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MSC Divina to sail from Miami on 2013-14 Caribbean season

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 27 April 2012 27 April 2012

MSC Cruises will be bringing its newest ship, MSC Divina to its newest departure port  PortMiami  beginning in the fall of 2013.

When MSC Cruises begins its inaugural season homeporting at PortMiami, MSC Divina, which becomes the twelfth ship in the MSC Cruises fleet in May 2012, will sail a series of itineraries featuring Caribbean destinations.

Cruise lines adopt new safety policies

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 25 April 2012 25 April 2012

Chairman of the European Cruise Council and Member of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Executive Committee, Manfredi Lefebvre, has announced that the global cruise industry has adopted three new safety policies which are to be implemented with immediate effect, CLIA said in a statement.

Speaking at a major European Commission-organised Passenger Ship Safety event in Brussels, he outlined how these policies have been agreed by the industry and represent the third such announcement arising from the cruise industry’s Operational Safety Review. He also announced that the Operational Safety Review will be further strengthened through the appointment of a panel of four independent experts who were consulted on the three announced measures and will be consulted on future proposals. (Stephen Meyer, Willem de Ruiter, Mark Rosenker and Dr Jack Spencer).

 These three new policies, which go beyond even the strictest of regulatory requirements, address the following issues. Each of these three policies will be reported to the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee for consideration at their next session in May:

 1) Passage Planning – although cruise lines have followed IMO guidance on passage planning for many years, our policy now deems this to be a mandatory minimum requirement and enhanced by endorsement of the best practices contained in the International Chamber of Shipping’s Bridge Procedures Guide. Furthermore, under this policy, each passage plan is to be thoroughly briefed to all bridge team members well in advance of its implementation and it is to be drafted by a designated officer and approved by the master.

 2) Personnel Access To The Bridge - to minimize unnecessary disruptions and distractions on the bridge we have adopted a policy that bridge access is to be limited to those with operational functions during any period of restricted manoeuvring or when increased vigilance is required.

 3) Lifejackets – In addition to the statutory requirement of carriage of lifejackets for each person onboard, we have adopted a policy of carrying additional adult lifejackets onboard each cruise ship in excess of these legal requirements so that the number of additional adult lifejackets to be provided must not be less than the total number of persons berthed within the ship’s most populated main vertical fire zone. This ensures that the number of lifejackets carried is far in excess of the number of persons actually onboard the ship.

Manfredi Lefebvre said: “Today’s European Commission event is in perfect alignment with our industry efforts to improve cruise ship safety. I am pleased to be given a chance by European Commissioner VP & Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas to outline how the industry and the regulators can move forward together in our common goal of preventing future accidents.”

 He added: “The cruise industry is highly regulated and it is this regulatory regime, complied with onboard by our professional and committed officers and crews, that has given the cruise industry a truly remarkable safety record. But as the Concordia incident demonstrates, there is no such thing as perfect safety. We do strive for a perfect commitment to safety. And as part of our commitment to a safety culture, the industry – both individually as cruise lines and collectively through CLIA and the ECC – beginning 27 January launched an Operational Safety Review to learn the lessons from Concordia and to conduct a top to bottom safety review.”

 He continued: “By bringing forward voluntary initiatives such as these, we significantly and immediately improve safety standards. These initiatives are, we believe, fully supportive of the Commission’s goal of re-launching their ‘Quality Shipping Campaign’ through voluntary partnership agreements with the shipping industry as set out in its Maritime Policy 2009-2018. Specifically, we very much hope that the results of the Operational Safety Review as they are delivered over the coming months will give us fertile ground to grow our partnership with the Commission”

 He concluded: “We are convinced that this approach will achieve concrete, practical and significant safety dividends in the shortest possible time and fully reflects the measured and responsible progress on future safety initiatives by both the Commission and European Parliament following the Concordia tragedy.”

 The new policies follow the industry’s announcement on 27 January of an Operational Safety Review in response to the Concordia incident and as part of the industry’s continuous efforts to review and improve safety measures, and represent the third such announcement. The previous two related to the new Muster Drill Policy (9 February 2012) and Enhanced Reporting Requirements to Ensure Consistency, Transparency of Marine Casualty Data (21 March 2012).

