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Royal visit the LNG Hybrid Barge in Hamburg

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 21 March 2015 21 March 2015

Attending a conference on the use of liquefied natural gas in maritime industry, on March 20, 2015, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima paid a visit to the world's first LNG Hybrid Barge in Hamburg.

The Dutch royal couple informed themselves first-hand about the innovative and environmentally friendly technology and was enthusiastic about it.

"We're delighted to welcome such noble guests and we appreciate the Dutch royal couple's interest in this in this project, which is the first of its kind in the world," Michael Ungerer, President of AIDA Cruises, says. "The Netherlands have become a trailblazer in the use of LNG for supplying ships with energy. We are confident that we will celebrate a premiere in early 2016 in Rotterdam, when AIDAprima – as the only cruise ship equipped with a Dual Fuel Engine so far – will be supplied with LNG for its production of energy for the first time in the Netherlands."

The world’s first LNG hybrid barge of Becker Marine Systems was christened with the name Hummel on October 18, 2014, in HafenCity Hamburg.

With the start of the new cruise season in the spring of 2015, AIDAsol will for the first time be supplied with electricity produced from liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a test run while it is berthed in the Port of Hamburg.

Thanks to the use liquefied natural gas in the energy production of ships, emissions and particle discharge will be significantly reduced. Compared to the use of conventional marine diesel with 0.1 percent sulfur content, no sulfur oxides and no soot particles are emitted. Nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced by up to 80% and carbon dioxide emissions by 30%.

With the LNG Hybrid Barge, up to now a worldwide unique pilot project to generate power on board cruise ships out of LNG while being docked in port, Becker Marine Systems and AIDA Cruises are setting an example for environmental and climate protection.

Two P&O Cruises Australia ships in Vanuatu disaster relief mission

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 19 March 2015 19 March 2015

Two of the three ships of P&O Cruises Australia, the Sydney based contemporary market unit in Carnival Corp & plc group, will take a disaster relief mission role after a cyclone that hit Vanuatu as part of their forthcoming cruises, the company said on Facebook

Pacific Dawn and Pacific Pearl are now scheduled to call at Port Vila. Pacific Dawn will be the first to call there. The immediate focus is Pacific Dawn. Working with Save the Children, Pacific Dawn will be carrying a range of aid including food, bottled water, tents that can shelter up to 450 people and more than 4500 square metres of tarpaulins. We are seeking advice on how guests can contribute to the relief effort. We will provide further updates on this.

Pacific Dawn will visit Noumea and Lifou as scheduled before sailing to Vila for a brief stay on Wednesday to deliver the humanitarian aid. Vila is still in a state of emergency. As a result, the call will be limited to just the few hours needed for unloading.

“While the port is not yet officially open we anticipate it will be in a position to accept this brief visit for humanitarian relief purposes. With such a difficult situation on the ground, passengers will be unable to leave the ship in Vila however we are confident they will understand given the urgent humanitarian nature of the call,” P&O Cruises Australia said.

“We are also preparing for Pacific Pearl’s call at Vila on Saturday, March 28. Pearl will also be carrying humanitarian aid. The scale of the emergency in Vanuatu is unprecedented in the South Pacific and the calls to Vila by Pacific Dawn and Pacific Pearl are part of our overall response.”

“To date, we have committed AUD300,000 to Save the Children's relief efforts in Vanuatu comprising AUD150,000 from Carnival Australia on behalf of its cruise brands and AUD150,000 from Carnival Corporation & plc Chairman Micky Arison through his family foundation. For our Pacific Dawn and Pacific Pearl guests, these cruises will involve being part of a humanitarian mission to help the very special people of Vanuatu,” the company said.

Mein Schiff 4 adds third pre-inaugural shakedown cruise

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 19 March 2015 19 March 2015

Mein Schiff 4, the next newbuilding of TUI Cruises, will add a third short pre-inaugural shakedown cruise to its programme, the company said in a statement. The cruise will depart Hamburg on 02 June and take two nights before terminating in Kiel, where the 99,300 gross ton ship is due to be named on 05 June, TUI Cruises said. Two similar kind of short cruises, which are offered exckusively to the line's past passengers, have been unviled earlier.

German cruise market seen to grow to 3 million by 2020

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 18 March 2015 18 March 2015

Experts forecast up to 2 million German ocean cruise passengers in 2015 and 3 million by 2020, the Hamburg Cruise Center said in a statement.

“This growth will further benefit the cruise hub Hamburg, which has to date 161 cruise calls scheduled (150 turnaround calls, of which 24 partial turnarounds, plus 11 transit calls) for the 2015 season with an expected passenger volume of 525,000 (- 11%),” it said.

