Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i Ships Monthly

CARGO VESSELS The saga of the damaged cargo vessel Ruby (see SM, Nov 2024, p.6) neared a conclusion with the transfer of her dangerous cargo to another vessel, Zimrida, which headed south and reached the port of Abidjan, Ivory Coast at the end of December 2024. Zimrida left Great Yarmouth on 16 December 2024 loaded with 19,700 tons of ammonium nitrate fertiliser which had been initially transported by Ruby. Having arrived off the coast of Abidjan on 30 December 2024, Zimrida waited for permission to dock, and eventually berthed at Abidjan on 18 January. With Zimrida approaching, loaded with the Ruby’s cargo, Ivorian authorities instituted precautions as Ruby’s cargo, transhipped into Zimrida, was caricatured by a section of the world media as a ‘floating Hiroshima’, but Zimrida and her cargo…

NEW FLEET ARRIVAL Stena RoRo has purchased the 2012-built ro-ro vessel Giuseppe Luchesi from Luxembourg-based operator CLdN. She will sail under the Danish flag as Stena Shipper. CLdN sold the 29,429gt vessel to long-term charterer CIN (Tirrenia), who immediately resold her to Stena RoRo. The vessel had been sub-chartered by CIN to CTN (Tunisia Ferries) for five years to operate on freight routes to Tunisia, mainly serving Livorno, Genoa, Olbia, Malta and Cagliari. In the last two years she was subchartered to Cotunav, serving routes around Italy, France and Tunisia. Under the new Stena ownership the vessel will continue on the charter to CTN. The latest ship to carry the name Stena Shipper is one of a series of eight ro-ro freight vessels, with 3,663 lane metres of capacity, delivered…

CABLE-LAYER Ulstein Design & Solutions has secured its largest aftermarket design contract to date for the cablelaying vessel Orient Adventurer. The contract, awarded by Dong Fang Offshore (DFO), involves both design and engineering work on the vessel. The vessel is an ULSTEIN SX121 design by Ulstein Design & Solutions AS, and was originally delivered as an offshore construction newbuild from Ulstein Verft in 2014. The vessel was equipped with a Huisman VLS tower (vertical lay system), positioned in the potential future cable-laying area. Orient Adventurer will undergo an extensive conversion. The tower equipment will be relocated, and the vessel will be equipped with a W2W (walk-to-work) gangway system and a 3,000-ton cable carousel from Huisman.…

CAL MAC Cal Mac’s long-awaited new ferry Glen Sannox formally entered service on 12 January 2024, completing her first voyage with passengers, running from Troon to Brodick, a day earlier than scheduled. The crew welcomed passengers on board as the vessel began her service to the Isle of Arran at around 07.00. Originally due for delivery in 2018, Glen Sannox and sistership Glen Rosa have endured a series of costly delays and technical problems at Clyde-based shipyard Ferguson Marine. However, after the ship completed her first voyage, Cal Mac said it has overcome all of the last-minute snags. Glen Sannox concluded her preservice familiarisation programme earlier in the month when she visited several ports in the Western Isles for berthing trial procedures over the weekend of 3 to 5 January…

DFDS Danish shipping company DFDS is launching a weekly freight service connecting Spain and the Netherlands, aimed at serving industrial customers, freight forwarders and project cargo owners. In connection with the new route, DFDS and Hydro, a global aluminium and energy company, have signed an agreement for a weekly shipment of aluminium. The new route is due to start at the end of May and will connect the ports of Vilagarcía and Rotterdam, offering a direct ferry link from southern to central Europe. DFDS is aiming to provide a competitive alternative to road transport. The ro-ro vessel Belgia Seaways (ex-Schieborg), with a capacity of 2,660 lane metres, is earmarked to operate the route. Delivered in April 2000, the 21,005gt vessel was acquired by DFDS in 2019, when she was given…

