Tag: passenger vessels

WHO has recently shared operational considerations for managing COVID-19 cases and outbreaks onboard ships. This document is based on the evidence currently available about coronavirus transmission and is to be used in conjunction with the published WHO Handbook for management of public health events onboard.

New Zealand's TAIC issued an investigation report on the contact of the jet boat 'Discovery 2' with Skippers Canyon wall while on the Shotover River in February 2019. The incident showed that jet boating is a high-risk activity that leaves very little margin for error when navigating at high speeds in narrow channels and rivers.

Following the coronavirus outbreak and with Diamond Princess cruise under quarantine for the last two weeks, its passengers begun to disembark. According to the International Transport Workers' Federation the repatriation process has started, and the remaining crew is expected to return back home in the following days.

Port of Kiel continues to pursue its growth course in passenger traffic posting a 4.2% increase with 2.2 million travellers. At the same time, the port’s cargo sector was unable to match the top results of the reference period. The handling performance fell by 3.5% to 7.15 tons of cargo in 2018. 

CLIA issued its 2020 State of the Cruise Industry report taking an in-depth look at the impact of cruising and the trends across the industry. The cruise industry has cemented its role as a mainstream vacation choice with about 32 million guests expected to sail in 2020.

SAFETY4SEA remembers the hijacking of the cruise ship ‘Achille Lauro’ in 1985 by four heavily armed Palestinian militants who posed as passengers, resulting to the brutal murder of one passenger. The attack lasted only two days but spurred a global concern over the shaping dimensions of maritime terrorism.

There is a wide range of different vessels. The international dry cargo and tanker markets are immense and are served by numerous ships of several types and of various sizes. Some of them follow standard designs and can carry a variety of cargoes while others are more specialized and able to carry commodities which the standard vessels cannot. According to the UNCTAD, in early 2019 the total world fleet stood at 95,402 ships accounting for 1.97 billion dead-weight tons (dwt) of capacity.

In an official hearing on Commercial and Passenger Vessel Safety on Thursday, the head of NTSB's Marine Safety Office critiqued the US Coast Guard's willingness to bolster safety rules for passenger vessels, on the aftermath of three fatal incidents involving small vessels in US waters.

Several amendments of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) agreed in 2016, 2017 and 2018 are entering into force in less than three months, marking reforms to SOLAS and to international codes made mandatory under the SOLAS Convention.

On 24-25 September, EMSA organised a workshop on the implementation of a system of inspections for the safe operation of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft in regular service, entering into force on 20 December. During the workshop, the guidance documentation developed by EMSA for inspectors was finalised, while updates were also given on THETIS for Port State Control as well as on the new module on THETIS EU for Flag States.