Knud E. Hansen has released its latest design, a 154-meter RoPax ferry that can transport up to 1500 passengers and 440 cars. The ship also boasts an additional 657 lane meters for trucks and trailers. The vessel with a service speed of 25 knots, can operate close to optimum engine load even at slow speeds because of its diesel electric propulsion plant and azimuthing pods.
A ferry capsized off the Bakassi Peninsula of Cameroon’s southwestern coast on August 25th. Due to the capsizing, 17 bodies were recovered, as Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of the Southwest region informed. Initial information was saying that the bodies were three, but on Monday and Tuesday fourteen more were discovered.
The last two years MV Columbia records the ocean’s vitals every three minutes, along a 1,600-kilometer route through the Inside Passage. This includes the coastal region from Puget Sound to the Alaska Panhandle. The ship measures the sea’s temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen content, and carbon dioxide concentration, aiming to monitor ocean acidification.
An all-electric ferry, able to carry around 30 vehicles and 200 passengers has carried out its maiden voyage. Namely, the e-ferry Ellen sailed between the Ports of Soby and Fynshav, located on the islands of Aero and Als in Denmark.
A Spanish ferry, carrying around 400 passengers, ran aground while sailing from Ibiza and Majorca, on August 16. After the incident rescue operations were launched by the coast guard and other emergency services. The ferry ‘Pinar del Rio’ is operated by Balearia, and grounded off Benidorm, southeastern Spain, while the ship was preparing to moor in harbor with 393 passengers and 70 vehicles on board.
The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced around $32.8 million in project selections to improve the safety and reliability of America’s passenger ferries and enhance mobility for ferry users across the United States. Nine projects in nine states will receive funding from FTA’s Passenger Ferry Grant Program.
In its latest gangways guidance, the Shipowners Club describes a case of a passenger injury on the access ramp while boarding a ferry. The claimant’s lawyers supported that this incident occurred because the ramp was unattended and not because the ramp was unsafe.
Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), based in Antwerp, and Japanese shipbuilder Tsuneishi Facilities & Craft (TFC) announced their collaboration to construct a hydrogen-powered ferry. TFC will bring its state-of-the-are shipbuilding expertise, whereas CMB Technologies will bring their knowledge on marine hydrogen systems.
Maritime NZ and partner regulatory agencies in New Zealand teamed up last week in a joint compliance and information-gathering operation on the carriage of dangerous goods (DG). Checks aimed to ensure that goods on Cook Strait ferries complied with safety regulations. There was good compliance from those inspected.
Seafarers working onboard cruise ships and ferries are the unhappiest in the shipping industry, the latest Seafarers Happiness Index report reveals for the second quarter of 2019. Overall, seafarer happiness has slipped this quarter, down to 6.27/10 from 6.31.
