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Cruise Ship Operator News

25 Oct 2023

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

© NAN / Adobe Stock

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…

31 Aug 2022

Royal Caribbean Will Be Industry's First to Use SpaceX’s Starlink High-speed Internet

Royal Caribbean first trialed SpaceX’s Starlink on board Freedom of the Seas. (Photo: Royal Caribbean Group)

Royal Caribbean Group this week revealed it will be the industry's first cruise ship operator to implement SpaceX’s Starlink for onboard broadband internet service for guests and crew fleetwide.The cruise giant said on Tuesday it will immediately begin installing Starlink high-speed, low-latency connectivity on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each of its brands going forward. Initial installations…

31 Oct 2022

TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff 6 Connects to Shore Power in Kiel

(Photo: TUI Cruises)

TUI Cruises said a second vessel in its cruise ship fleet has successfully tested the use of shore power in port.Earlier this week, the German cruise ship operator's Mein Schiff 6 received shore power for the first time in SEEHAFEN KIEL Cruise GmbH & Co. KG (Port of Kiel), making it the second TUI Cruises ship behind Mein Schiff 4 to have made a shore power connection.Technicians and engineers carried out various tests of the shore power system before connecting the plugs of the Kiel shore power system to the sockets of Mein Schiff 6.

22 Jun 2022

First Steel Cut for TUI Cruises' LNG-powered Cruise Ship

Credit: Fincantieri

The first steel cutting ceremony was held for the first of two LNG-powered ships for the cruise ship operator TUI Cruises.Shipbuilder Fincantieri said Wednesday that the construction start-up ceremony had taken place in the presence of Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI, and Luigi Matarazzo, General Manager Merchant Ship Division of Fincantieri, in San Giorgio di Nogaro (Udine) at Centro Servizi Navali, a company specialized in logistics and production of sheet metal for the Fincantieri yards located in northeastern Italy.

17 Dec 2021

Carnival Opens New Dubai Cruise Terminal

(Photo: Carnival Corporation)

Cruise ship operator Carnival Corporation has officially opened its new Dubai Harbor Cruise Terminal with Shamal Holding following their strategic partnership signed in 2018 to develop the new cruise port.With the arrivals of Costa Firenze and AIDAbella from the company’s Italy-based Costa Cruises and Germany-based AIDA Cruises brands, the official opening was marked by two passenger cruise ships visiting the Dubai Harbor Cruise Terminal for the first time, coinciding with the start of the cruise season and the ships’ homeporting seasons from Dubai.

09 Aug 2021

Florida Can't Ban Cruise Ship's 'Vaccine Passport' Program, US Judge Says

© Mariakray / Adobe Stock

A U.S. judge has allowed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH.N)todemand that passengers show written proof of coronavirus vaccination before they board a ship, dealing a major blow to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's effort to ban "vaccine passports."In a preliminary ruling issued on Sunday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami said Norwegian would likely prevail on its argument that the "vaccine passport" ban, signed into law by DeSantis in May, jeopardizes public…

26 May 2021

Lindblad Expeditions Returning to Iceland

(Photo: Lindblad Expeditions)

Expedition cruise ship operator Lindblad Expeditions announced it will be reactivating National Geographic Explorer for a series of voyages in Iceland this summer, more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the cruise industry to a virtual standstill.The Iceland season will include six- and 11-day voyages commencing from July 7.All guests 16 years of age and over will be required to be vaccinated prior to travelling onboard for July voyages. On voyages departing August 1…

18 May 2021

Lindblad Expeditions to Reactivate Two Ships in Alaska

Expedition cruise ship operator Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic announced on Tuesday it plans to add additional voyages in Alaska this summer. Citing robust demand for its Alaska programming, Lindblad said it will reactivate its two remaining U.S.-flagged vessels. The 62-guest sister ships, National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion, will sail from Alaska on a series of departures starting June 25 and continuing through August. The company said it has added an additional 13 departures in total.All guests 16 years of age and over will be required to be vaccinated prior to traveling onboard. Among other health and safety protocols are negative COVID-19 tests, daily guest temperature checks and thorough cleaning procedures.