INDUSTRY NEWS A number of ships have been taken into dry dock recently. Carnival Sunshine (ex-Carnival Destiny) began a scheduled dry-docking at Chantier Naval de Marseille on 15 January, after which she will resume service from her new home port of Norfolk, Virginia. Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess (2014) will have an unplanned dry-docking in Rotterdam in April to address some undisclosed crossing to Southampton, her next cruise will be curtailed early and the following one cancelled. She is expected to resume service from Southampton on 9 May. An unplanned change in the dry-docking schedule for Disney Fantasy has led to the cancellation of her transatlantic crossing to Port Canaveral in October 2025, as well as several short cruises from that port. The ship will remain in Europe for maintenance, and…

AMBASSADOR Britain’s newest cruise line, Ambassador Cruise Line, will merge with France’s newest cruise line, Compagnie Française Criosières, in the first quarter of 2025. Just before its untimely demise, Ambassador’s predecessor, CMV, set up its own French operation, for which it was going to use the second Astor, sailing as Jules Verne. CMV had expanded rapidly, but struggled during the pandemic and the company was the first major casualty of the industry shutdown. The newly renamed Ambassador Group will have three ships, although the ships and their markets will remain broadly unaltered. Ambience and Ambition will continue to serve the UK, while Renaissance will remain as a French-focused ship. From January Renaissance was upgraded to IMO tier III emission standard in Bremerhaven during a six-week refit, thus allowing her access…

TURKISH NAVY The Turkish Ministry of Defence started 2025 with the announcement of the start of three significant national shipbuilding projects and the launch of two MILGEM II frigates. On 2 January steel-cutting ceremonies took place for the MUGEM aircraft carrier, TF-2000 Anti-Air Warfare destroyer and MILDEN submarine. The National Aircraft Carrier is a new design with a single island and a projected displacement of 60,000 tonnes. It will initially be configured for short take-off and barrier arrested recovery (STOBAR) operations, and will operate a mix of up to 50 manned and unmanned aircraft. The new 8,300-tonne destroyer is designed to detect and intercept guided and ballistic missile threats. It will be armed with a range of domestically produced missile systems with a combined 96-cell vertical launch system. There are…

PORT NEWS In a notable achievement, the Port of Singapore surpassed the 40 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) mark for the first time in 2024, handling a recordbreaking 41.12 million TEUs. This milestone cements it as the second largest container port, in terms of capacity, and the world’s largest transhipment hub. The performance is attributed to several factors, including increased cargo volumes redirected due to the Red Sea crisis, and the port’s commitment to efficient cargo flows. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) reported that the port’s annual vessel arrival tonnage also reached a new high of 3.11 billion gross tons. With the port’s containerhandling capacity being expanded at the Tuas megaport, the port aims to offer an annual handling capacity of 65 million TEUs by its completion…

SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco Maritime Museum is relocating all the historic ships at its Hyde Street Pier to facilities at Mare Island, as it is no longer structurally sound enough to safely support the historic fleet or the thousands who visit them each year. Some vessels have already been moved. Hyde Street Pier will be rebuilt at a cost of $102 million, which includes funding for major work to the hull, decks and electrical system of the paddle steam ferry Eureka (1890). Also at Mare Island, the three-masted schooner C.A. Thayer (1895) and steam tug Hercules (1907) will receive routine maintenance. The sailing ship Balclutha (1886) and former British paddle tug Eppleton Hall (1914) will receive only minor attention. Eppleton Hall left the UK under her own steam in September…

HMS UNICORN The Unicorn Preservation Society has received grants of £250,000 from the Northwood Charitable Trust and £221,860 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to finance activity celebrating HMS Unicorn’s 200th anniversary to improve awareness of the ship and offer security for the continued development of ongoing museum activities and established volunteer, community engagement and learning work. The support also ensures Unicorn’s core work as a visitor attraction, community centre for outreach and volunteering is maintained alongside preparations for Project Safe Haven, the charity’s vision for HMS Unicorn to become a central exhibit of a new maritime heritage attraction in Dundee city centre. HMS Unicorn was designed as one of the Leda class frigates, whose lines were based on a French frigate, Hebe. Her keel was laid in February 1822…

