Viega Group has a history spanning more than 115 years and today is more than 4,000 employees worldwide, a leading manufacturers of pipe installation technology for shipbuilding, industrial, commercial and residential projects. In the U.S., Viega LLC employs nearly 500 people and offers more than 3,000 products, including Viega ProPress for copper and stainless, Viega MegaPress for black iron pipe and Viega PEX Press systems in Zero Lead bronze and high-performance polymer. While the company serves many markets…

June 20, 2017 began the next construction stage for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ first newbuild expedition cruise vessel, HANSEATIC nature. During a keel laying ceremony at the VARD shipyard in Tulcea, Romania, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises CEO, Karl J. Pojer, placed a coin inside the steel block; the coin was welded into the block and will accompany the ship on all its future cruises. HANSEATIC nature‘s keel consists of two steel blocks: each block is 9 meters long, 11 meters wide, 1,5 meters high and weighs 33 tons.

A modern ship waste-water reception facility went into operation at Kiel’s Ostseekai on June 14. During an inauguration ceremony the new plant’s valves were symbolically opened by Kiel’s Lord Mayor Dr. Ulf Kämpfer, Construction chief Doris Grondke, the head of the Water Management and Marine and Coastal Protection Department in the Schleswig-Holstein Environment Ministry Dietmar Wienholdt, Port chief Dr. Dirk Claus and Captain Kjell Holm of TUI Cruises. The new facility, which cost well over €1.8 million…

A new 36-meter monohull passenger ferry Mary D Seven has been delivered for Mary D Cruises in New Caledonia. Designed by Incat Crowther and built by Strategic Marine, the vessel will operate with yacht-like style on the route between Noumea and Amedee Island during the day, and as a dinner cruise vessel in the evenings, returning greater utilization of the asset. The main deck is arranged to support the transit operation by day and dinner cruises in the evening. The deck features 108 passenger seats primarily in booth seating with tables…

AIDAperla - the youngest member of the AIDA Cruises fleet - reached the port of Barcelona via the western Mediterranean on June 7, 2017, as part of its "Welcome Cruises". During AIDAperla’s maiden season, Barcelona is, alongside Palma de Mallorca, one of the start and end ports for her seven-day cruises in the western Mediterranean. The Rostock cruise company’s latest ship will be christened on June 30, 2017 in Palma de Mallorca by model and presenter, Lena Gercke. The christening ceremony will be streamed live on the Internet, the AIDA social media channels and on board all AIDA ships.

Netherlands based Hatenboer-Water said it will supply water treatment equipment for two new cruise vessels currently under construction for Saga Cruises at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany. The equipment, which conditions fresh water derived from bunkering in the harbor or seawater desalination, is an onboard solution for safe drinking water. Once stored, fresh water is post-treated in two stages: hardening by neutralizing filters and disinfection with a chlorine product. Bunkered fresh water is disinfected at the intake. If required, pH is adjusted.

Cruise holidays. Despite the now mundane miracle of aviation travel, Earth's deep oceans and seas still beckon to millions of holidaymakers year on year. Or, if perhaps not the water herself, then the concomitant aspects of contemporary cruise travel. A number of days if not weeks aboard a gargantuan, luxury-focused ship, which is replete from fore to aft with swimming pools, cafes, bars, restaurants, libraries, retail departments, casinos…did we mention bars, too? Magnificent.

The Switzerland-based MSC Cruises welcomed its new giant, MSC Meraviglia, first in a new class of ships. MSC Cruises officially christened its newest cruise ship, the MSC Meraviglia, in a ceremony led by the ship’s godmother, Sophia Loren, last week in Le Havre. MSC Meraviglia is the company’s new flagship and the 13th addition to the MSC Cruises fleet, as well as the first new MSC Cruises ship due to come into service under the cruise line’s new investment plan. At 171,598 GRT and with guest capacity of 5…

Ship owner MSC Cruises and shipbuilder STX France signed a new memorandum of understanding firming up the order of two 200,000 GRT, LNG-powered mega cruise ships, with options for two additional vessels. The four ships will become MSC Cruises’ World Class. The signing took place at the MSC Meraviglia delivery ceremony in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, and Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy. In connection with the signing, MSC Cruises and STX France today also unveiled several key features of the World Class.

On Saturday, June 17, 2017, Webb Institute awarded 19 Bachelor of Science degrees at its 121st Commencement Ceremony. Each graduating student received a dual degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Webb’s commencement ceremony opened with the singing of the National Anthem by the WooFs (Webb Family Singers) and included inspirational remarks from the ceremony’s Principal Speaker, Bruce S. Rosenblatt. Rosenblatt, President of Bruce S. Rosenblatt & Associates, LLC, and Chairman of Webb’s Board of Trustees…

International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Marine Safety Committee (MSC) adopted amendments to SOLAS2020 that raise the damage stability requirements for passenger vessels in the event of flooding caused by a collision. These changes used as a basis a series of EU and European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) funded cooperative research projects conducted by academics, shipyards, ship operators, owners, classification societies and ship design consultants over several decades. “To their great credit…

Rolls-Royce announced that it received an order for four B33:45L diesel engines to power the world’s largest hybrid ferry being built for the Norwegian cruise and transport company Color Line. The ferry, designed by Fosen and to be built at Ulstein Verft in Norway, is due for completion by the summer of 2019 and is scheduled to operate on the crossing between Sandefjord in Norway and Strømstad in Sweden. The new Color Line ferry will be a plug-in hybrid combining diesel and electrical power.

