shipping bosses whose crew skills needs will be met at the new Faasnavaag Ocean Academy. We arrive five days from its opening, and with the drywall still drying, we look move closer to a giant white sphere indicating a bridge simulator in the wide-open reception. “Definitely, this is our human capital development center for marine skills,” said Saevik.

On Thursday 22 May 2014, STX Finland Oy’s Turku Shipyard handed over the first newbuild to TUI Cruises. Mein Schiff 3 is a sophisticated and highly innovative cruise ship, designed for the German premium-class cruise market. With the production started in November 2012, the environmentally friendly Mein Schiff 3 was floated out in November 2013. The ship provided some 5,500 man-years of labour to the shipyard and the network. Mein Schiff 3 will start operating on 13 June 2014, with the maiden voyage starting from Hamburg and heading for Palma de Mallorca.

The Arctic Circle informs that due to increased demand, and to better accommodate the large number of expected attendees, the dates for the second annual Arctic Circle Assembly have been changed. The gathering will now take place October 31-November 2, 2014, in Reykjavík, Iceland, at the Harpa Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre. The inaugural gathering drew more than 1,200 participants from 40 nations, bringing together a diverse group of individuals and organizations for a series of meetings and presentations addressing the challenges and opportunities of the changing Arctic.

Around the world, people involved with shipping are booking flights to Greece and preparing to do business at the Posidonia 2002 International Shipping Exhibition, held on the Piraeus waterfront from June 4-7, 2002. With the Greek market worth a conservative $16 billion per annum, there is plenty of incentive. The business week begins with The Posidonia Congress and a program of high level international presentations and debate, at the Megaron, Athens Concert Hall on Monday, June 3. Posidonia's attraction for exhibitors and visitors is not hard to see. Greek shipowners control the biggest fleet in the world. Their drive towards fleet renewal and regeneration is creating multi billion dollar opportunities throughout the international maritime industry.

At World Shipping Day in Gothenburg, Concordia Maritime and Stena Bulk will be awarded Sjöfartsforum’s Environmental Diploma for Stena’s in-house developed MAX vessels. The prize will be handed over at a ceremony at the Concert Hall. The jury for the award says, “Innovative thinking and responsibility characterize Stena Bulk/Concordia Maritime. They have been awarded Sjöfartsforum’s Environmental Diploma in 2006 for the development and construction of the P-MAX tankers. Doubling the majority of their functions results in an unsurpassed level of safety and manuverability among the world’s tankers, which benefits the environment. The sharply increasing volume of tanker traffic in the Baltic Sea is a challenge.