20 Jan 2021

Wärtsilä, Carnival Ink Waste Treatment Systems Deal

(Image: Wärtsilä)

Finnish marine equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä said it signed a framework agreement with Carnival Corporation covering the supply and installation of Wärtsilä’s waste water and dry waste treatment systems for up to 32 vessels across many of global cruise ship operator’s brands. Wärtsilä said its Membrane Bioreactor waste water treatment plants for handling of black and grey waste water surpass the most demanding standards currently set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for sewage discharge…

24 Dec 2020

PHOTO: Viking's New Expedition Ship Floated Out

Viking Octantis - Credit: Viking

Cruise ship operator Viking has this week informed that its first expedition ship – the 378-guest Viking Octantis – was floated, marking a major construction milestone and the first time that the new ship touches water.The float out is important because it denotes a ship moving into its final stage of construction. The float-out ceremony of Viking Octantis took place on December 22. The ship was then moved to a nearby outfitting dock for further construction and interior build-out.

04 Dec 2020

Felin Named CEO of Hurtigruten Norway

Hedda Felin (Photo: Øivind Haug / Equinor)

Norwegian cruise ship operator Hurtigruten Group has appointed Hedda Felin CEO of Hurtigruten Norway, where she will take the helm of Hurtigruten’s coastal Norway operations.As CEO of Hurtigruten Norway, Felin will be part of the Hurtigruten Group Management Team, based out of the Hurtigruten Group’s Oslo head office. She will assume her new role on March 1, 2021Hurtigruten Group has reorganized its cruise operations in two different entities: Hurtigruten Expeditions and Hurtigruten Norway.

22 Oct 2020

Hurtigruten Cancels 20/21 Season Antarctica Cruises

Norwegian cruise ship operator Hurtigruten has decided to cancel the remaining of the Antarctica 20/21 season cruises - from January and throughout the first quarter of 2021, citing the impact of the pandemic. It will also reduce the capacity on the Norwegian coast.The decision follows Hurtigruten's announcement in September when it said it would suspend remaining cruises in 2020, with plans to resume operation in January 2021."The Covid-19 pandemic is still affecting large parts of the world and travel restrictions and quarantine requirements are wide spread and changing rapidly. Given these challenging circumstances and that the developments are unpredictable…

22 Apr 2020

Costa Cruise Ship Docked in Japan Grapples with Coronavirus Cluster

©  jovannig / Adobe Stock

More than 30 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked for repairs in Japan's Nagasaki prefecture have tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising concern about the impact on the local community.The cluster of infections found on board the Costa Atlantica follows the case of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama two months ago, where more than 700 were found to be infected, although this time only crew members were on board.The Costa Cruises-operated ship was taken into a shipyard in Nagasaki city…

18 Feb 2020

American from MS Westerdam Tests Positive for Coronavirus

An American passenger from a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia has tested positive for the new coronavirus a second time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia said on Sunday, after the cruise firm and Cambodian authorities sought further tests.The 83-year-old woman was the first passenger from the MS Westerdam, operated by Carnival Corp unit Holland America Inc, to test positive for the virus. She tested positive in the Malaysian capital where she arrived on Friday from the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville.But the cruise ship operator had sought more tests, saying the first result was preliminary. Cambodian authorities also called on Malaysia to…

13 Feb 2020

Fincantieri Delivers Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady

Photo courtesy of Fincantieri

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri said it has presented Scarlet Lady, the first of four new cruise ships it is building for new cruise ship operator Virgin Voyages, part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.The 110,00-gross-ton Scarlet Lady, constructed at the builder's shipyard in Genoa Sestri Ponente, is 278 meters long and 38 meters wide. Virgin Voyages second ship, Valiant Lady, currently under construction in the same yard, will be delivered in 2021, while the third and the fourth units…

29 Oct 2019

Fincantieri Presents "Carnival Panorama" in Marghera

Photo courtesy of Fincantieri

“Carnival Panorama”, the new ship of Carnival Cruise Line, a brand under Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise ship operator, was presented at the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera (Venice) at the presence of the Italian Minister of Infrastructures and Transport Paola De Micheli.The ceremony was attended, among others, by Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line, who was welcomed by the Chairman of Fincantieri Giampiero Massolo and the CEO Giuseppe Bono.The new unit is a sister ship of “Carnival Vista”…