Oil prices rose quickly during the 1970s, peaking at $35 a barrel in 1980, and fuelling a boom in North Sea oil exploration, which funded the construction of the giant steel and concrete platforms needed to extract oil at the Forties and Brent fields. But by 1986 the price had collapsed to $10 a barrel and cheaper solutions were needed for oil production. Nine years earlier Shell had started to experiment with producing oil from a converted tanker at their Castellón field in the Mediterranean. However, transferring the concept to the harsh waters of the North Sea presented major challenges. No one had moored a ship in 20m waves or designed a mooring to last for 20 years. How could the riser pipes between the FPSO and the seabed be…

The new E-Flexer ferry Saint-Malo making her first visit to Portsmouth International Port for berthing trials, early on 13 January. The ‘cleaner and greener’ hybridpowered new arrival was met by a traditional escort, with water cannon salutes by the Boluda Towage tugs VB Scotsman and VB Englishman. In a first of its kind, the ship conducted a range of ramp tests using electric power only, before heading to Caen and Cherbourg ahead of her entry into Channel service in mid-February. Saint-Malo was formally christened in St Malo on 31 January, and during the ceremony Gilles Lurton, Mayor of Saint-Malo, said: “Today is the christening of the Saint-Malo, the new flagship of Brittany Ferries, which will operate the Saint-Malo-Portsmouth link. The first of a kind, her hybrid propulsion system combining natural…

In the 1920s a race began between Germany, France and, eventually, the United States to develop a method of flying mail from ships at sea, allowing it to be transferred to land far ahead of the ship’s arrival. The Germans and French favoured a catapult system, which allowed planes to take off from ships, but this method had a significant drawback: the aircraft could only take off once, as there was no way for it to return. In contrast, the Americans began testing their own innovative ideas. This concept of accelerating mail movement had already been pioneered by the P&O Line, which used a rail service to speed up mail delivery between Brindisi and London. Similarly, the English Mails TPO (Travelling Post Office) in Australia had introduced fast mail delivery…

letter of the month About 25 years ago some investors had the idea of building a ship which was essentially a floating block of 165 luxury apartments which could cruise around the world taking its wealthy residents where they fancied. In 2002 their ship, The World, entered service and has been cruising ever since. Indeed, at the time of writing, she is now heading to New Zealand from Sydney. So it looks as if the original investors had a really good and financially sound concept. Buoyed by the success of The World, some people in Florida decided they would try to get a bit of that action and started Life at Sea Cruises in 2022 and garnered a lot of interest and money from prospective residents. Unfortunately, there was a…

COASTERS AT MISTLEY • Mistley in Essex is one of the smaller ports in the UK, but a steady stream of coasters brings a variety of cargoes. OPERATION ANADYR • The ships involved in the Soviet Union’s Operation Anadyr, which culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. HMS NELSON AND HMS RODNEY • A pictorial review recalls the eventful careers of two of the Royal Navy’s most powerful battleships. QUEEN ELIZABETH LINERS OLD AND NEW • Remembering the famous Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth, and marking 15 years of service by the modern cruise ship Queen Elizabeth. ON SALE 21 MARCH 2025…

CRUISE PORT Belfast Harbour is to invest £90 million to improve the port’s facilities for cruise ships and the wind energy industry. The investment is intended to mean more cruises start and finish in the city rather than just calling for a day. It is part of a wider £300 million spending plan by the harbour over the next five years. Almost 150 cruise ships called in Belfast last year, bringing 260,000 passengers and crew. The harbour hopes that it can convince companies to start and finish cruises in Belfast and will upgrade its facilities for that purpose. It will involve moving the cruise terminal to a currently undeveloped site. Belfast Harbour chief executive Joe O’Neill said: “Part of our ambition is to do turnaround cruises. That’s where people come…

