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Wasaline's Aurora Botnia floated out at the Rauma shipyard

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 12 September 2020 12 September 2020

Wasaline’s new car and passenger ferry Aurora Botnia was floated out at Rauma Marine Constructions’ shipyard in Rauma, Finland, on 11 September. The vessel will be completed in spring 2021, after which it will operate between Vaasa in Finland and Umeå in Sweden. The construction of the vessel will have a substantial effect on employment, totalling around 800 person-years.

Friday's float out was a milestone in Aurora Botnia’s history. Established by the city of Vaasa in Finland and the municipality of Umeå in Sweden, the Kvarken team delivered a proposal for safeguarding year-round passenger and cargo traffic in the Kvarken region to the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications on 11 September 2012. Today, eight years later to the day, Wasaline’s new RoPax ferry, Rauma Marine Constructions’ newbuilding NB6002, was floated out.

“We can be proud of the fact that despite the unusual circumstances, we are now celebrating the float-out of Aurora Botnia. People at RMC and in our network of partners have done an excellent job, tackling challenges brought about by the coronavirus and driving the project forward in a determined manner. As this project is unique to both parties, I am extremely happy with the smooth cooperation between our team and the customer. I have every reason to believe it will continue to run on track," says Jyrki Heinimaa, President and CEO of RMC.

Aurora Botnia will be the first car and passenger ferry in the world with a Clean Design class notation. The four main engines, supplied by Wärtsilä, will run on both liquified natural gas (LNG) and biogas (LBG). When the ferry is approaching the harbour or departing, she can operate utilising electrical power. Thanks to these new technologies, the carbon dioxide emissions from the ferry will be significantly lower compared to the ferry that now operates across the Kvarken strait.

“On this special day, I would like to thank Wasaline’s entire personnel both on board and on shore. I also want to say thanks to all our partners and everyone supporting us on this journey. The new ship is the most environmentally friendly RoPax ferry in the world, and it has many innovative features. Wasaline wants to be the most sympathetic, eco-friendly and reliable shipping company operating in the Baltic Sea. Today, we will also set out to update our brand to match this new era”, says Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director of Wasaline.

The launch signals a new stage in building the vessel: the hull is now ready, and equipment assembly and interior work will begin. The focus will shift from steelwork to piping, insulation, ventilation and electrical installation. Moreover, work around the engine rooms and the car deck will be continued.

The ship will slowly come to life as the integration of automation and various systems will turn on the electricity, and water and fuel will start to move in the pipes. The vessel’s interior work will be done during next winter. The outfitting phase will be concluded with sea trials and commissioning for operation in spring 2021.

Marella Cruises’ 2021-22 winter programme to cover Asia, Caribbean, North America and Europe

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 12 September 2020 12 September 2020

Marella Cruises, the UK focused unit in the TUI AG group, said its ships would cruise in the waters of Asia, Caribbean and Europe in the winter of 2021-22.

Marella Discovery would homeport in Barbados from December 2021 for A Taste of the Tropics itinerary, which will sail to new ports of call Charlotte Amelie and Frederiksted in the U.S Virgin Islands before continuing to Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Marella Discovery 2 will sail on two new itineraries around Asia from 2022. The Lights of the Orients itinerary will homeport in Hong Kong and Eastern Experience will sail from Singapore and both itineraries will visit new ports of call like Manila, Philippines, Muara, Brunei and Da Nang, Vietnam.

Those who want to stay a little closer to home can experience the new Island Explorer itinerary onboard Marella Dream and Marella Explorer which departs in November 2021 from Tenerife and visits Canary Islands such as La Palma, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria with an overnight in Funchal.

Playa Blanca will also be added to the programme marking it the first new port of call in the Canary Islands since winter 2016 and passengers will be able to explore the town by night as it becomes an overnight call.

Those who want to tick off some wish list locations on their cruises can do so with a number of Marella Cruises itineraries from next winter including Arabian Sunrise visiting Sri Lanka, Mumbai and Oman sailing on 7 and 8 April 2022 or East Coast Adventure where Marella Cruises will be heading to Canada for the first time and an overnight stay in Boston.

Marella Discovery will leave Port Canaveral, Florida and make her way to Saint John and visit Charlotte Town, Quebec, Sageunay and Sept-Iles before finishing the itinerary in Barbados on 24 October 2021. Cruisers will also be able to discover Cuba at night next winter with an overnight stay in Havana on Marella Explorer 2’s Flavour of the Caribbean itinerary.

Other new ports of call include picturesque Halong Bay in Vietnam with its unique emerald coloured water and limestone mountains; San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico where colourful Spanish buildings and 16th century landmarks are home to and the capital of the Philippines, Manila which mixes Spanish colonial architecture with modern sky scrapers, the company said in a statement.

Princess Cruises to bring Sky Princess to UK 2021 to replace Crown Princess

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 12 September 2020 12 September 2020

Princess Cruises, which is part of the Carnival Corporation & plc group, said it would bring the 3,560 passenger Sky Princess to Southampton in the summer of 2021 to replace 3,114 passenger Crown Princess that had been planned to sail from the UK port, Princess cruises said in a statement.

Sky Princess will cruise to the British Isles and the Baltic , while 10 British Isles cruises that had been planned for Crown Princess will be cancelled.

The new itineraries of Sky Princess would be disclosed later this month, the company said.

MSC Grandiosa season extended, MSC Magnifica to cruise east and west Med as itinerary, start date revised

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 12 September 2020 12 September 2020

MSC Cruises, the Geneva based cruise shipping company, said it has decided MSC Grandiosa’s current itinerary and revised that of MSC Magnifica to include both eastern and western Mediterranean, while prosed seven night cruises this month and early in October have been cancelled.

MSC Grandiosa’s sailings on the present itinerary will be extended through to the end of the year, including the ship’s Christmas cruise to depart from Genoa, Italy on 20 December. MSC Grandiosa is offering seven-night cruises with embarkation in the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples and Palermo, plus a calling at Valletta, Malta.

MSC Magnifica’s new programme covers both the west and east Mediterranean and will see the ship homeport in Genoa with calls at Livorno for Florence and Pisa, Messina in Sicily, Valletta in Malta, Piraeus for Athens and Katakolon for Olympia in Greece and Civitavecchia for Rome, before returning to Genoa.

As a result of its new itinerary, MSC Magnifica’s four proposed seven-night cruises from Bari, Italy between 26 September to 24 October have been cancelled.

The 10 night itinerary is designed for guests who prefer longer voyages that offer more destinations to visit and more time at sea - thanks to the popularity of protected excursions the cruise line introduced last month under its new health and safety protocol, MSC Cruises said.

“The longer sailing is also expected to appeal to guests flying from Schengen countries because of strong pan-European air links to both Rome and Genoa – which are, together with Messina, two of the ship’s three embarkation ports, as well as ‘proximity cruising’ which is proving to be popular with MSC Cruises’ guests who live both in Italy and in neighbouring countries,” the company said in a statement.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Line parent raises NOK700 million through bond issue

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 10 September 2020 10 September 2020

Bonheur ASA, the Oslo based listed company that owns Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines (FOCL) in the UK, said it has completed a senior unsecured green bond issue of NOK 700 million with maturity in September 2025. The bond issue was oversubscribed.

The company did not provide further details, e.g. price or coupon of the issue.

DNB Markets and SpareBank1 Markets acted as joint lead managers in connection with the placement of the new bond issue. An application will be made for the bond issue to be listed on Oslo Stock Exchange, the company said.

Bonheur recently acquired two ships from Holland America Line to replace two older and smaller ships in the FOCL fleet. The price of the two ships, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, was not disclosed.