Ruby News

Damen Launches New Cargo Vessel for German Shipping Company

Damen Shipyards has launched a Combi Freighter (CF) 3850 at the Ba Son Shipyard in Vietnam, built for German shipping company Reederei M. Lauterjung.The CF 3850 is the first in a two-vessel order from Reederei M. Lauterjung. Following this order, Damen’s client has placed an order for a third CF 3850.The vessels are to be named MV Arion, MV Hestia and MV Neptune.Upon delivery, MV Arion and MV Hestia will enter into a long-term charter with Amadeus Schiffahrts- und Speditions, a subsidiary of HGK Shipping.

Sima Christens New Crew Tender Vessel

Maaskade Group's Sima Charters has christened its latest newbuild crew tender vessel in the Netherlands.The high-speed aluminum monohull vessel, SC Ruby, was built by Neptune Marine.The 23-meter-long vessel is equipped with triple Volvo Penta IPS 1050 propulsion and features a Seakeeper gyrostabilization system for increased workability.

Australian Court Finds Carnival Misled About Cruise's COVID Risks in Landmark Luling

Carnival Corp's Australian unit has been ordered to pay the medical expenses of a woman who contracted COVID-19, with a judge ruling that the cruise ship operator misled passengers about safety risks in a landmark class action ruling.The decision from Australia's Federal Court is the first class action win against a cruise ship operator in the world, according to Shine Lawyers, who represent about 1,000 Australian plaintiffs in the suit.Justice Angus Stewart found Carnival Australia…

Lukoil Sets up Ship-to-ship Russian Oil Loadings Near Kaliningrad

Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil has set up ship-to-ship (STS) loadings of Urals oil near the western port of Kaliningrad, Refinitiv Eikon data showed and trading sources told Reuters on Wednesday.The data shows 100,000 tonnes of Urals crude was loaded on the Andaman Skies tanker at the Baltic port of Primorsk on Feb. 11.

Report: Reliance Industries' New FPSO in Collision Incident Off India

India-based Reliance Industries' recently delivered FPSO Ruby on Sunday collided ‘lightly’ with an accommodation barge offshore the east coast of India, India’s Economic Times reported on the same day.The news website cited a Reliance spokesperson who said that the incident happened when a gangway from the accommodation barge got lifted and hit a staircase on the FPSO. Nobody was injured during the incident and both vessels sustained 'minor' damage. According to the RIL spokesperson, as reported by Economic Times, the project timeline is not affected.

Sevan Hummingbird FPSO Set to Leave Chestnut Field in North Sea

Teekay's Sevan Hummingbird FPSO is set to leave Spirit Energy's Chestnut oil field in the North Sea after 13 years of oil production at the site.According to notice to mariners issued by Teekay on Thursday, the FPSO is currently being disconnected from its moorings.The 2007-built vessel, which was also known as Hummingbird Spirit, or just Hummingbird, has the capacity to produce around 25,000 barrels of oil per day, and a storage capacity of 270,000. It is operated by Altera on behalf of Teekay. The cylindrical FPSO, with hull diameter of 60 meters, has been producing oil from the Chestnut field since 2008. Spirit Energy, the operator of the offshore oil field, in August 2021 said it would file a decommissioning program for the Chestnut field.

US Navy Destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) Christened

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) christened pre-commissioning unit Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) at the company’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss.The new 513-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is the first of the Flight III variants and 75th overall in the class. It is expected to be commissioned in 2023.Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships and can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States military strategy.

AET Completes its First LNG Bunkering in the US

Oil tanker operator AET said Thursday it had recently completed its first-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering in the U.S., working in coordination with Shell to refuel the LNG dual-fuel Aframax tanker Pacific Ruby outside Port Canaveral in Florida.The transfer of 600 metric tons of marine LNG onto the 113,305 DWT petroleum tanker from the Q-LNG 4000 bunker barge was completed within three hours while the entire bunkering operations took nine hours, AET said.The operation…

Crew Member Medevaced from Tanker off Texas

An ailing crew member was medevaced  from a crude oil tanker 22 miles south of Sabine, Texas, Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Coast Guard Sector Houston command center watchstanders received a call at 10:36 p.m. from the anchored Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Pacific Ruby stating that a 35-year-old mariner on board was exhibiting abnormal lethargic behavior and was in need of medical assistance. Watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon, who recommended a medevac.A Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew launched to assist.

More Stormy Seas Ahead for the Cruise Sector

The cruise industry has weathered many storms, including fairly regular brushes with disease. Outbreaks of norovirus, H1N1 and measles have all happened in the not too distant past. Despite this, a cruise has traditionally been regarded as a safe holiday—the kind where you don’t have to worry about a thing.COVID-19 has changed this. Cruise ships were a hotbed of transmission during the early stages of the pandemic, particularly the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined for six weeks in Japan in spring 2020.

Croatia's Floating LNG Terminal Starts Operations

Croatia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the northern Adriatic island of Krk began operations on Friday amid the first delivery of gas, said the company which runs the unit."LNG tanker Tristar Ruby anchored with 143,000 cubic meters of gas which signifies the beginning of the commercial use of the terminal," LNG Hrvatska director Hrvoje Krhen told the state news agency Hina.According to the company, the unloading of gas, delivered from the United States, will take place until Jan.

