Port of Seattle’s Cruise Season Underway
The Port of Seattle’s 2015 cruise season began May 1 at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal with the arrival of the Holland America Line Westerdam. The port expects 192 cruise ship calls this season, bringing an estimated 895,055 revenue passengers. “Each of these cruise ships contribute $2.5 million to the local economy, which comes out to over $400 million for this cruise season,” said Port Commissioner Stephanie Bowman. “We also want passengers to stay in the area an extra few days to spend more time and money in Washington state.
Phantom Offers Security for Yachts
Maritime security firm Phantom Services now offers global Security Concierge Services, providing 24/7 monitoring, tracking and recovery of vessels exclusively for customers with onboard marine security, monitoring and tracking systems from leading supplier GOST (Global Ocean Security Technologies). Phantom Services is a yacht security, recovery and antipiracy training firm headed by maritime security expert Tony Sparks. “GOST supplies the most comprehensive and reliable tracking systems on the market.
MSC Preziosa: The Ultimate in Cruise Ship Tech
MSC Cruises recently added a new state-of-the-art liner, the MSC Preziosa, helping the Italian company, truly a family business, attain the status of third largest cruise line in the world. MSC Preziosa is a Fantasia class cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises. It entered service in March 2013 as an enhanced version of its sister ships, MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia, and is identical to MSC Divina, which was launched in 2012. Built at the STX shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, MSC Preziosa is the new flagship of MSC Cruises. The new ship gained immediate recognition famous courtesy of its christening by actress Sophia Loren, and was significant as it signified that MSC Cruises is now the third largest cruise line in the world.
Anderson Software Unveil 'App' for Boat Marinas
Anderson Software has unveiled a new software platform that changes the process marina operators use to communicate with their customers. The company has developed a Cloud-SaaS application that enables boat owners to conveniently schedule drystack launches, marina valet and concierge services, and boat repairs using any PC, tablet or Web-enabled smartphone. "Our intuitive, real-time interface changes the way boaters communicate their service needs to the marina," states Todd Wagner, spokesperson for Anderson. The interface allows marina customers to log into a secure portal at boatcloud.com, where they reserve drystack launches from a real-time grid, much like a golfer books a tee time.
