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Serenade News

13 Nov 2023

American Glory Completes Sea Trials

American Glory (Photo: American Cruise Lines)

American Cruise Lines’ newest Coastal Cat, American Glory, completed sea trials and has been delivered from Chesapeake Shipbuilding on-time as scheduled.The the 100-passenger small ship is the newest ship in American’s ongoing series of 12 new Coastal Cats for exploring U.S. waterways. Additional ships in the series are already under construction, with the next two scheduled for delivery in 2024. American Glory will sail its inaugural cruise on November 28 from Maryland to Florida…

04 May 2023

American Cruise Lines Christens Two New Riverboats

(Photos: American Cruise Lines)

In a canyon at the Idaho border and alongside a bayou in Louisiana, two nearly identical cruise ships were just christened. American Cruise Lines announced the christening of sister ships American Jazz and American Serenade, two of the lines’ six new riverboats.“The two christenings, one in a desert canyon and one on the bayou, show the incredible breadth of river cruise options in the USA,” said Charles B. Robertson, President & CEO, American Cruise Lines. “They also show the growth of American Cruise Lines and the range of places that we explore.

06 Apr 2023

New Mississippi Riverboat Passes Sea Trials

(Photo: American Cruise Lines)

The newest riverboat for the Mississippi River passed sea trials this week and is on its way to New Orleans for its inaugural season on the mighty river.American Cruise Lines announced today, that it has accepted delivery of the American Serenade from Chesapeake Shipbuilding as scheduled.American Serenade is the sixth riverboat in the line’s new series, and the 18th small ship built by Chesapeake Shipbuilding for the U.S. based small-ship cruise line.The 180-passenger boat will…

16 Feb 2023

2023 Shipbuilding Report: US Passenger Vessels

Casco Bay Line selected the Senesco to build a double ended hybrid electric ferry to replace an existing diesel boat. (Image: EBDG)

With travel and tourism nearing pre-2020 levels, and transit systems benefiting from a return to work, passenger vessels have seen renewed activity. In its year-end review, John Groundwater, Executive Director of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), which advocates for the sector in Washington, D.C. wrote: “As we are nearing the end of the calendar year, we are delighted to report that our industry, and our members, are reporting far and wide that they have experienced very…

16 Mar 2022

River Cruise Ship American Symphony Launched

(Image: American Cruise Lines)

American Cruise Lines announced its new river cruise ship American Symphony was launched last week at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Md. The new riverboat was positioned in Chesapeake’s East Outfitting Basin where it will receive its upper decks and outfitting.The fifth ship in the new riverboat class American first introduced in 2018, American Symphony will begin cruising the Mississippi River in August 2022.A sister ship American Melody commissioned in 2021, American Symphony will accommodate 175-passengers…

11 Mar 2022

Cruise Ship Crewmember Medevaced Near Florida

(Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

An ailing crewmember was medevaced from the cruise ship Serenade of the Seas, 80 miles west of Tampa, Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.A Serenade crewmember reported to Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders the man was suffering from abdominal pain, and a Coast Guard flight surgeon recommended the man be brought ashore.An Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew medevaced the 34-year-old man and flew him to Tampa General Hospital in stable…

10 Jan 2022

Royal Caribbean Pauses Some Cruises Due to Omicron Concerns

© Stephan Schulz / Adobe Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd has paused some of its cruise operations amid rising numbers of COVID-19 infections due to the Omicron variant.The sailings of three ships - Serenade of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas - have been paused while the return of its Vision of the Seas to cruising has been postponed to March 7, 2022, the cruise line said in a statement on Friday."We regret having to cancel our guests' long-awaited vacations and appreciate their loyalty and understanding…

02 Sep 2021

American Cruise Lines' New Ship Kicks Off Inaugural Season

(Photo: American Cruise Lines)

American Cruise Lines' new river cruise ship American Melody is ready to kick off its inaugural season on Friday along the line’s longest Mississippi River cruise.The 22-day complete Mississippi River cruise had originally been scheduled to operate from New Orleans, La., to St. Paul, Minn., but due to Hurricane Ida, guests will embark in Natchez, Miss.Through the end of December 2021, American Melody will also operate eight-day Upper Mississippi River cruises between St. Louis, Mo., and St.