LIFEBOAT NEWS Falmouth RNLI said farewell to the 17m Severn class lifeboat Richard Cox Scott on 31 January. The lifeboat, which has reached the end of its operational life, came off service on 24 January after 23 years at the station, during which time she launched over 500 times and the volunteer crew saved 12 lives in her care. The relief 13m Shannon class lifeboat, 13-44 George and Frances Phelon, has taken over and will remain at the station until a new Shannon arrives later this year. The Shannon was joined by lifeboats from flank stations, and led a flotilla of small boats and tugs escorting Richard Cox Scott round the harbour for one final time, watched by hundreds of people from every vantage point, waving farewell to the old…

CONSTRUCTION VESSEL In January the Netherlandsheadquartered Boskalis Group confirmed that it has acquired two construction support vessels (CSV) from FTAI Ocean. The pair, which comprised FTAI Ocean’s entire fleet, was sold for a combined $143 million in December 2024. BOKA Pride (DP3) and BOKA Pioneer (DP2) were transferred to their new owners at the start of 2025. BOKA Pride recently underwent her five-year special survey, being painted in the Boskalis livery while she was in dry dock, having already undergone the official name change. With a deck space of 2,000m2 BOKA Pride ranks among the largest in the BOKA fleet. With a deck space of 700m 2, BOKA Pioneer is slightly smaller, and is equipped with a knuckle boom crane with a capacity of 50 tons. BOKA Pride has two…

BRITTANY FERRIES The new ferry Saint-Malo entered service on 12 February, with much emphasis on her hybrid LNGelectric propulsion credentials. Bretagne’s replacement is designed to significantly reduce emissions by using battery power alone when she is manoeuvring in port, and cleaner-burning LNG (liquefied natural gas), battery power, or a combination of the two, when at sea. Owners Stena RoRo claim the ship will be able to run at speeds of up to 17.5 knots on batteries alone. Like her sistership Guillaume de Normandie, which is due to replace Normandie in April, Saint-Malo will also be shore-power capable. The council-owned port is the first in the UK to install a system that provides multiple electrical frequencies that will allow up to three ships to plug in at the same time. Saint-Malo…

GOTLAND Gotlandsbolaget, the new Swedish owners of the historic Copenhagen-Frederikshavn-Oslo route, revealed the new names and livery of the two former DFDS cruise ferries, acquired at the same time. Pearl Seaways (1989/40,281gt) and Crown Seaways (1994/35,498gt) will become Nordic Pearl and Nordic Crown respectively. The deal to take over the ships includes not only both vessels, but also the associated terminals and around 800 employees. Gotlandsbolaget aims to enhance the passenger experience on the route. The ships are to be rebranded with an aqua-green hull, along with Gotlandsbolaget’s white ‘G’ on a red funnel. Both ships are to undergo extensive refurbishment, with upgrades to all cabins and public areas. Nordic Pearl returned to service from refit in late January, with Nordic Crown due to have her refit in March.…

CELEBRITY Celebrity Cruises’ parent, Royal Caribbean Group, has ordered a sixth Edge class ship from Chantiers de l’Atlantique at St Nazaire for delivery in 2028. The class has increased in size since the initial ship, Celebrity Edge, entered service in 2018, followed by Celebrity Apex in 2020. Those ships had a gross tonnage of 130,818 and a length of 1,004 feet. Next came Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Ascent, slightly larger at 141,240gt, and 1,073ft. The final two ships are thought to be of a similar size, with the first, Celebrity Xcel, due to enter service in autumn 2025. Both Xcel and the new ship are capable of being fuelled by methanol. The same yard has also built the last four ships in the Oasis series for Royal Caribbean, and recently…

