French West Indies News

A 36-meter custom built passenger ferry has been delivered to Guadeloupe-based operator CTM Deher by Incat Crowther.The new 316-seat passenger ferry has been designed to safely and efficiently service CTM Deher’s passenger and tourism routes in the French West Indies and is expected to begin operating in late 2023.The new ferry, named Miss Outre-Mer, was designed using Incat Crowther's digital shipbuilding process. This meant CTM Deher and Incat Crowther worked closely together to deliver the complete digital ship design before physical construction began at PT Kim Seah Shipyard in Indonesia.

Construction has started on a 35m Catamaran for CTM Deher of Guadeloupe in the French West Indies. The Incat Crowther 35 is being built by PT Kim Seah Shipyard Indonesia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s publicly listed Penguin International Limited, using Incat Crowther’s Digital Shipbuilding solution, a process that is designed to bring the designer, shipyard and owner together in one cohesive process, from concept through delivery.A feature of Incat Crowther’s Digital Shipbuilding solution is a 3D digital model of a ship…

The United States domestic maritime sector recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the passage by Congress of the Jones Act. It is considered the most significant of various US cabotage laws. Few mariners though appreciate the long history of cabotage laws in this country.Cabotage laws here are older than our nation. The British Navigation Acts and its predecessors were designed to develop, promote, and regulate British ships, shipping, trade, and commerce between other countries and with its colonies, including the restriction of foreign participation in its colonial trade.

Bourbon confirmed on Wednesday that the body of a fourth crew member has been recovered following the sinking of its vessel Bourbon Rhode last week. Only three of the 14 Bourbon Rhode crew members have been rescued as the search continues for seven mariners still missing.The body of the fourth mariner was discovered on Tuesday and transferred on the French Navy frigate Ventôse, Bourbon said. The bodies of three other seafarers were recovered at sea on Monday.Offshore tug supply vessel Bourbon Rhose sank in the Atlantic Ocean…

CMA CGM Group announced that the CMA CGM Fort de France, the first vessel belonging to its new fleet dedicated to the French West Indies, was christened on April 4th, 2019 in Martinique by Mrs. Annick Girardin, French Minister for Overseas Territories.This inauguration took place in the presence of Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, Tanya Saadé Zeenny, Executive Officer, Alfred Marie-Jeanne, Chairman of the Executive Council of the Martinique Regional Authority…

The CMA CGM Group has announced it has taken delivery of the CMA CGM Fort de France, the first of an order for four container ships dedicated to the French West Indies.With a capacity of 3,500 TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent units) and a length of 219 meters, the CMA CGM Fort de France stands out by its draft which is adapted to the West Indies ports. It is also equipped with a large number of plugs for refrigerated containers (“Reefers”) which allow the transport in optimal conditions of perishable goods such as bananas…

GT USA’s Canaveral Cargo Terminal (CCT) incurred minimal damage during Hurricane Matthew and is fully operational, the result of advance storm preparation and facility planning by GT USA in partnership with Canaveral Port Authority. The Canaveral Cargo Terminal resumed full operations, which included working the container cargo vessel M/V MAX WONDER for StreamLines, N.V.’s Blue Stream service. The service ships refrigerated and dry cargo between Port Canaveral, Europe, the French West Indies and Central America. “Though Hurricane Matthew packed quite a punch in Port Canaveral, the hard work of the Emergency Response Team, Brevard County Sheriff’s Department, U.S.

GT USA, operators of Canaveral Cargo Terminal, has expanded its supply chain capabilities to serve shipping lines, along with domestic customers, with the addition of more than 40,000 square feet of covered storage now available at the Marlin Street Warehouse at Port Canaveral. The facility serves as a secure location for general warehousing, providing a full range of logistics services, including trucking, cross docking, storage and inventory control and last mile distribution.

French container line CMA CGM has announced imminent changes to its PCRF line service which links Northern Europe with the French West Indies, by adding two new calls at Zeebrugge and Rotterdam and increasing freight capacity on the route. The company says this will mean customers will benefit from the enhanced import and export cargo opportunities. During the first quarter of 2016, PCRF line’s capacity which links the French West Indies to Europe will be increased by replacing current 2,200 TEU capacity vessels by 2,800 TEU capacity vessels. This move supports regional growth of both the French Indies market, currently around 3%, and promotes intra-Caribbean trade developments.

GT USA, the US arm of UAE-based global ports and logistics company Gulftainer, announced the new ‘Blue Stream Service’, a weekly container cargo service connecting Port Canaveral to Europe, the French West Indies, and Central America. Blue Stream Service, operated by StreamLines, part of the SeaTrade Group, will provide refrigerated and dry container service to and from GT USA’s Canaveral Cargo Terminal, with a focus on fresh produce and perishable cargo. The Blue Stream Service will feature five ships with 1,300 TEU capacity and 250 reefer plugs on a weekly rotation. The new line will serve Central America to Port Canaveral in just three days and will offer the fastest transit time between Florida and Europe, just 11 days.

The Canaveral Port Authority welcomes the start of StreamLine’s Blue Stream weekly liner service at its new Canaveral Cargo Terminal, which GT USA manages and operates. The service adds Port Canaveral to this valued trade route that includes Central America, Europe and the Caribbean. The first call at Canaveral is scheduled for January 31, 2016 with the arrival of the M/V Norderoog. StreamLines N.V. part of the Seatrade Group, is a container line providing refrigerated and dry container service specializing in fresh produce and perishables.

A container carrying the twenty-four foot Brazilian built ocean rowboat, Spirit of Malabo, left the Port of Cap Haitian on Saturday en-route to Port Everglades Terminals (PET) in Florida aboard Antillean Marine Shipping Corporation vessel RUMBA. The oarsman, Victor Mooney of Queens, New York who successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean last year from the Canary Islands to Saint Martin, French West Indies in one-hundred and twenty-nine days, was robbed off the coast of Haiti and had to stop his row. Mr. Mooney’s row was in honor of his brother who died of AIDS in 1983 and to encourage voluntary HIV testing. Mr. Mooney tried the Atlantic Ocean crossing three times over a ten year period without success.

After several days of waiting for favorable weather, the MS Tûranor Planet Solar, the largest solar boat in the world, left the city of Boston, carrying three scientific team members from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), and a researcher from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the largest center of its kind in the world, with whom UNIGE is collaborating for this expedition. This important stopover in the capital of Massachusetts was crucial in the planning of the “DeepWater” expedition’s itinerary…

In 1998, Austal delivered the Jade Express followed closely by the delivery in 1999 of the Opale Express. These vehicle/passenger ferries were destined for Guadeloupe, in the French West Indies, and island ferry operator Antilles Trans Express (ATE). It was in 2001 when the then manager, Dr Roland Bellemare and ship captain, Bruno Moeson decided to buy the company from Groupe Bourbon who owned ATE, giving rise to L’Express des Iles S.A. or The Islands Express. Today the L’Express des Iles ferries operate regular domestic and international services between the harbours of Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, Le Saintes, Dominica, Martinique and Sainte-Lucia. It was soon after the 2001 management buy-out that discussions first began for the new ferries.