In global terms the German market is currently the second biggest in the world, overtaking the British market and counts for the cruise season 2014 in total 1.77 million ocean going cruise passengers (+5.02 percent).

MSC Cruises to base the new Seaside yearround in PortMiami

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 18 March 2015 18 March 2015

MSC Cruises, the largest privately-owned cruise company in the world, announced March 17 that the first of its next generation "Seaside" class of ships — set to debut in November 2017 — will be named MSC Seaside and sail year-round from Miami to the Caribbean.

In addition, MSC Cruises announced that its Miami-based cruise operations will benefit from a newly renovated and expanded dedicated berth and terminal at PortMiami — a testament to the company’s growing ambitions in the North American market and to providing guests with the best service possible.

Following the first ship’s delivery from the shipyard, MSC Seaside will make her way to Miami for MSC Cruises' first ever christening ceremony in the U.S. to take place in late 2017.

"The Seaside class of ships is part of MSC Cruises’ $5.3 billion fleet expansion plan that will allow the company to double its capacity by 2022," said Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises. "Today is a very exciting day for the company as this is the first major announcement related to the company’s new builds and demonstrates our enthusiasm and long-term commitment to continuing to expand our presence in North America."

With a gross tonnage of 154,000 tons and the ability to accommodate up to 4,140 guests at double occupancy, MSC Seaside will be the largest cruise ship ever built by Fincantieri shipyards. The ship will offer a vast range of popular itineraries from Miami to the Caribbean.

"MSC Cruises has the unique opportunity to provide North American guests with a 'Mediterranean Style Cruise' experience that no other line is able to offer, and guests from around the world a unique setting as it sails to the most sought-after destinations in the Caribbean," added Onorato. "Since bringing MSC Divina to Miami in November 2013, we’ve seen significant demand from consumers in the product, excellent support from our travel agent partners and the growing need for additional MSC Cruises’ ships in the market."

As part of a first look at what MSC Seaside will offer on board, the company also unveiled that the ship will boast the most interactive and originally-designed aqua park at sea with five water slides and attractions for all ages. The park is being built by WhiteWater West Industries of Canada, the award-winning designer and manufacturer of waterpark attractions globally.

Highlights of the multi-story aqua park will include:

Slideboarding
In an industry first, MSC Seaside will add to the thrills of traditional waterpark fun by offering guests the chance to participate in “Slideboarding™” – a unique waterslide and interactive video game all-in-one. Guests race down a two-story, 367 foot slide on a sleekly designed raft that includes an embedded game controller with colored buttons. The end goal – match the color of the flashing strobe lights seen on various sections of the slide with the colored buttons on the raft. The slide uses a smart gaming system that knows who riders are and tracks their progress and scores over the run down the waterslide.

Duelling High-Speed AquaTubes
In a high energy competitive setting, guests race against other guests through a combined 525 feet of twists, turns and drops, on slides that partially extend over the side of the ship and give riders a look a quick look at the sea below.

AquaPlay & AquaSpray
To cater to its youngest guests, a portion of MSC Seaside’s aqua park will be designed specifically for tots, featuring an active and colorful water play structure that is an experience all on its own. The AquaPlay™ area will be complete with tipping buckets, various spray cannons, solid stream jets, a raintree and a mini-slide.

In addition, various interactive AquaSpray™ activities, such as jets, falls, forts and more will be found throughout the water park for all ages to enjoy.

Adventure Trail
Directly connected to the aqua park is the Adventure Trail, a ropes course which allows guests to cross-cross between soaring towers, rope bridges, climbs, crawl-throughs and slides as they enjoy an amazing bird’s eye view of the water. Explorers on the trail will need to move quickly though as guests below will be able to use water spray cannons to soak their friends and family.

MSC fleet and growth

MSC Cruises operates a fleet of 12 modern ships cruising year-round in the Mediterranean and seasonally in the French Antilles, northern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, South Africa, South America, as well as in Dubai, the Emirates and Oman. The company currently sails seasonally in the Caribbean but will sail year-round in the region as of 2017.

The company, which grew by 800 percent since 2004, carried 1.67 million guests in 2014 and reported strong financial results with a turnover of $1.5 billion. In addition, MSC Cruises is forecasting an additional 10 percent growth for 2015.

In 2014, as part of its $5.3 billion expansion plan, MSC Cruises ordered two ultramodern, state-of-the-art ships from Italy’s Fincantieri, world leader in cruise ship construction and one of the world's largest shipbuilding groups, and has an option for one more ship. MSC Seaside has a planned delivery for November 2017 and the second ship in the class will be delivered May 2018.