Adventure Bound: Sunstone Ships Climbs to New Heights
Niels-Erik Lund began his passenger ship career in 1969 as a trainee in a Danish passenger shipping company, DFDS. In the nearly 50 years since, the passenger and cruise shipping industry has changed many times over, with consistent growth being the only similarity between then an now. Today Lund, President & CEO of Sunstone Ships, Inc., has an unfettered view of the expedition cruise sector that he helped to create. With the expedition and luxury cruise segments set for fast growth, Maritime Reporter spoke to Lund to help put the market in better perspective.
Cruise Ship Hits St. Lawrence Seaway Lock Wall
A cruise ship struck a lock wall in the Saint Lawrence Seaway upstate New York Thursday night, injuring several passengers, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. There were 274 people, including passengers and crew, aboard the 286-foot vessel Saint Laurent when the ship allided with a wall in the Eisenhower Lock in Massena, New York. Saint Laurent, owned by International Shipping Partners, remains in the drained lock while response crews remove injured passengers, the Coast Guard said. Local media reports indicate that at least 17 people suffered minor injuries. The ship will remain in the lock with both doors closed until it can be moved to different location. A search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Buffalo received notification of the allision at 9:45 p.m. Thursday.
Passenger Ship Management Companies Merge
River Advice & International Shipping Partners establish new ship management company 'FleetPro Passenger Ship Management (FleetPro). FleetPro results from the combination of River Advice with 1250 employees and 35 river cruise vessels under management in Europe, the market leader in river cruise vessel management, and of International Shipping Partners which manages 20 passenger vessels, mainly in the luxury expedition sector of the industry, operating with 1100 shore and ship-based personnel as the leading independent manager of small and medium size ocean going cruise ships. FleetPro will be headquartered in Zug / Switzerland, maintaining the existing operations of River Advice in Basel / Switzerland and International Shipping Partners in Miami / Florida.
Castrol Marine Supplies ISP
Castrol Marine has announced it is supplying environmentally responsible lubricants to International Shipping Partners (ISP), a global cruise ship management company. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, ISP offers ship owners a broad range of comprehensive passengership management services. ISP is the only dedicated passengership manager in the world to receive the industry’s highest quality assurance certification, the InterManager Quality Assurance Certificate. The agreement covers the use of Castrol BioStat, a range of stern tube lubricant grades formulated to deliver enhanced performance and reduced environmental impact when compared to conventional mineral oil equivalents.
Resolve Marine Begins Salvage in Northwest Passage
Resolve Marine Group, the Florida-based marine salvage, firefighting and emergency response company with worldwide operations, has been awarded the salvage of the 331-ft Clipper Adventurer cruise ship that ran aground on uncharted rocks near Nunavut in Canada's Northwest Passage on Friday, August 27. The Miami-based ship owner/operator International Shipping Partners awarded RESOLVE the Lloyds Open Forum salvage contract Wednesday. The P.I. Club for the vessel is Steamship Insurance Management Services, Ltd.
Black Appointed as CFO Globe Wireless
Globe Wireless announced that Thomas M. Black has been appointed CFO of the company. Black owned a successful consulting practice, providing financial and strategic guidance to maritime companies. He was a financial partner in Tatum, LLC, and also held multiple positions with Tropical Shipping, including Senior VP of Foreign Operations and CFO. He also served General Manager of Thompson Shipping and Director of Finance for International Shipping Partners. Black holds a Masters degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami.
Passenger Ship Sinks Off Virginia, Crew Rescued
A Panamanian-flagged ship carrying a crew of 34, but no passengers, sank off the coast of Virginia on Sunday after its engine room flooded, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman said two helicopters rescued the crew from the Sea Breeze I shortly before the 600-ft. vessel sank. The spokeswoman added the Coast Guard received a distress signal from the ship on Sunday, saying it had lost an engine and its engine room was flooding. The Sea Breeze I, which is owned by International Shipping Partners of Miami, was about 200 miles east of Cape Charles, Virginia. "It is a cruise ship but only crew members were on board. We don't know where it was headed," the spokeswoman said.
Gotar: Keeping Ships Clean From the Inside
With a number of recent disease scares aboard cruise ships, the mandate to get and stay clean is monumental. The company, whose headquarters are based in Quebec, Canada, also operates an R&D Production unit out of Saguenay, Quebec, and a U.S. office in Houston (Friendswood), Texas. Manufacturing a diversified variety of cleaning products with a large range of applications, the company features a selection of products, such as deoxidizers that eliminate lime and calcium buildup; degreasers that remove organic matter, oil residues and carbon deposits; and other formulas developed for a variety of metal surfaces. Gotar's products are touted as non-toxic, biodegradable and cost-effective, while extending equipment's life cycle.
