Still Travel News

Carnival Corporation's Cunard cruise line announced it has taken delivery of its newest cruise ship, Queen Anne, from Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri.The newbuild was officially handed over on Friday during a ceremony at the Fincantieri Marghera shipyard in Venice. The 114,000-ton ship spans 14 decks and has capacity for up to 3,000 passengers.Queen Anne, the 249th ship to sail under the Cunard flag – and the third built by Fincantieri – will now set sail for Southampton ahead of her seven-night maiden voyage to Lisbon on May 3. She will arrive in her homeport on April 27.

China and Europe face a "slow motion train accident" as a rising tide of protectionism threatens to become a full trade war, the head of a European business lobby group warned on Wednesday, a day after Germany's chancellor conveyed European concerns to Beijing.Jens Eskelund, president of the European Chamber in China, said that while some worries about trade in both countries were legitimate, there was a risk of unproductive decoupling if European and Chinese leaders did not increase…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on Wednesday announced the availability of $316 million to support and modernize passenger ferry service in communities across the country.Ferry transit is a critical mode of transportation in many regions throughout the United States. Across the country, there are approximately 3 million ferry riders each month.“I have seen firsthand how, for many Americans in many different parts of the country, ferries are the best and sometimes only way to get where they need to go,” said U.S.

Royal Caribbean Group announced to has tapped Bert Hernandez to succeed Barbara Muckermann as president of its Silversea brand.Most recently serving as senior vice president, international, Hernandez has been with the Royal Caribbean Group for the past 20 years. He previously served as president of China operations for Royal Caribbean International and was chief operating officer for the group’s former luxury cruise line, Azamara.Muckermann is departing Royal Caribbean Group after 14 years with Silversea to pursue other opportunities…

The shipping industry's pledge to limit its carbon footprint may suffer a setback as the current Red Sea crisis prompts it to use more vessels and take longer routes to ensure the smooth sailing of global maritime trade.Iranian-backed Houthi militants' attacks on vessels passing through the southern Red Sea have choked trade through the Suez Canal, driving many container shipping companies to add 10-14 days to the voyages between Asia and Europe and add more vessels.The disruption…

A newly unveiled concept for a sail-powered catamaran cruise ship aims to offer a luxury cruising experience on board a vessel that can travel emissions free.The unique vessel design--codenamed "Seabreeze"--comes from Norway-based YSA Design, who engineered the 104.5-meter-long ship to feature four 50-meter-high foldable sails mounted on 6-meter-high bases on deck for emissions-free propulsion.“Sustainability is critical but cruise shipping also needs to continuously reinvent itself,” said Trond Sigurdsen, Senior Architect and Partner, YSA Design.

The U.S. state of Maryland has opened a temporary channel on the northbound side of the collapsed Baltimore bridge, allowing limited tug and barge traffic around the container ship stuck at the disaster site, Governor Wes Moore said on Monday."It will help us to get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse," Moore told a news conference.The Port of Baltimore's shipping channel has been blocked since a fully loaded container ship lost power and collided with a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge last Tuesday…

A pair of new response vessels has been commissioned in Sydney Harbour.The state-of-the-art vessels, Burra and Girawaa, were designed by Incat Crowther and custom-built by Birdon in Port Macquarie to assist in major on-water incidents, including pollution response, police operations and firefighting both on and from the water.The vessels have the ability to travel at speeds of 27 knots, making them the fastest response vessels ever commissioned by the Port Authority of New South Wales (NSW).

We think of Bermuda as a tiny paradise in the North Atlantic. But long before cruise ships moored up, prison ships carried hundreds of convicts to the island, first docking in 1824 and remaining there for decades.Islands have long been places to deport, exile and banish criminals. Think of Alcatraz, the infamous penitentiary in San Francisco, or Robben Island in South Africa, which held Nelson Mandela. The French penal colony Devil’s Island was immortalised in the Steve McQueen film Papillon…

Fiji will strike a deal with Australia to upgrade ports and shipbuilding infrastructure, months after its prime minister said it was likely to partner with China on the project, the government of the Pacific Islands nation said on Thursday.Fiji's government said its cabinet had agreed to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Australia for the project, after Australia committed to financing."The revival of the shipbuilding industry in Fiji has been articulated as a key priority…