15 Oct 2019

Princess Cruises Takes Delivery of Newest Ship

Princess Cruises, the Carnival-owned cruise line, has taken delivery of its fourth Royal-class ship, Sky Princess, at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard in Trieste, Italy.The vessel is the 17th ship Fincantieri has built for Princess, but it is the first to be custom built with the line's MedallionClass technology integrated into its infrastructure.The new unit, at 145,000 gross tons with accommodation on board for 4,610 passengers in 1,830 cabins and 1,411 crew members crew, is built on the basis of the successful sister ship project of Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess, all built from the same shipyard of Monfalcone starting from 2013…

23 May 2019

Catching Cruise Off-Guard: Norway’s zero-emissions fjord cruises

Sail, solar … and battery power: a frontrunning design for n fjord-going, zero-emissions cruise ship. CREDIT: NCE Maritime CleanTech

Norway on Jan. 1, 2026, will begin a ban on cruise ships powering through the Unesco-listed heritage fjords on anything but zero-emissions propulsion. For now, that means battery power, but few of the 190 cruise ship calls to these fjords are made with that kind of electro-chemical fuel on board. From now until 2026, you can still cruise the fjords on a closed-loop, or in-line, scrubber system, but few cruise ships have these installed. The new rules mean cruising elsewhere, finding…

08 Aug 2019

Fincantieri Floats Out Enchanted Princess

The largest shipbuilder in Europe Fincantieri has floated Princess Cruises’ new Enchanted Princess out of the building dock at its yard in Monfalcone, Italy.The Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste said in a press release that interior fittings will now begin, leading the fifth Royal-class ship to its delivery, scheduled in 2020.The ceremony was attended by Firouz Mal, Princess Cruises director new build services, while Fincantieri was represented, among others, by Roberto Olivari, director of the shipyard in Monfalcone. The Godmother of the ceremony was Miss Marinella Cossu, a historic employee of the yard.The new unit, at 145…

15 May 2019

Helsinki Shipyard Acquisition Wrapping Up

(Photo: Eric Haun)

The acquisition of the current Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in Finland will be finalized in May, the involved parties say, having agreed to transaction terms on May 9.In preparation for the closing, current owner Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Oy (AHS) said it has established a new company, Helsinki Shipyard Oy, which will receive the transferred assets and operations from AHS and continue shipbuilding at the shipyard. AHS will then sell 100% of Helsinki Shipyard Oy’s shares to Algador Holdings Ltd.…

25 Aug 2019

GEA Equips Cruise Ships with Transcritical CO2

German manufacturer GEA has developed a new, transcritical CO2 technology especially for use on seagoing vessels.GEA signed a contract last year with P&O Cruises, part of Carnival Corporation & PLC, the world's largest commercial cruise ship operator, for its new transcritical CO2 refrigeration technology.The environmentally friendly refrigeration technology has already been installed on board the Arcadia, a 2,000-passenger ship from P&O Cruises, where it provides energy-efficient refrigeration for all the ship's food and beverage refrigeration systems.Further orders for its transcritical CO2 refrigeration technology have now been received by GEA for two new cruise ships to be built in China and for a Dutch fishing trawler…

23 May 2019

Hurtigruten Inks 'Rotten Fish' Biogas Deal

© rufar/Adobe Stock

As the global marine industry aggressively moves to reduce emissions from ships, and Norway in particular has thrown down the gauntlet of zero emission cruise ships in certain fjords along its scenic coast, Norwegian cruise ship operator Hurtigruten has signed a 7.5-year deal to buy liquefied biogas (LBG) made from dead fish and other organic waste to help power its vessels.Under the contract with Biokraft, Hurtigruten ships will start receiving near-daily supplies of LBG, with…

20 May 2019

Norway Hits GCL with Sulfur Fine

The Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) has fined Greek cruise ship operator Global Cruise Lines (GCL) for using 0.17 percent sulfur fuel in a 0.10 percent sulfur ECA zone.NMA informed that MS Magellan, which is owned by the Greek company GCL, has violated the legislation on fuel sulphur limits in the world heritage fjords and has received a notice of a violation fine of 700,000 NOK ($80,000).On 1 March, new environmental requirements for emissions and discharges in the world heritage fjords the Nærøyfjord, Aurlandsfjord, Geirangerfjord, Sunnylvsfjord and Tafjord entered into force. The Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) has given their first notice of a violation fine as a result of the new rules.On 16 April…