Vietnam: FSO Golden Star Receives First Condensate

Malaysia Vietnam Offshore Terminal's FSO Golden Star has received the first condensate at the Sao Vang and Dai Nguyet (SVDN) Project offshore Vietnam.MVOT is a 51% MISC Berhad (MISC) owned joint venture with PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC). The condensate delivery milestone was achieved on November 16, 2020, MISC said Friday. FSO Golden Star with a storage capacity of about 700,000 barrels of condensate was converted and sailed away from Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering’s West Yard on September 10…

Princess Cruises Cancels Some Early 2021 Voyages

Carnival Corp’s Princess Cruises said on Monday it would cancel early 2021 cruises on two ships, citing travel, border and port restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Cruise lines, hammered by a crisis that has seen some ships turn into infection hotspots, had earlier said they were expecting solid 2021 bookings, mainly as repeat cruisers were eager to book their trips.The two ships, Island Princess and Pacific Princess, were set to sail from North America and Australia, respectively.Guests…

NSW Premier Apologizes for Cruise Ship Failures After COVID-19 Spike

The leader of Australia’s New South Wales state apologized on Monday for failing to stop people carrying the novel coronavirus from disembarking from a cruise ship in Sydney in March, triggering what was at the time Australia’s worst outbreak.The apology from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian for her government’s poor handling of the outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess came as the number of deaths from a second wave of infection in Victoria state hit a record 25.Australia has reported 23…

Ruby Princess Inquiry Blames NSW Health Officials for Debacle

The inquiry commissioned by the Berejiklian government into the Ruby Princess COVID-19 disaster has laid blame on NSW health officials, who made “inexcusable” and “inexplicable” mistakes. It also exonerated the Australian Border Force.In the report, the federal government was sharply criticized for refusing to allow an official to appear before the inquiry, with commissioner Bret Walker SC saying this belied Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s promise of full cooperation.Some 2,700…

Obituary: Detyens Shipyard Chairman Loy Stewart

David Loy Stewart Sr, former owner and Chairman of the Board at ship repair yard Detyens Shipyards, Inc. in North Charleston, S.C. passed away on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, at the age of 72.Loy, husband of the late Judy Ann Detyens Stewart, was born September 15, 1947 in Abbeville, S.C., son of the late John David Stewart and the late Ruby Gillespie Stewart. He graduated from Furman University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and although prone to sea sickness enlisted in the U.S. Navy shortly after graduating college.

Princess Cruises Extends Suspension of Some Voyages

Carnival Corp’s Princess Cruises on Thursday extended the suspension of some of its voyages in Australia, Canada and Taiwan as ports around the world remain shut due to the coronavirus crisis.Cruise lines, hammered by a crisis which has seen some ships develop into high-profile infection hotspots, in recent days have been steadily pushing back cancellations well into the second half of 2020.Princess Cruises, long a favorite of older travelers, said it has extended the delay of operations on all cruises sailing in and out of Australia through mid-September on the Sea Princess…

Ingalls Lifts Deckhouse onto DDG125

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division on Wednesday lifted the aft deckhouse onto guided missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125). The 320-ton aft deckhouse includes radar equipment rooms, main engine intake and exhaust compartments, electric shop and staterooms.“Our team has kept this first Flight III ship ahead of schedule by working collaboratively and using lessons learned from our long history of building destroyers,” said Ben Barnett, Ingalls DDG 125 program manager.

Princess and Other Cruise Lines Extend Service Suspensions

Carnival Corp’s Princess Cruises said on Wednesday its voyages would remain suspended through the end of summer as reduced flights and travel bans around the globe bring the industry to a virtual standstill.Holland America Line, Carnival’s another unit, said it has canceled all cruises for Alaska, Europe and Canada and New England for the year, as well as its Amsterdam vessel that was scheduled to depart in October to Fort Lauderdale, Florida from Boston.“As we continue to navigate through these unprecedented and challenging times…

Ruby Princess Reaches the Philippines

A cruise ship at the heart of Australia’s biggest coronavirus cluster arrived off the Philippines on Thursday to repatriate more than 200 crew, leaving behind weeks of outrage and acrimony over why symptomatic passengers were allowed to disembark.Just under a quarter of Australia’s 97 coronavirus deaths can be traced back to Carnival Corp’s Ruby Princess, which has been a flashpoint for anger in Australia and the focus of a criminal investigation after a spike in cases followed its March 19 arrival in Sydney.The 114,000-tonne, 19-deck ship reached Manila Bay on Thursday, joining a cluster of about a dozen other cruise ships that will be subjected to on-board testing for COVID-19 before any Filipino crew members can disembark.Reduced flights and travel bans due to the coronavirus…

Carnival Plans to Resume Some Voyages in August

Carnival Corp announced Monday it plans to resume certain North American voyages in August as it tries to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, which has idled its ships since March.The company said its Carnival Cruise Line brand intends to restart cruises on eight ships from Miami (Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sensation), Port Canaveral (Carnival Breeze and Carnival Elation) and Galveston (Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista) on August 1, while…

Coronavirus-hit Ruby Princess Departs Australia

A cruise ship linked to a third of Australia’s coronavirus deaths has left the country after a month docked in local waters, the authorities said on Friday, as an emergency cabinet meeting was expected to ease some social distancing measures.The Ruby Princess, owned by Carnival Corp, has become a flashpoint of public anger after being allowed to unload thousands of passengers in Sydney without health checks on March 19.Hundreds of its passengers later tested positive to COVID-19, about 10% of the country’s roughly 6,600 infections, and a third of the country’s 77 coronavirus deaths have been traced to the ship.Separate criminal, coronial…

Ruby Princess Crew Begins Debarking in Australia

The first group of Ruby Princess crew members has debarked the coronavirus-hit cruise ship in Sydney, Australia and began the process of repatriation to their home countries Tuesday, authorities said.At least 49 crew members from six countries disembarked the Carnival Corp owned cruise ship on Tuesday, and a further 115 crew members from nine countries disembarked on Wednesday.So far, 22 of the disembarked crew members have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been transported…