Marine Link
Friday, March 29, 2024
SUBSCRIBE

Cruise Ship Operators News

08 Sep 2022

World’s Largest Inflatable Lifeboat Gets LR Type Approval

Nicola Good, Head of External Relations, Lloyds Register; Lloyds Register Chief Operations Officer Mark Darley; Stew Gregory, VP of Innovation at Survitec and Mark Cotton, Survitec Sales Director. (Photo: Survitec)

Survitec’s Seahaven, said to be the world’s largest inflatable lifeboat, is now ready to be installed on cruise vessels, having received full type approval certification from classification society Lloyd’s Register.A Certificate of Type Approval was presented by Lloyd's Register Chief Operations Officer Mark Darley to Mark Cotton, Survitec Sales Director, during the SMM trade fair, which is taking place this week, in Hamburg, Germany.Certification follows the successful completion of heavy weather sea trials (HWST) in December…

05 May 2021

CDC Advances Plan for Resumption of US Cruise Operations

Two Carnival cruise ships, Carnival Breeze and Carnival Vista, returned to Galveston earlier this week ahead of  planned voyages later this year. (Photo: Port of Galveston)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has begun a key step for the eventual resumption of U.S. cruise industry operations by issuing new technical instructions.In October, the CDC issued Conditional Sailing Order for operators, which acted as a guidance for a phased resumption of cruise ship passenger operations.On Wednesday, it announced two new phases and said operators now have all necessary requirements needed "to start simulated voyages before resuming…

24 Mar 2021

US CDC Order Limiting Cruises to Remain Effective Until Nov. 1

© Ruth P. Peterkin / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday it would keep its stringent framework for a resumption of cruise ship operations until November 1, rebuffing an industry body’s push to lift the order early.Earlier on Wednesday, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) had urged the CDC to allow for a return to sailing from U.S.

03 Nov 2020

Cruise Lines Extend Operational Pause Through Year End

© gladchenko / Adobe Stock

The cruise industry will extend its suspension of U.S. cruise operations through Dec. 31, an industry group that represents 95% of global ocean-going cruise capacity said on Tuesday.The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said its members will use the remainder of the year to prepare for the implementation of measures to address COVID-19 safety issues.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday issued a framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship operations after a no-sail order issued in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic was to expire on Saturday.

30 Oct 2020

US CDC Issues Framework for Resumption of Cruise Ship Operations

© Solarisys / Adobe Stock

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday issued a framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship operations after a no-sail order issued in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic expires on Saturday.The CDC said it was requiring testing and additional safeguards for crew members. A U.S. House of Representatives committee is investigating if the White House blocked the CDC from extending the no-sail order through mid-February.The no-sail order issued in March came amid a rising number of coronavirus cases on cruise ships.

14 Jul 2020

SMM 2021: Plotting a Course Forward for the Global Maritime Community

Photo: ©Hasenpusch

As the maritime world collectively feels its way forward in a time now defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers of the SMM in Hamburg, traditionally the world's largest and most influential maritime and shipbuilding trade event, share market overview insights on the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic throughout the the shipping industry.The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world economy on its head. “The recession this year will likely be more severe, and recovery in 2021 will be slower than we anticipated two months ago…

26 May 2020

One on One with Buckley McAllister

Buckley McAllister is President, McAllister Towing & Transportation

Buckley McAllister, President of McAllister Towing & Transportation, weighs in on the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the maritime sector.McAllister Towing & Transportation is a long and storied organization based in New York, the original U.S. COVID-19 hot spot that has been transformed from the city that never sleeps into a surreal ghost town. Describe the view from your perspective.All McAllister administrative personnel who can work from home are doing so. Luckily, most office personnel do most of their work online, so the need for actual visits to the office are infrequent.

31 Mar 2020

Carnival Brands Pause Cruises for Another Month

© Lauren / Adobe Stock

Four of Carnival Corp’s cruise lines said on Monday they would extend the suspension of all voyages by a month to May due to the coronavirus crisis that has worsened over the past few weeks.The brands - Holland America Line, Carnival and luxury cruise ship operators Seabourn and Cunard - together operate 49 ships.Carnival Corp, also the operator of two coronavirus-stricken Princess cruises, has already temporarily suspended several of its ships due to concerns over the rapidly spreading COVID-19 crisis earlier this month.“The impact of COVID-19 is affecting personal routines and businesses as

