News

At least seven killed, 21 missing after two vessels collide in Budapest

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 31 May 2019 31 May 2019

At least seven people have been killed and 21 are missing after Viking River Cruises’ 135 metre Viking Sigyn collided with a Hungarian excursion vessel on the River Danube in Budapest on Thursday evening, media reports say.

The excursion vessels had 35 people on board, of whom 33 were from South Korea, when it collided with the much larger vessel near the Parliament building in the Hungarian capital.

Video footage on Reuters' website shows the smaller vessel being pushed under a bridge by Viking Sigyn. Reports say that the excursion vessel capsized and went down in a matter of seconds after the collision.

The wreck has been found a few hundred metres from the berth that the vessel used, but hopes of finding more survivors are fading rapidly. The currents were very strong following heavy rain that had raised water levels and a thunderstorm was about to break out at the time of the accident, reports say.

SunStone Ships signs for seventh newbuild

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 31 May 2019 31 May 2019

SunStone Ships signed an agreement Wednesday, May 29, 2019 in Hong Kong, China for the  Infinity-class Vessel No. 7, continuing with the European designed, Chinese built concept.

The seventh vessel now ordered has a long-term charter agreement in place, this vessel will be delivered in September 2021.

Infinity-class new-builds underway include the Greg Mortimer, scheduled to be delivered August 2019, the Ocean Victory in October 2020, the Ocean Explorer in January 2021, the Ocean Odyssey in March 2022, the Ocean Discoverer in September 2022 and the Ocean Albatros in October 2022.   

Infinity-class Vessels are 104 meters long, and 18 meters wide, having a draft of 5.1 meters; they feature a capacity between 130-200 passengers and a crew capacity between 85 and 115 members. The vessels are Ice Class 1A, Polar Code 6 and are being built with Safe Return to Port, Dynamic Positioning, and Zero Speed Stabilizers.   The Vessels are featuring the X-Bow by Ulstein Design & Solutions. They are small enough to give an exclusive atmosphere, yet large enough to yield all expected services and facilities as larger cruise ships such as a swimming pool, bar, restaurants, lounge, boutique, gym, and a spa.

Helsinki Shipyard signs LOI for two expedition cruise ships – report

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 28 May 2019 28 May 2019

Helsinki Shipyard in Finland which has just changed owners, has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with an undisclosed customer to build two expedition cruise ships, the Hufvudstadsbladet daily reports.

The vessels will have capacity of 150 to 160 passengers each, the report said.

The shipyard is now owned by Algador Holdings, a Cyprus based company owned by Vladimir Kasjanenko, who is a Russian citizen and Rishat Bagautdinov who is a citizen of Belgium.

Helsinki Shipyard was previously known as Arctech and it was fully owed by United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), a Russian state owned company. Sanctions imposed by the United States against Russia hampered its business and USC decided to sell Arctech, which has currently no vessels in its orderbook.

The shipbuilder’s history spans about 150 years and it has changed hands several times over the decades. Before USC, it was owned by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding through its STX Europe unit, which was preceded by Aker Yards, Kvaerner Masa-Yards and Wartsila Marine Industries.

It has played a prominent role in the development of the modern cruise industry as it built e.g. the first three ships of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd (RCCL) and the Royal Princess of 1984, which revolutionised the layout of cruise ships. No cruise ships were built at the yard during the ownership of USC and Aker Yards used it mainly to build large ferries.

elsinki Shipyard leases the land on which its facilities are located from the municipal government. “One of my first tasks is to try to extend the lease with the City of Helsinki. The present contract will expire in 2035 and we want to extend it to 2045,” Managing Director Carl-Gustaf Rotkirch was quoted by Hufvudstadsbladet as saying.