FOUR SEASONS YACHTS The first of three yachts for Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings Limited, in conjunction with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, trading as Four Seasons Yachts, was floated out at Fincantieri’s Ancona yard on 23 January, just over a year before the ultra-luxurious vessel, the appearance of which is based loosely on the former Onassis yacht Christina O, enters service. The new ship will carry 195 passengers in 95 suites, the largest of which, the funnel suite, can accommodate up to 36 people travelling together within its 4,500ft 2 (plus a 5,000ft 2 terrace). The fourdeck-high suite has a forward-facing window covering its full height, which is said to have cost $4.5 million. Four Seasons 1 has a length of 679ft and a crew numbering 210, and is of of about…

UK MoD The UK MoD has awarded a new £476 million contract to Foreland Shipping Limited (FSL) for the ongoing provision of strategic sealift services in support of British and NATO military operations. Having performed the role for 23 years, FSL will continue to operate the Flensburger-built ro-ro ships Anvil Point, Hartland Point, Hurst Point and Eddystone, which were purpose-built to transport military vehicles, equipment and supplies to wherever they are needed, for another seven years. Looking ahead, the UK MoD has issued a Request For Information (RFI) to industry for the replacement of the Point class workhorses in the early 2030s. One of the key requirements is for a minimum of 15,600 x 2.8 lane metres across six vessels to be available for contingency operations. This signals a return…

INDIAN NAVY The Indian Navy started the new year with an historic first, as the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai hosted a joint commissioning ceremony for three frontline vessels on 15 January. The Visakhapatnam class destroyer INS Surat (D69) (pictured on sea trials), Nilgiri class frigate INS Nilgiri (F33), and the Kalvari class attack submarine INS Vaghsheer (S26), were all built locally by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. The introduction of Surat marks the conclusion of the four-ship Project 15B class destroyer programme. The Indian Navy now operates 13 destroyers of four different types, including three Soviet-built Rajput class (Kashin) ships dating from the 1980s. These will be replaced by next-generation Project 18 ships, which are under development. The delivery of Vaghsheer also ends production of the Project 75 Scorpène class. The…

CONTAINER SHIPS France-based shipping giant CMA CGM has unveiled CMA CGM Petra, an 85,700dwt vessel and the first in a series of six LNG-powered container ships joining its fleet. The post-Panamax boxship, built by South Korea’s Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HD Hyundai Samho), measures 272m by 42.8m, with a draught of 14.5m. The French-flagged ship has a capacity of 8,000TEU and is set to operate on the Asia-Central South America 1 (ACSA 1) service, facilitating Eastbound and Westbound trade routes. The remaining five vessels in the series, built to the same specifications, are also being built by Hyundai Samho and are scheduled to be delivered between February and November, continuing the strong partnership between CMA CGM and the shipyard. The launch of CMA CGM Petra marks another milestone in CMA…

STEAM TUG The steam tug Challenge, built in 1931 by Alexander Hall of Aberdeen, has launched a campaign to raise funds for repairs to her air pump and condenser so that she can attend the 85th anniversary of Operation Dynamo at Dunkirk in May. The work will be done in-house by the team of volunteers, but they need over £3,000 for the materials. At Dunkirk on 31 May 1940 Challenge helped vessels berth on the East Mole and on 1 June towed small craft to Dunkirk to evacuate troops. She also towed a disabled destroyer loaded with troops back home and assisted ships engaged in the Dunkirk operation at Dover. She continued her war work towing the Maunsell anti-aircraft towers out to their positions in the Thames Estuary in 1941…

TRAWLER Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi has become a patron of Radio Caroline’s charity MV Ross Revenge Home of Radio Caroline, established two years ago to drive fundraising efforts to restore and preserve the historic pirate radio ship. Since taking to the airwaves in 1983, Ross Revenge has served as a symbol of independent broadcasting and still regularly transmits. Rossi lends his support at a crucial time because, despite being maintained by a dedicated team of volunteers, Ross Revenge needs urgent structural repairs in dry-dock to secure her future. Ross Revenge was built in 1960 in Bremerhaven as a trawler for the Icelandic Government and sold to Ross Fisheries in the UK in 1963. She was based at Grimsby, took part in the Cod Wars in the 1970s and holds…

