Canary Islands News

For the first time in Spain's history the ports have welcomed over 10 million cruise ship passengers, reaching a higher level within the global cruise tourism context.According to State-owned Spanish Port System Puertos del Estado, this figure places Spain second in Europe for the number of cruise passengers, with several Spanish ports leading the European ranking and even listed among the world's top 50 ports, as is the case of the ports of Barcelona, the Balearic and Canary Islands…

CMA CGM will retain the only Containerships brand for its intra-European operations, giving up MacAndrews, which had already erased OPDR."Containerships: from April 1st, 2019 a single brand resulting from the union of two experts of intra-European transport CMA CGM reinforces its strategy aimed at densifying its regional coverage to the benefit of its clients," said a press release from MacAndrews.According to the French container transportation and shipping company, by joining the forces of two recognized experts of intra-European multimodal transport…

Shipping company Boluda Lines’ subsidiary Boluda Maritime Terminals has appointed Javier Fernández Bombín as new director of Boluda Maritime Terminal Las Palmas.He has taken up the new position at Boluda Corporación Marítima today, on 14 January. The terminal is responsible for providing and managing logistics services in the main ports of Spain.Javier Fernández Bombín replaces Javier Climent, who has managed the Las Palmas terminal since 2013. On 27 November 2018 Climent was appointed as the new corporate director of Boluda Corporación Marítima in the Canary Islands…

Carnival Corp on Wednesday launched its first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship in Germany as the world's largest cruise operator tries to cut its carbon footprint.Addition of LNG ships are part of Carnival's ongoing fleet enhancement strategy and 20 new vessels are scheduled for delivery between 2018 and 2025.The shipping industry have been forced to look for cleaner options such as LNG after the International Maritime Organization introduced tough new rules on use of marine fuel.Strategically important ports such as Gibraltar are already preparing to offer upgraded facilities to meet

Spanish ferry companies Fred. Olsen Express and Baleària, through its alliance Canary Bridge Seaways (CBS), will launch the new route between the Canary Islands and Huelva on November 11.According to a press release from Baleària, there will be three weekly rotations with two vessels that will guarantee a comprehensive, reliable and quality service.The route will be triangular between the ports of Huelva, La Luz in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Departures from the Peninsula will be Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 8 p.m.

Shipbuilder Austal said it has commenced construction on the first of two 117-meter high-speed passenger trimaran ferries for Fred. Olsen.Developed in Henderson, Western Australia at Austal’s center of excellence in maritime design, the next-generation vessels will be used by Fred. Olsen Express in the Canary Islands, joining their sister ship, The Benchijigua Express.Capable of transferring over 1,100 passengers and 276 cars at speeds up to 38 knots these vessels will feature…

Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic) announced that in partnership with its subsidiary, ITC Global, it has been awarded a four-year contract by TUI Cruises for connectivity services to two new-build cruise ships, Mein Schiff 1 and new Mein Schiff 2.The agreement establishes communication capabilities onboard the vessels serving guests and crew, enhancing the user experience during the cruise line's travels across international waters. Germany-based TUI Cruises is a joint venture between TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

Two new high-speed ferries to be run by Spanish ferry operator Fred. Olsen, S.A. are each to be powered by four MTU 20-cylinder 8000 M71L engines and by Kamewa waterjets from Rolls-Royce. The ferries will be 117m trimarans, designed by Austal Australia, and are to ply the waters around the Canary Islands along with the world’s largest aluminum fast ferry in operation, the Benchijigua Express. It is also planned to sign a maintenance agreement for both new ferries for a period of up to 8 years and a maximum of 24,000 hours of operation.

Italian police said on Thursday they found 20 tonnes of hash worth as much as 200 million euros ($232 million) in the fuel tanks of a Panama-flagged ship that was stopped in international waters and escorted to Sicily.The entire 11-person crew, all from Montenegro, was arrested for international drugs trafficking, Italy's finance police said in a statement.The research and survey vessel Remus left the Canary Islands bound for Egypt and Turkey, but police surveillance showed it had turned off its position transmitter near the coast of North Africa…

Vessels’ repair needs do not always match with planned maintenance schedules. With specialist underwater teams, no vessel is far from fast, high-quality repair and refurbishment that enable operators to avoid the potential loss of income related to dry-docking.Technology group Wärtsilä offers marine service and maintenance, regardless of the vessel’s location. Maintenance and repair services performed by specialist divers add to Wärtsilä’s comprehensive service offering and allow for operators to minimize or eliminate vessel downtime.Late last year…

A series of presentations organized and presented jointly by Resolve Marine Group and the SNAME - Greek Supper Section was held Wednesday, June 6 at the Posidonia 2018 exhibition in Athens.The two-hour event included a total of four presentations – two from SNAME and two from Resolve  – focused on the issues of direct and prompt response to merchant vessels’ accidents and damages that have shaken the global shipping community over the past three years.The event was attended by…

The RB Eden vessel carrying 70,000 tonnes of U.S. sorghum turned around just before reaching the Spanish port of Cartagena and is now heading to Singapore, Thomson Reuters Eikon ship-tracking data showed.This marks the second U-turn for the ship amid a trade tussle between the United States and China. Anti-dumping measures announced by Beijing in mid-April led exporters to divert hundreds of thousands of tonnes of U.S. sorghum. But China dropped its sorghum probe on Friday in what was seen as a goodwill gesture.The RB Eden initially loaded at grain merchant ADM's elevator in Corpus Christi…