17 Oct 2019

Cruise Ships in French Waters Agree to Pollute Less

© NAN / Adobe Stock

The main cruise ship operators in French waters have agreed on measures to limit pollution caused by their vessels, including hooking up to the power grid instead of keeping their engines running during stopovers.The "Blue Charter" agreement signed in Marseille by Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises, Royal Carribean Cruises and Ponant also pledged to use less-polluting fuel when manoeuvring in harbours as well as other measures to reduce emissions.The four signatories transport 95% of the passengers and account for 85% of the stopovers in Marseille…

13 Jun 2019

Digitalization: Managing the Flow

The SKF BlueMon monitoring system from SKF informs the crew of whether the ship’s emissions are within the locally permitted limits or whether they need to respond.

Mathias Rusch, Director of the Marine business unit at SKF explains what trends are currently shaping the industry, what future challenges are emerging and how operators can manage the flood of data that is coming out of the digitalization revolution.Two major trends that shipowners and operators are currently dealing with are persistently low freight rates, which have been significantly depressing shipowners’ earnings for a number of years and the requirements concerning emissions into both air and water that continue to grow.

03 Apr 2018

Plibrico, NMBS Partner for Cruise Ship Repair

Photo: Plibrico

Plibrico, an industry leader in monolithic refractories, and maritime repair specialist Nordic Made Boiler Services, Inc. (NMBS), announced a global strategic partnership to deliver retrofit supplies and services to the world's cruise ship operators. With the partnership, NMBS will use Plibrico's Plico brand refractories in the retrofitting of cruise ship boilers and waste incinerators needed to ensure passenger safety and comfort. "Partnering with Nordic Made Boiler Services…

23 Aug 2016

Pods Versus Water Lubricated Props

Image: Thordon Bearings

Thordon Bearings has called on the marine industry to investigate the characteristics of both conventional seawater-lubricated propeller shaft systems and podded propulsion arrangements in order to provide shipowners with a better understanding of the two very different propulsion configurations. In a recently published White Paper, the Canadian manufacturer of the COMPAC seawater-lubricated propeller shaft bearing system believes there is a great opportunity for independent comparative data so that cruise ship operators, in particular, can make more informed procurement decisions.

10 Jun 2016

Greek Workers Protest Port Selloff

Dozens of demonstrators blocked the entrance to Greece's privatisation agency offices in central Athens on Friday and planned more protests during the day against the sale of the country's two biggest ports. Privatisations have been a key plank of Greece's succession of bailouts since 2010 but have reaped poor revenues due to political resistance, union protests and bureaucracy. Greece has agreed the sale of a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port to COSCO for 368.5 million euros. Under its third international bailout, Athens also plans to sell a majority stake in its second largest port in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki later this year.

09 Jun 2016

Wärtsilä Powers the World's Largest Cruise Ship

Harmony of the Seas (Photo: Royal Caribbean International)

Royal Caribbean International's Harmony of the Seas, featuring Wärtsilä engines, propulsion equipment, exhaust scrubber systems, Wärtsilä NACOS Platinum navigation and dynamic positioning systems, as well as Wärtsilä CCTV systems and various electrical & automation solutions, is now in commercial operation. The 'Harmony of the Seas' has also been included in a service agreement between Wärtsilä and Royal Caribbean covering technical management and monitoring under Wärtsilä Genius services. The ship was delivered from the yard on May 12.

07 Jun 2016

Greek Cruise Operators Fret over Strikes Sparked by Port Sale

(Photo: Piraeus Port Authority)

Greek cruise ship operators are worried of a lasting impact on the sector from an ongoing strike by port workers protesting against the sale of the country's biggest port Piraeus to Chinese shipping giant COSCO. Greece in April agreed the sale of a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port to COSCO for 368.5 million euros under a third international bailout. Port workers have held 48-hour rolling strikes since late May, disrupting cargo operations and services provided to cruise ships docking at Piraeus over fears their jobs are at risk.

23 May 2016

First Cruise Company Fined under Australia’s New Fuel Rules

Pacific Jewel (Photo: P&O Cruises)

Australia’s NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Carnival PLC $15,000 after one of its P&O Cruises ships, the Pacific Jewel, breached new low sulfur fuel regulations in Sydney Harbour. A fuel sample taken by the ship’s crew and provided to EPA officers while the ship was berthed at the White Bay Cruise Terminal on February 26, 2016 had a sulfur level of 0.293 percent, nearly three times the 0.1 percent sulfur limit. The fine is the first to be issued under the new regulations which came into force from October 1, 2015.