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BP developed a different FPSO concept in the mid-1980s. Their Single Well Oil Production System (SWOPS) vessel, Seillean (Gaelic for ‘honey-bee’), was delivered by Harland & Wolff in 1990. She produced around 15,000 barrels of oil a day from the Cyrus field through a single steel riser. After around three weeks, when her storage tanks were full, she sailed to port to discharge the cargo. Unlike Petrojarl 1, she had no moorings and was kept in position using thrusters controlled by a dynamic positioning system. The downside was that Seillean lost one week in four by disconnecting to offload, often longer when the weather delayed reconnection to the well. Ultimately, BP gave up on the concept and sold Seillean to Reading & Bates in 1996. She was converted to a…

For a shipping company that is over 190 years old, the order of a new ferry to provide lifeline services to the Isle of Man was always going to provoke a lot of interest. In June 2020, during the Covid pandemic, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company contracted Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea to build the ship. She was to succeed their successful ro-pax Ben-my-Chree, a ferry which entered service in 1998 and had diligently served the Douglas to Heysham route. The design of the new ferry was constrained by the size of the harbours at the two main ports she was to serve. The newbuild was to be 10m longer and 3m wider than the ‘Ben’, with significantly more passenger accommodation. A public consultation was carried…

Between 14 and 24 January 1943, within the highly secured surroundings of the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, two of the world’s most prominent leaders, Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and America’s President Franklin D.M Roosevelt, met to discuss how to progress the war and open a second front against Nazi Germany. The aim was to split German forces and engineer a swifter end to the conflict. During this conference, the British and Americans agreed to commence planning for the invasion of Sicily, known as Operation Husky, which became a pivotal turning point in the Mediterranean theatre. Operation Husky’s primary objectives were to eliminate Sicily as a German base for aircraft and naval forces in the Mediterranean, pave the way for the full-scale invasion of neighbouring Italy, and undermine Benito…

The steamship Vaterland, a 54,282gt passenger liner constructed by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, was the second of three massive Imperator class ships for the Hamburg-America Line’s transatlantic service. Launched on 3 April 1913, she became the world’s largest passenger ship at the time, surpassing her sistership, Imperator. However, she was later eclipsed by the final ship in the class, Bismarck. Vaterland made only a few voyages before arriving in New York City in late July 1914, coinciding with the outbreak of World War I. British naval dominance made her return to Germany impossible, and she remained laid up at her Hoboken terminal for nearly three years. All three Imperator class ships were ultimately seized by the Allies as war prizes: Vaterland became Leviathan for the US, Bismarck became White…

Geoffrey Watson, of Gravesend, Kent, recalls seeing three Queens together: “22 April 2008 was a unique day in liner history. It was promoted by Cunard as ‘Three Queens Day’. For the first time three Cunard ships were in Southampton together. Queen Elizabeth 2, which was out of service and being prepared for her role as a floating hotel in Dubai, was alongside, astern of Queen Victoria, which had only recently entered the fleet. Queen Mary 2 left berth 38/9 to make her way up the River Test to pass her fleetmates and provide a rare photo opportunity before turning (unaided) near the container terminal and proceeding outbound. Queen Victoria sailed later, and headed down the Solent at sunset. To add to the occasion, Pacific Princess was also in port. She…

TECHNOLOGY HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), part of South Korean conglomerate HD Hyundai, has received Approval in Principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its innovative hydrogen tank design. This milestone will enable largescale liquid hydrogen transport and storage, marking an important step in the global energy transition. The new vacuum insulation system can maintain temperatures at –253°C while reducing vacuum creation time in large tanks, ensuring safer and loss-free transportation of liquid hydrogen. Hydrogen is seen as vital in the decarbonisation of shipping. The project has attracted considerable industry attention, with major players like Woodside Energy, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Hyundai Glovis collaborating on the development of an 80,000m 3 liquid hydrogen carrier, in pursuit of net zero through technological innovation.…