Foschi to retire as Costa ceo, Thamm appointed successor

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 23 April 2012 23 April 2012

Carnival Corporation & plc and its subsidiary Costa Crociere have announced that Pier Luigi Foschi will retire as the cruise operator’s chief executive officer effective July 1, 2012. Foschi, 65, will remain as chairman and a managing director of the Costa group and remain on the board of directors of Carnival Corporation & plc. 

Michael Thamm, currently serving as president of Germany-based AIDA Cruises, has been appointed CEO of the Costa group, which includes Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises, as well as Spanish cruise operator Ibero Cruises.  Thamm will also serve on Costa's board of directors.  Thamm will relocate to Genoa, Italy, and in his new role will report to Costa’s board of directors, which includes Micky Arison and Howard Frank, Carnival Corporation & plc’s chairman and CEO, and vice chairman and chief operating officer, respectively.

The moves are part of a long-term succession plan which included the scheduled retirement of Foschi once he reached the age of 65.

Longtime AIDA senior executive Michael Ungerer has been named AIDA Cruises’ president and Gianni Onorato will continue in his role as president of the Costa Cruises brand.

Foschi joined Costa Crociere in 1997 and was elected chairman of the board in 2000. Over the past 15 years, Foschi has played an integral role in the company’s tremendous growth and success while building upon its distinction as Europe’s number one cruise operator.  In his role as Costa’s chairman, Foschi will continue to oversee the company’s government relations, matters related to the Costa Concordia accident and spearhead a number of strategic projects.

“Pier has made it known for some time that he intended to retire once he turned 65 and today’s announcement is part of our longtime succession plan that allows us to tap into our talented management team to find qualified individuals to oversee our brands,” Arison said. “Pier has developed Costa into a very successful and profitable organization and we wish to thank him for his many years of dedicated service.  At the same time, Michael has done a superb job managing AIDA Cruises and we have every confidence that Michael will continue these efforts at the helm of Costa,” Arison added.

Costa Concordia wreck removal awarded to Titan Salvage/Microperi

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 21 April 2012 21 April 2012

Costa Crociere and the Costa Concordia Emergency Commissioner’s Office have announced that the tender for the removal of the ship from Giglio Island has been awarded to Titan Salvage in partnership with the Italian firm Micoperi. The work will begin in early May subject to final approval from the Italian authorities and is expected to take about 12 months.

Titan Salvage is an American-owned specialist marine salvage and wreck removal company, part of the Crowley Group, and is a world leader in its field. Micoperi is a well-known Italian marine contractor with a long history as a specialist in underwater construction and engineering. 

Throughout the operations, environmental protection will have top priority. Once the main work is complete, the sea bottom will be cleaned and marine flora replanted. 

The plan also includes measures to safeguard the island of Giglio’s tourism and wider economy. Salvage workers’ presence will not have any significant impact on the availability of hotel accommodation on the island during the summer season. The main operating base will be located on the mainland at nearby Civitavecchia, where equipment and materials will be stored, thereby avoiding any impact on Giglio’s port activities.

Once floated, the wreck will be towed to an Italian port and dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Italian authorities.

The plan was selected by an Evaluation Team with specialist representatives from Costa Crociere, Carnival Corporation & plc, London Offshore Consultants, and the Standard P&I Club. All six tenders submitted by the March 3 deadline were of a very high standard, but the Evaluation Team decided that the Titan Salvage/Micoperi proposal best fulfilled the main objectives set out in the tender specifications: removal of the wreck in one piece; minimal risk; minimal environmental impact; protection of Giglio’s economy and tourism industry; maximum safety of the work. 

“We are very pleased to announce another important step towards salvaging the wreck from Giglio Island,” said Costa Crociere S.p.A. Chairman & CEO Pier Luigi Foschi. “As was the case with the removal of the fuel, we have sought to identify the best solution to safeguard the island and its marine environment and to protect its tourism. We would like also to thank Smit Salvage and Tito Neri for succeeding in defueling and caretaking operations.”

The removal will be the final step of the salvage. Its fuel removal was completed successfully on 24 March. “Caretaking" operations, which include cleaning up the seabed and removing debris caused by the incident, will continue until Titan Salvage and Micoperi commence operations.