27 Nov 2015

Norwegian Escape with Biggest Scrubbers sets Sail

On a sunny October day in the German harbor-town of Hamburg, M/V Norwegian Escape, a brand new cruise ship, sets sail for the first time. On board are five Yara SOx scrubbers – one for each engine. The scrubbers ensure that the cruise is not just pleasurable, but also environmental friendly. Yara Marine Technologies has developed a simple and cost-efficient solution to fight air pollution at sea: the inline scrubber. An inline scrubber is basically a “gas washing machine.” A simple cylinder that replaces the silencer of a ship engine and cleans the exhaust gas, reducing SOx emissions by up to 99%. To make her voyages from Miami (U.S.) to the Caribbean and beyond as environmental-friendly as possible…

07 Jun 2015

Scanship, Jets Join Forces to Better Serve Cruise Ships

Two of the world’s leading companies in maritime waste management have signed an agreement to join forces, in an effort to better serve cruise ship operators and yards globally. Scanship’s well-known Total Clean Ship System, which incorporates its Advanced Wastewater Purification and Waste Management solutions, will now be accompanied by Jets Vacuum’s highly acclaimed vacuum toilet system. The result is a fully integrated waste and wastewater handling package that combines the very best technologies available from the two Norwegian companies. Scanship CEO Henrik Badin and Jets Vacuum CEO Jan Tore Leikanger agree that this deal is, in a sense, like finding the missing piece of the puzzle.

10 Dec 2014

Carnival Retrofits Fleet with VDR Systems

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Lines

L-3 SAM Electronics has retrofitted Carnival Cruise Lines’ fleet of 24 ships with its Voyage Data Recorder (VDR 4350) system. L-3 SAM Electronics’ VDR 4350 system provides extended recording time and ECDIS-based onboard and onshore replay features, together with options for remote control and maintenance via SATCOM. The modular Ethernet-based VDR 4350 series provides a comprehensive backup capability for the storage and downloading of recorded data. Other features include extended graphics analysis tools that provide simplified export functions to standard Microsoft Office applications.

18 Jul 2014

Bolidt Decking, Flooring for Viking Cruise Flagship

CGI of the Viking Star

Bolidt Synthetic Products & Systems has secured a contract as exclusive partner to Viking Ocean Cruises for the supply of decking and flooring. The contract covers Viking Star, the first vessel due for delivery in 2015 and its sister ship, Viking Sky, scheduled for delivery in 2016, as well as options on a further two vessels. “Viking Cruises has a long tradition of working with Bolidt through our extensive ‘Longship’ river cruise program,” said Richard Goodwin,Vice President – Engineering, Viking Cruises.

17 Feb 2014

Freak Wave Kills Cruise Ship Passenger, Injures Others

Freak Wave Victim Marco Polo: Image credit CMV

A cruise ship passenger has died and another was airlifted to hospital after the 22,000-tonne cruise ship 'Marco Polo'  was hit by a freak wave in the English Channel during the recent storm. The cruise ship operators, Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) confirm that after a freak wave hit their cruise ship m/s Marco Polo in the English Channel during heavy weather, the ship is now in home port, London Tilbury. They add that they regret to advise that one elderly passenger has died…

13 Nov 2013

Big Hearted Responses to Philippine Typhoon Disaster

Capt. Disy press conference: Photo credit USN

USS Antietam arrives on scene heralding the arrival of the 'George Washington' carrier strike force wth its immense capabilities, cruise ship operators Carnival Corp. pledge a million US$ and KVH grants free phone calls. Capt. Tom Disy, commanding officer of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54), speaks to local media about Antietam and the George Washington Carrier Strike Group's plans to provide humanitarian relief to the Republic of Philippines in response to Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.

22 Aug 2013

Report Outlines Strong Cruise Industry Prospects

Source: Ocean Shipping Consultants

According to the latest publication from U.K.-based market consultants Ocean Shipping Consultants – “World Cruise Ports and Shipping” – the global cruise sector is forecast to exhibit dynamic growth in the period up to 2025, taking annual passenger demand up from around 20.9 million in 2012 to approximately 24m passengers by 2015, 29.7m by 2020 and 36.4m by 2025. This represents an overall forward expansion of 74%. North America will still dominate the world cruise industry in terms of sourced passengers and cruise operators, but Europe and Asia Pacific are expected to grow strongly.