Rising oil tanker chartering rates due to global shipping disruption are forcing oil shippers to take on longer-term shipping charters, executives said this week at an energy conference in Houston.The global oil tanker fleet must now travel further to get crude to refineries and fuel to consumers. European sanctions have forced Russian exporters to send oil to Asia that would have otherwise gone to Europe. Attacks on vessels in the Red Sea have forced some shippers to sail around…

Royal Caribbean Group has suspended cruise visits to Labadee, a secluded peninsula in Haiti, for the next seven days following months of escalating gang violence in the country, a senior company executive said in a Facebook post on Thursday.The company will continue the suspension as required with three days advance notice to guests sailing on impacted itineraries, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said.Violence by powerful armed gangs had gripped Haiti, causing thousands to flee their homes, after anti-government protests broke out early in February.The violent cl

Commercial shipping is one of the main contributors to underwater radiated noise, which has adverse effects on a wide range of marine life, including whales and fish. Therefore, Danish Shipping has recommended its members follow a new set of IMO guidelines aiming to reduce underwater radiated noise and preserve marine biodiversity.The IMO guidelines provide an overview of approaches applicable to designers, shipbuilders, and ship operators to reduce the underwater radiated noise of any given ship.

The maritime industry, often viewed as conservative and measured in its approach to technological integration, is on the cusp of a transformative era with artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as a prominent player. Insights from key exhibitors at the upcoming Posidonia Shipping Εxhibition reveal a new landscape, where industry leaders strategically align with the inexorable rise of AI and consider adopting it already.According to Theodore Vokos, Managing Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A.…

Five people were killed after a barge collided with a bridge over a waterway in China's Pearl River Delta near Guangzhou city, causing part of the bridge to break off, plunging vehicles into the water, Chinese state media reported on Thursday.The barge was travelling from Foshan city to a southern district of Guangzhou when it crashed into the bridge at 5:30 a.m. (2130 GMT) on the Hongqili Waterway, the Guangzhou Maritime Safety Administration said in a statement.Images on state…

Glasgow boatbuilder Ultimate Boats has delivered a recyclable patrol boat to fellow Scottish organisation Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority.The bespoke vessel is 11 meters in length with a 3.1 meter beam. It features six permanent shock mitigation seats and two fold-down shock mitigation crew seats. Powered by two 350 HP Suzuki outboard engines, it has a 2,050kg payload, 1,000 litre fuel capacity and range of 400 miles.The vessel is built from Ultimate Boat’s patented Danu recyclable boat building material including its hull…

A global alternative investment firm Strategic Value Partners has entered into agreement with Hornblower Group to acquire the majority ownership of the company in exchange for significant equity investment. As part of the agreement, Crestview Partners retained minority ownership in the business, and the decision was made to sell or wind down the company’s overnight cruises unit American Queen Voyages.Aside from significant minority stake in the business, Crestview will become the sole owner of Journey Beyond…

Disruption to shipping in the Red Sea region will impact QatarEnergy's deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) but not its production, CEO Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday."It's only going to take longer to get it there. But it will not reach a point where we have to stop production because there isn't any ship.

Russia said on Saturday it had repelled an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on Russian "civilian transport ships" on Friday evening in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, a key artery for grain and oil exports from both countries.Civilian vessels on the Black Sea have not generally been targeted since Moscow ordered its troops into Ukraine in February 2022, but last July both sides said they would start treating ships headed to the other's ports as potential carriers of military cargo.In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app…

More ships carrying grain were diverted from the Suez Canal to sailings around the Cape of Good Hope this week as concern about attacks on vessels in the Red Sea continued, shipping analysts said on Friday."Another 13 vessels were diverted this week taking the total cargo diverted away from the Red Sea route to around 5.2 million metric tons of grains in about 90 ships since the attacks started late last year," said Ishan Bhanu, lead agricultural commodities analyst at data provider…

Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) reports its cruise passenger numbers are back to pre-pandemic levels. The port said Monday that it finished calendar year 2023 with nearly 1.2 million cruise passenger movements and renewed commitments to the New Orleans cruise market from both oceangoing and river cruise lines.“The cruise business has rebounded in New Orleans and cruise line partners are confident in our Port NOLA cruise market,” said Port NOLA president and CEO Brandy D. Christian.

Heavy fog has suspended the operation of ships travelling through the Qiongzhou Strait off the coast of China's Guangdong province and several cities, including Shanghai, have issued warning advisories, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday.Several ports suspended the flow of traffic starting late Tuesday and the specific time of the resumption of navigation will be determined as sea visibility improves, state broadcaster CCTV news reported.Port cities in the southwestern region of Guangxi…