The RB Eden vessel carrying 70,000 tonnes of U.S. sorghum is heading to the Spanish port of Cartagena, Thomson Reuters Eikon ship-tracking data showed, in what will be a fifth cargo of U.S. sorghum to be diverted from China to Spain.The ship had sailed towards the Spanish Canary Islands after turning around in the Indian Ocean. Having circled off the coast of Tenerife, it changed destination late on Monday to Cartagena in southern Spain, a regular import terminal for livestock feed grain, Eikon data showed.Traders had been expecting the RB Eden to go on to mainland Spain, like four other U.S.

A rare cargo of U.S. sorghum has arrived in Spain and will be followed by several more, shipping data showed, a sign that Spain's livestock industry is set to become one of the new homes for U.S. sorghum hit by Chinese anti-dumping tariffs.Exporters have been scrambling to divert hundreds of thousands of tonnes of U.S. sorghum bound for China after Beijing announced hefty anti-dumping deposits on the grain in mid-April, part of a simmering trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.Sorghum is mainly used in livestock feed and the fiery Chinese liquor baijiu.U.S.

The P&O Cruises Grand-class cruise ship Ventura has completed a two-week docking at Damen Shiprepair Brest. Launched in 2008, this was the first visit of the 290-metre, 116,000 DWT vessel to the yard, where she underwent a regular docking together with a range of maintenance works. Major features of the maintenance program included the installation of two exhaust gas scrubbers, for which Damen Shiprepair Brest (DSBr) designed, manufactured and installed a seachest. While the Ventura was in DSBr’s Drydock number 3…

Transinsular announced the 'Lince Class', the fastest maritime connection with Cape Verde from Portugal (Leixões / Lisbon) and the Canary Islands (Las Palmas). And therefore, the most competitive solution for exporting products from Portugal, Spain, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. At the same time, and as a complement to the 'Lince Class', the ETE Group will offer inter-island ‘ATOBÁ’ cabotage services, on the way from Praia, Mindelo, Sal and Boavista, connecting these ports to the African proximity markets such as Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania.

Carnival Corporation & plc will roll out four new ships in 2018 across four of its 10 global brands, as the company will add 18 new cruise liners to its fleet between 2018 and 2022. The new vessels to set sail in 2018 will be for Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Seabourn and AIDA Cruises, and follow three new ships debuted by Carnival Corporation in 2017. “Our fleet enhancement program enables us to manage the overall fleet by aligning new ship deliveries with our strategy for measured capacity growth over time…

Wärtsilä said it has acquired Netherland based Trident B.V., a specialist in underwater ship maintenance, inspection and repair services. The acquisition is expected to close in January 2018. The enterprise value of the transaction is €17.5 million ($20.8 million) and an additional €3.5 million ($4.2 million) earn-out, based on the business performance in the coming years. The turnover of Trident is approximately €9 million ($10.7 million). Trident Group specializes in repair…

The CMA CGM Group announced it will merge its subsidiaries MacAndrews and OPDR effective January 1, 2018.,  in line with the Group’s strategy to develop its intra-regional activities Headquarters will be located in Hamburg. The union between these two companies specialized in intra-European transport enables the CMA CGM Group to strengthen its multimodal offer in Europe, particularly thanks to the complementarity of the geographical zones covered today by MacAndrews and OPDR, iCMA CGM said.

Austal’s latest contract announcement for two 117 metre high speed vehicle passenger ferries, for Fred Olsen SA, not only sends a strong signal to the international market that ‘fast ferries are back’, but confirms Austal’s proven trimaran hull design as the most cost effective and highly capable vessel platform to deliver superior seakeeping and schedule performance. The €126million Euro (A$190million) contract, announced at Interferry 2017 in Split Croatia represents Fred Olsen SA’s largest ever ferry order.

Acciona has reached an agreement to sell its 92.7% stake in Trasmediterranea to the Naviera Armas Group. Acciona's stake is being sold for 260.4 million euros, and the buyer will assume 127.3 million euros of debt owed by Trasmediterranea to Acciona group companies. The final price could increase by up to 16 million euros as a function of the combined group's future EBITDA performance. This transaction sets the company's enterprise value (100%) at  between 419 and 436 million euros.

Austal has announced a milestone contract, valued at €126 million (A$190 million), to design and build two 117 metre high-speed vehicle passenger trimaran ferries for long term customer Fred Olsen S.A. of the Canary Islands, Spain. The aluminium trimarans, designed by Austal Australia, will be the second and third trimarans to be delivered to Fred Olsen S.A. who already operate the world’s first and largest trimaran vehicle passenger ferry, the Benchijigua Express – designed and built by Austal in 2005.

At the ongoing EU-hosted Our Ocean conference in Malta (5-6 October), the European Union has committed to 36 tangible actions to foster healthier, cleaner, safer and more secure seas. Amounting to over €550 million and involving activities worldwide, the announcements underline the EU's determination to improve the situation of the seas and send a positive signal of encouragement to the rest of the world – governments and private sector alike - to step up and tackle the growing ocean challenges…