04 Aug 2021

New Riverboat Delivered to American Cruise Lines

(Image: American Cruise Lines)

American Cruise Lines Accepts Delivery of American Melody and Announces the Names of the 5th & 6th Modern RiverboatsAmerican Cruise Lines announced it has taken delivery of its newest riverboat, American Melody, from Chesapeake Shipbuilding. The vessel was handed over on time despite various challenges as the Maryland shipyard continued building through the pandemic.Immediately following last week’s successful Sea Trials, the brand new American Melody headed to New Orleans to ready for its inaugural cruise along the Mississippi River, an eight-day New Orleans-New Orleans itinerary.

07 Jul 2021

Solstad Secures Contracts for Several PSVs, Anchor Handlers

Credit: Solstad Offshore

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore said Wednesday it had won multiple vessel contracts and extensions, with a duration of the contracts of around 1,000 vessel days in total.Solstad's platform supply vessel Normand Leader has been contracted to support a project offshore Australia. The contract is scheduled to start in Q3 2021 and will keep the PSV busy throughout 2021.The company further said that the charterers of the PSV Normand Tortuga have declared options to extend the current contract until the end of 2021.

14 Dec 2020

Solstad Nets Charters for Platform Supply Vessels in Norway

Normand Arctic - Credit: Solstad Offshore

Norwegian company Solstad Offshore has won charters for two of its platform supply vessels in Norway.The offshore vessel owner said Monday that its platform supplier "Normand Serenade" has won a medium-term contract with Wintershall Dea to support the Deepsea Aberdeen rig's drilling operations in Norway.Wintershall recently hired Odfjell's harsh environment semi-submersible drilling rig to drill exploration wells at Dvalin North and Bergknapp fields and development wells at Vega field offshore Norway…

13 Oct 2020

ADS Crude Carriers Sells Another VLCC

Credit: ADS Crude Carriers

Oslo-listed ADS Crude Carriers has signed a memorandum of agreement to sell the Very Large Crude Carrier ADS Serenade.ADS said Tuesday the vessel would be sold for $25.5 million. The company did not say who the buyer was."The vessel is expected to be delivered to the new owners before the end of October," ADS Crude Carriers said.The ADS Serenade is one of three Japan-built sister VLCCs delivered to the company in 2018. It was built in 2002 by Hitachi Zosen Corporation.The 329…

05 May 2020

Solstad Wins Medium-Term Charters for Six Vessels

Image Credit: Solstad Offshore

Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore has entered into medium-term contracts for six of its vessels.The contracts are for a period of 80 to 170 days each with undisclosed clients. The contracts are expected to start around July 1 and the operations are outside the North Sea.The nominated vessels are the PSVs Normand Supra, Normand Surfer, Normand Serenade, Normand Sitella, and Sea Spear, in addition to the AHTS Far Sigma."The contracts will significantly reduce the company's North Sea spot market exposure in 2020," Solstad Offshore said.

13 Nov 2018

Solstad Offshore Bags More Contracts in Brazil

Norwegian offshore service and supply ship shipping company Solstad Offshore has entered into a contract for the CSV Normand Pioneer (1999, CSV, 286t BP) with Queiroz Galvão Exploração e Produção S.A in Brazil.The contract has a duration of two years firm and in addition charterer holds two yearly options. The contract will commence in 1q 2019 and shall support production at the “Atlanta Field” in Santos Basin.Normand Pioneer will replace the AHTS Far Sagaris, who presently have this position, when her firm contract expires in 1Q 2019.In addition, Equinor Brazil has confirmed additional 6 months extension of the Contracts for both PSV Far Scotsman (2012, PSV 08 CD, 4000 DWT) and PSV Far Serenade (2009, UT 751 CD, 5950 DWT).

