The Marine Casualty Investigation Board released its report about the heavy rolling of the ‘MV Epsilon’, on February 8, 2016, while it was sailing from Cherbourg in France. As a result, ten passengers and two crew members got injured. The senior Master was of the view that the vessel could outrun the weather.
Wärtsilä, the technology group, conducted a successful round of tests on its automated dock-to-dock solution. The system was tested on ‘Folgefonn’ ferry, which visited all three ports serviced by the vessel, with the autonomous operation being utilised uninterrupted for the entire route.
Spanish ferry operator Baleària announced the launch of its newest LNG-fueled ferry ‘Marie Curie’ at the Italian shipyards Cantiere Navale Visentini. The vessel is one of the company’s two LNG-powered ferries to operate in the Mediterranean from 2019. In the meantime, construction is underway for its twin ‘Hypatia de Alejandría’, which will be performing sea tests when it will be completed.
On Friday afternoon, the US Coast Guard was notified of a ferry allision with pier at the San Francisco Ferry Building, involving the ferry ‘San Francisco’, reportedly carrying a total of 53 passengers onboard at the time.There were reports of two minor injuries that did not require treatment beyond first aid and no reports of pollution.
Spanish ferry operator Baleària announced it has started LNG retrofitting work for its ferry ‘Napoles’, the first of the company’s six vessels to be converted to run on LNG. The ship arrived Sunday at Gibdock shipyards in Gibraltar, where the modification of the engines and the installation of the LNG tank will be carried out. The works completion is scheduled on 15 February 2019.
US Coast Guard Sector Charleston marine inspectors identified unsafe conditions on a barge moored at Broad Creek Marina, Hilton Head, on November 8th. These conditions posed a serious threat to the marine environment and safety of the waterway. Due to the barge’s condition the Captain of the Port ordered to cease all operations.
A skipper has been fined $1,688 after speeding and grounding the passenger ferry ‘City Cat’ in New Zealand. The ferry grounded at 17 knots, in a 5 knot area, on a rock at Karaka Bay on 16 April 2017. Maritime NZ informed the skipper did not have the correct navigational charts, did not maintain proper look-out and had repeatedly traveled at excessive speed prior to the grounding.
Spanish ferry operator Baleària announced construction of the world’s first fast passenger and cargo ferry powered by dual-LNG engines, being built in the Armon de Gijón shipyard. With a length of 125 meters and a beam of 28 meters, the new catamaran will have capacity for 1,200 passengers and 500 cars, which also makes it ‘the longest and highest-capacity fast ferry catamaran’.
The ferry ‘Nearchos’ ran aground off Santorini, Greece, on October 27. The ship suffered a controlled water ingress, while at the time of the incident, it was carrying 13 crew, 5 passengers and 5 trucks. The ferry is now anchored off Nea Kameni island, to undergo underwater survey.
MEPC 73 tightened EEDI requirements for certain ship types, but confirmed that ferries would be among the categories where it is appropriate to retain the original timeline and reduction rates. These had been set in three phases, requiring improvements of 10% by 2015, 20% by 2020 and 30% by 2025.
