A collision took place between the ferries Bencomo Express and Volcan De Taburiente, at Los Cristianos port entrance, off Canary Islands, on February 24. Both ships suffered damages, but resumed their services later.
On Firday 14 February, the “MV Caledonian Isles” ferry vessel owned by the CalMac Ferries, faced rough weather conditions as it was struggling to berth at the Ardrossan harbor. Namely its crewmembers had to deal and operate under the storm Dennis’ high winds.
In light of the coronavirus outbreak situation, the Japanese Ministry of Defense recently informed that has prepared a 17.000 GT ferry vessel, in order to provide temporary accommodation for Japanese nationals who return from China.
The UK Maritime Minister launched a new passenger rights toolkit in Liverpool, calling operators to make journeys better for disabled passengers and staff, continuing the UK’s internationally leading plans for fully accessible transport.
French ports are blocked as workers protest, aiming to make President Emmanuel Macron to scrap a planned pension overhaul. Namely, ferry services were disrupted, while some bulk carriers were kept at anchor.
Port of Piraeus, Greece will be from now on ferry connected to Limassol, Cyprus. According to the Shipping Deputy Minister of Cyprus, Natasa Pilides, efforts are underway in order the ferry trip to be launched and available by this summer. For the records, the return ferry ticket is estimated to cost around €130 per person, including the port fees.
On 3 January, the Spanish ferry company known as “Baleària”, officially announced its successful establishment of natural gas supply in the port of Valencia. In order to accomplish the supply properly, the company used a multi truck to ship (MTTS) high-speed bunkering system.
Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. inked a deal with shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) for the construction of two LNG-fueled ferries, representing the first project of this kind ever made in Japan.
The U.S. Coast Guard recently announced that allowed most of the New York Waterway ferries to return back to service, after being suspended for a series of safety concerns. Specifically all except five of the 23 vessels will operate again with the Coast Guard’s permission.
Taking lives of over 1,000 people, the sinking of the RoRo ferry Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 remains a good example of study as poor emergency procedures resulted to deaths of over 1,000 people and spurred widespread criticism of the crew, as well as the owner company.
