Tag: cruise ships

IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu expresses his condolences IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has expressed his condolences and sympathy for all those caught up in tragic accidents involving ships over the weekend.Speaking at the opening of the IMO Sub-Committee on Stability, Load Lines and Fishing Vessel Safety today (16 January 2011) Mr Sekimizu said, "I wish to express my sincere condolences and sympathy on behalf of IMO to the families of those who have lost their lives the cruise ship Costa Concordia.""Further, I appreciate the Italian Coast Guard for their rescue operations over the night of the accident and the continued efforts deploying patrol boats, tugs, helicopters as well as diver teams, which have resulted in the highest number of people rescued in the history of the Italian Coast Guard.""Causes of this accident are still not yet established. We must wait for the casualty investigation and should not pre-judge or speculate at this stage. I would like to urge the Flag State administration to carry out the casualty investigation covering all aspects of this accident and provide the findings to the IMO under the provisions of SOLAS as soon as possible," he said.He added "IMO must not take this accident lightly. We ...

Costa Concordia had 'no safety problem' The Chairman and CEO of Costa Cruises disavowed the captain of a capsized cruise ship, saying his actions had contravened company rules and caused the accident in which at least 6 people were killed."The company disavows such behaviour that caused the accident by deciding to deviate the ship from its ideal route," Pier Luigi Foschi told a press conference.He said cruise ships such as the Costa Concordia, which ran aground and capsized off Italy's west coast at the weekend with more than 4,000 people on board, had "no safety problem"."These ships are ultra-safe. It is an exceptional event, which was unforeseeable," he said.Source: Reuters

Due to rough weather The search for survivors of a cruise ship which capsized off the coast of Italy has been temporarily suspended after the boat slipped in rough weather.Six people were killed and about 15 remain missing after the hull of the Costa Concordia was torn open by rocks late on Friday off the Tuscan coast.Source: BBC News

MSC Poesia pulled off the reef during the evening high tide

15 largest cruise ships emit as much sulfur dioxide pollution annually The Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) has announced their 2011 "Dinosaur of the Year" award. The Dino of the Year trophy goes to people or companies of public interest, intended to draw attention to "the most ridiculous statement or anachronistic decision in connection with Nature and the Environment."This year's dinosaurs are the cruise ship industry. The German-based NABU singled out cruise lines AIDA and TUI, based in Germany, as the representatives of their branch.NABU President Olaf Tschimpke claims cruise ships emit particle pollution equivalent to 5 million cars driving the same distance as the cruise ship travels. NABU notes in particular that there is money for every sort of convenience and luxury for guests on board, but no investment has been made in switching cruise ships from heavy fuel oil or outfitting the ships with particle filters, to reduce the pollution emission rates. Also according to NABU, the 15 largest cruise ships emit as much sulfur dioxide pollution annually as all 760 million cars in the world.An AIDA spokesperson points the public to the annual AIDA Corporate Sustainability Report, where environmental efforts and successes are made transparent for ...

Asuka II to receive the Ecomarine system Japanese companies Sumitomo Electric Industries and NYK Cruises have agreed to install a Sumitomo 'Ecomarine' ultraviolet ballast water management (BWM) system on one of NYK's cruise ships.Asuka II will receive the Ecomarine system in January 2012, and it will undertake demonstration testing of the system, which is under development by Sumitomo Electric. The two companies will cooperate in onboard testing specified by the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments.Ecomarine incorporates filter units originally developed by Sumitomo Electric to separate large plankton and other aquatic organisms. The ballast water management system then eliminates any remaining small organisms with a medium-pressure ultraviolet system. The system has been designed to save power, while providing reliable removal of organisms. It is claimed to offer environmental benefits in comparison to other chemical-free ultraviolet BWM systems. The simple combination of filter units and compact, high-powered,medium-pressure UV system is said to offer ease of use and low maintenance.Sumitomo says that when tested on land using a setup comparable to actual use conditions (water treatment at 200 m3/h), Ecomarine demonstrated power consumption reduction and high organism removal capacity, as intended. The company has applied ...

The World Discoverer, which sank in the Solomon Islands in 2001

Kenya prepares to increase its earnings from tourism improved security Two berths at the Mombasa port will be rehabilitated to accommodate cruise ships as Kenya prepares to increase its earnings from the lucrative tourism segment following improved security off the Somali coast.The plans were shelved two years ago when piracy attacks cast doubt over the future of the business.Kenya Ports Authority general manager Khamis Twalib said that Berths 1 and 2 would be rehabilitated at a cost of Sh100 million.Both berths handle conventional cargo as well as cruise ships, but lack adequate facilities for tourists. This has compromised the quality of services that adventure tourists get compared to other destinations like South Africa.The MV Silver Wind Nassau recently became the first cruise ship to sail to Mombasa this season, signalling increased confidence by the international community that the Somali coast was safer in the wake of the Kenya-driven Operation Linda Nchi, which has since been absorbed into the African Union's Amisom force."We are in discussions with four cruise ship companies who want to start operations in the region by next year," said Auni Kanji, managing director of Abercrombie and Kent, the tour operating company that is handling MV Silver Wind ...

Explosion in a main electrical switchboard room An explosion in a main electrical switchboard room caused the Queen Mary 2 cruise liner to lose power, according to a marine accident report.The Southampton-based liner drifted in open sea for about an hour following the blast in September 2010.The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report said it was triggered by deterioration in the capacitors, which store energy.No-one was injured in the incident which happened near Barcelona.The report said: "A current imbalance detection system, which was the only means to warn against capacitor deterioration, was found to be inoperable, and it was evident that it had not worked for several years."It said it was fortunate the 150,000-tonne vessel was clear of navigational hazards at the time.Following the explosion, the emergency generator started automatically. The main generators were restarted and the ship was able to resume sailing.The MAIB said that since the incident action had been taken by Cunard's parent company, Carnival.It also made recommendations to Lloyd's Register and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.Source: BBC News

Guests notice when older ships have new amenities or don't With fewer new cruise ships debuting at South Florida ports this season, cruise lines are working to refurbish older vessels and to keep passengers happy.They know passengers are watching. Cruisers make comments about ships that need renovation on message forums such as CruiseCritic.com and CruiseReviews.com.The commenters are in luck. Some of the ships making their upgrade wish list are among those that the cruise lines plan to sink millions into revamping soon. Among them, the Carnival Imagination and Celebrity's Infinity and Millennium."The challenge for the big lines is that they have large fleets, and it's going to take time to drill down to every vessel," said Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of CruiseCritic.Earlier this month Celebrity Infinity departed Port Everglades after a $35 million revamp as part of Celebrity Cruises $140 million program to retrofit older Millennium-class vessels."This initiative will ensure that our guests can enjoy the same, consistent modern luxury vacation experience across the fleet, regardless of which ship they select," Celebrity's spokeswoman Tavia Robb said.The upgrade impressed. "It's still an older ship, but they did a great job," said Frederick Buchsbaum, of Coral Gables, on a recent ...