Incat Crowther said that construction is underway for an innovative tour vessel to operate in Tasmania’s south west. The vessel will be operated by Gordon River Cruises and will offer interpretive tours into the heart of the UNESCO Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. From the inception of the project, priority was put on delivering a superb customer experience. Incat Crowther developed a concept that utilized triangular side structure to enlarge openings and minimize vertical window posts that create obstructed viewing locations.

Majestic Fast Ferry’s newest ferry, the Majestic Dream, set sail on a maiden voyage from Singapore Cruise Centre’s (SCC) HarbourFront terminal. The 11th vessel in Majestic Fast Ferry’s fleet will ply the operator’s existing routes between Singapore and the Riau Islands in Indonesia. It will serve passengers travelling to and from SCC’s HarbourFront and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal in Singapore, Batam Center and Sekupang terminals in Batam as well as Tanjung Pinang in Bintan. The ferry was designed by Australian naval architect and engineering service firm Incat Crowther.

Luxury cruise line owner and operator Silversea has appointed coatings supplier Hempel to deliver innovative coating solutions for its newbuild 40,700 GT cruise ship Silver Muse. Silver Muse was built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa Sestri Ponente and delivered on Monday, April 3. Silversea selected Hempel’s advanced fouling defence coating Hempaguard X7 to protect the hull of its new vessel. Hempaguard X7 uses an advanced combination of hydrogel-silicone and an efficient fouling preventing biocide in a single coat.

A fleet of seven cruise ships attract 600,000 visitors to the fourth Hamburg Cruise Days. It was ‘time to say goodbye’ to the Deutschland and AIDAstella last Sunday, not only for the cruise passengers, but also for the many visitors to the fourth Hamburg Cruise Days. For three days the city was totally consumed by the laid back maritime cruising atmosphere that prevailed along the four-kilometre length of the event area. Blessed with midsummer temperatures, 12 cruise theme islands between HafenCity and Altona provided a range of sporting…

Five Asia cruise destinations – Hainan, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Taiwan and Xiamen–jointly announced the launch of Asia Cruise Cooperation (ACC), a committed and resourceful alliance with a strong commitment to maximize the growth of cruise tourism in Asia. Launched at a cocktail reception at Seatrade Cruise Global in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the members of ACC vowed to provide full support to cruise lines to develop Asian cruise products. Riding on the success of Asia Cruise Fund founded in 2014 and the participation of Xiamen since January…

Cruise lines carried 11 percent more passengers from U.S. ports in the first quarter of 2003 than they did in the first quarter of 2002, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) reported. Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International maintain the largest market share among the top 10 cruise lines, accounting for 32.7 and 26.4 percent, respectively. The statistics are part of a new statistical series issued by MARAD on U.S. cruise passenger traffic, which covers the 10 major cruise lines operating cruise ships with a capacity greater than 750 passengers. The cruise lines included in the database are Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, Costa Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Crystal Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Cunard Line.

Renaissance Cruises announced today that its board of directors has appointed Manfred Ursprunger as Chief Executive. Ursprunger joins Renaissance Cruises from Celebrity Cruises, where he was one of the two key senior executives. On April 20, 2001, Renaissance Cruises announced that Malvern Maritime, led by Norwegian shipowner Peter Gram, has become the majority shareholder of R Holdings, the parent company of Renaissance Cruises, through a major investment in the company. The Company also announced the decision of Richard L. Kirby, former president and Co-CEO, to resign in order to pursue personal interests. Under Ursprunger's leadership, Celebrity Cruises has earned top travel industry honors for lodging and service quality.

Broward County’s Port Everglades is experiencing record cruise passenger growth in 2004 and just nine months into the current fiscal year already surpassed 2003’s total number of passengers. Just one month later, the South Florida cruise port powered past its all-time annual high mark, which was set in 2002. By the end of this year, Port Everglades expects to top the four million annual passenger milestone for the first time. “Broward County has become the hub of the cruise industry and this year’s phenomenal passenger growth demonstrates that Port Everglades’ appeal continues to grow,” said Ken Krauter, Port Director. In June, just nine months into the current fiscal year, Port Everglades hosted 3,409,116 cruise passengers, surpassing last year’s 12-month total of 3,375,671 passengers.

The Port of Houston Authority is partnering with two separate cruise lines, Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines, to offer new service from the Bayport Cruise Terminal. Princess Cruises will make passenger cruise calls during the 2013-2014 cruise season, while Norwegian Cruise Lines has committed to begin service in 2014. "We are ecstatic that these two premier cruise lines have chosen to sail from our state-of-the-art cruise facility at Bayport in Pasadena, Texas," said Jim Edmonds, chairman of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority.

Carnival Corporation & plc has assigned the newbuild slot for the previously announced 116,000-ton cruise ship to U.K.-based P&O Cruises. To be built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, the vessel is scheduled to enter service in spring 2008. The new 3,100-passenger vessel will become the largest cruise ship specifically built for British cruise service and continues Carnival’s ongoing European expansion strategy. An itinerary for this vessel has not been announced. The new P&O Cruises ship was part of a five-ship agreement with Fincantieri announced in September 2004 that also included the new 110,000-ton Carnival Freedom for Carnival Cruise Lines…

Carnival Corporation & plc has announced that its cruise joint venture in China has signed a non-binding memorandum of agreement (MOA) to order the industry’s first new cruise ships built in China for the Chinese market. The MOA is subject to several conditions including closing of the joint venture, financing and other key terms. As part of the new MOA, Carnival Corporation’s cruise joint venture in China agreed to order two new cruise ships to be built by a newly formed China-based shipbuilding joint venture between China’s largest shipbuilder…