24 Aug 2018

Solstad Farstad Bags Contract with Fairfield Industries

Solstad Farstad ASA (SOFF) has entered into a contract with Fairfield Industries Inc. for the CSV “Normand Tonjer”. The contract will commence in 3Q 2018 and has a duration of one year firm plus two yearly options.Fairfield will use the vessel to support their innovative worldwide ocean bottom seismic survey using node-based technology.Solstad Farstad has updated other contracts too. The key contracts in the subsea construction segment include Far Saga contract extension with Petrobras until 2Q’20,  Nor Australis awarded 3 months contract with Magseis for operations in Southeast Asia and  Normand Installer renewal of frame agreement…

17 Jul 2018

Solstad Farstad Secures Work for Six Vessels

(Photo: Solstad Farstad)

Norwegian ship owner Solstad Farstad ASA said it has secured new contracts and contract extensions for six vessels.BP Egypt has declared the one-year option on the platform supply vessel (PSV) Sea Swift resulting in continuous utilization of the vessel through to August 2019.Equinor Brasil has extended present contracts for the PSVs Far Scotsman and Far Serenade with three months each to December 2018.In addition, SolstadFarstad secured ongoing charters in the Bass Strait, Australia, for the anchor handling tug supply vessels (AHTS) Far Senator and Far Saracen and the PSV Sea Swan.

13 Jul 2018

Ship Finance Sells Three VLCCs and a Jack-up Rig

Ship Finance International Limited announces that it has agreed to sell the 2007-built jack-up drilling rig Soehanah to an unrelated third party and three 2002-built VLCCs to ADS Crude Carriers Ltd., a newly established company in which Ship Finance has acquired a 17 percent interest.Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of Ship Finance Management AS, said in a comment, "Divesting of older vessels is a part of the company's strategy to renew and diversify the fleet. Over the last three months, Ship Finance has taken delivery of 19 vessels with long-term charters, increasing our fixed charter backlog by nearly $600 million. We see further growth opportunities across our target market segments…

07 Mar 2017

Grand Bahama Shipyard Starts 2017 Strong

CCL Dream (Photo: Grand Bahama Shipyard)

Caribbean shipyard Grand Bahama Shipyard Limited (GBSL) said it will complete work on 10 cruise vessels within first quarter of 2017. Scope of works included significant propulsion and technical systems overhauls, hull treatment, accommodations and public spaces upgrades and the addition of onboard attraction facilities. GBSL shared highlights of 10 of the 23 cruise vessels owned and/or operated by major players in the industry planned for dry-docking in the first quarter of 2017.

02 Apr 2015

Cruise Port Business Redefined

Cruise ships berth at the Port of New Orleans Erato Street Cruise Terminal and Julia Street Cruise Terminal.

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…

14 May 2015

Cruise Season Kicks Off in Portland, UK

Eurodam (Photo: Portland Port)

Portland Port celebrated the launch of its 2015 cruise program receiving more than 4,000 passengers over the early May Bank Holiday weekend. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Serenade of the Seas made her inaugural call on the Saturday and Holland America Lines’ Eurodam returned to the port for a second consecutive year on the Bank Holiday Monday. The port expects some 26,500 passengers to call at Portland throughout 2015. Another three cruise ships are due to call throughout May with return visits from the Serenissima, Prinsendam and Costa’s neoRomantica.

04 Nov 2015

Recent Vessel Sales - October 2015

Vessel sales for October 2015 (as of November 1) as prepared by Shipping Intelligence, Inc., New York.

12 Jan 2015

New Orleans’ 2014 Cruise Passenger Total Tops Record

The 2,340-passenger Norwegian Dawn berthed at the Port of New Orleans' Julia Street Cruise Terminal in November 2014. (Photo courtesy of the Port of New Orleans)

Port of New Orleans cruise terminals handled more than 1 million cruise passengers in 2014 for the first time in its history. For the 12 months, embarkations and disembarkations totaled 1,014,325, an increase of more than 2.6 percent over 2013, a fourth straight record year for the port. Cruise Lines International Association ranked the port the sixth-largest cruise port in the United States with direct industry expenditures in Louisiana totaling $406 million, supporting 8,129 jobs and accounting for $323 million in total income.

18 Nov 2016

Cruiseport Boston Closes Out 2016 Cruise Season

Anthem of the Seas (Photo: Royal Caribbean International)

As Cruiseport Boston closes out its successful 2016 season, 2017 is already shaping up to be a record year with 151 calls scheduled for next cruise season. The 2016 season saw 115 calls by a record 32 unique ships with ten maiden calls to the port, including Royal Caribbean International’s Anthem of the Seas, the largest cruise ship to ever call the Port of Boston. Cruiseport Boston has seen years of steady growth which has contributed to the booming cruise business in Boston.