Responders have managed to locate and address the cause of flooding on the 145-foot passenger-ferry Sili in Pago Pago, on February 17. Namely, the dive team notice a two-inch diameter hole on the port side of the engine room and applied a temporary patch. The ship will remain out of service until it is dry docked and permanent repairs effected.
Artificial intelligence and automation will improve the human’s place in the near future. Mainly, Jeremy Bogaisky, Deputy Editor at Forbes, quotes that autonomous and remote-control shipping is sure to decrease cost of consumer goods and enhance safety for passenger ferries and cruise liners.
The Ro-Pax ferry ‘Men Del Norte II’ partially sank following collision with the berthed cargo ship ‘BBC Zarate’ on the Amazon River in Peru, in the morning hours of Friday, 15 February.
The British government has terminated a contract with Seaborne Freight to provide extra ferries in the event of a no-deal Brexit that would see Britain leave the EU on 29 March, without a transition period to minimize economic disruption. The contract was terminated after Irish firm Arklow Shipping decided to step back from the deal.
A Volvo Penta powered electric ferry service is being introduced into Gothenburg’s ElectriCity transport ecosystem.The new electric-powered ferry will link both sides of the Göta River. Volvo Penta will be the first fully-electric ferry in the city able to complete longer, multi-stop routes along the river, and incorporate quick charging capabilities.
The Hypatia de Alejandría de Baleària, the first ship powered by LNG in the Mediterranean, made its first commercial trip between Barcelona and Palma. The ferry arrived on January 27 at the port of Barcelona, coming from Venice. The ship is 186.5 meters in length and can accommodate 880 people, as well as 166 vehicles. In addition to Hypatia de Alejandría, its twin Marie Curie will follow.
The UK Port of Felixstowe and Danish ferry operator DFDS have agreed to increase roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) capacity at the port by over 40% through investment in a new linkspan, tractor units and additional trailer parking facilities. The agreement extents the service at Felixstowe for 15 years.
According to Brittany Ferries, its new LNG-powered ferry Honfleur will not be able to be delivered in time for the 2019 summer season. The ship is being built at the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft yard in Germany, and was to start operations in April 2019. The reason of the delay is the fact, the German shipyard is facing a financial crisis, due to penalties imposed for late delivery of Irish Ferries’ newest ship, W.B. Yeats.
A new ferry that will combine energy efficiency, flexibility and optimised space availability, will soon start operation between Umeå in Sweden and Vaasa in Finland. The ferry will have been constructed by 2021 and will run mainly on LNG. The ship will also be able to burn biogas, while it will incorporate battery power to reduce its emissions while on port.
The ships Cruise Roma and Cruise Barcelona, from the Grimaldi Group, which cover the Barcelona-Porto Torres-Civitavecchia line, have started a process of lengthening and total rehabilitation. This has as a goal to achieve greater cargo capacity, while they also aim to reduce their emissions and become zero emission ships during their stay in port.