NEWBUILD The new 165,000dwt container ship OOCL Sunflower, one of a series of ten vessels ordered by OOCL, each with a capacity of 16,828TEU, was officially named at China’s Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) on 11 January. The ship, which measures 367m by 51m, will operate the company’s Trans-Pacific Trade ECX1 service, alongside her identical sister vessels, which involves a 91-day round trip and takes in Shanghai, New York, Savannah and Hong Kong. The new Panamax ship has exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) and incorporates other advanced technologies for enhanced environmental performance and operational efficiency. She will improve OOCL’s fleet as one of the new efficient and environmentally friendly vessels. The first ship in this series, OOCL Bauhinia, was delivered and christened in early December 2024 at DACKS. With…

PRESERVED STEAMSHIP The historic steamship Shieldhall has announced its 2025 programme of cruises, open days, courses and experiences. The year is a special one for Shieldhall, which celebrates her 70th birthday with a number of special commemorative events planned. The famous ship was launched on the River Clyde in July 1955, and played a humble role for the Glasgow Corporation and later Southern Water. Thanks to the efforts of The Solent Steam Packet Charity, Shieldhall was saved from being scrapped in the 1980s. Among the highlights of her 2025 programme are a cruise to Portsmouth Harbour commemorating the 85th anniversary of Dunkirk on 25 May, departing Southampton at 12.30 and returning at 19.00. On 7 June she will attend the Round the Island Yacht Race, providing a great viewing platform…

CONTAINER NEWS The combined capacity of the top three boxboat operators represents 46.33 per cent of the worldwide market. As of January, there were 7,211 container ships operating globally, with a combined capacity of 31.5604 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), or over 374 million deadweight tonnes, according to the most recent data. According to global throughput, the top three companies are CMA CGM, with 3.8472 million TEUs (12.19 per cent of the market), Maersk Line, with 4.429 million TEUs (14.03 per cent), and Mediterranean Shipping Co, with 6.345 million TEUs (20.10 per cent). The seven biggest shipping companies have a combined capacity of more than 1.5 million TEUs. These companies include China Ocean Shipping Group, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Shipping (ONE), Evergreen Marine, Hyundai Merchant Marine, ZIM Shipping and Yang Ming…

FREIGHT FERRY The 2009-built ro-ro freight ferry Seatruck Pace (ex-Clipper Pace) has been sold to Arab Bridge Maritime and renamed Al Hussein under the Jordanian flag. She is following sistership, the former Seatruck Pennant, now named Ur, to the Middle East. It is expected that the remaining Seatruck P class vessel, Seatruck Point (currently operating the Heysham-Warrenpoint route), will also be sold shortly. Operator CLdN will retain the FSG-built vessels Power, Progress, Precision and Performance as they are Heyshammax and will primarily operate from the Lancashire port. Liverpool services will make use of larger vessels from the wider CLdN fleet, such as Melusine, which is on the route at the moment. Built by Spanish shipyard Astilleros de Huelva, Seatruck Pace entered service In March 2009 on the Liverpool-Dublin route, named…

IRISH SEA The Port of Holyhead reopened to ferry traffic as planned on 16 January, with Stena Line and Irish Ferries initially sharing the Terminal 5 berth, which necessitates adjustments to the schedules of each company. Stena Adventurer and Stena Estrid completed their final crossings from Fishguard and Birkenhead respectively on 15 January and slotted back into Holyhead service the next day. The charter of the Ben-my-Chree for Heysham/Dublin freight backup sailings also ceased. Irish Ferries are currently operating W.B. Yeats (2018/51,388gt) alone on the Holyhead-Dublin route, with two daily rotations. Ulysses (2000/50,938gt) is expected returned from refit in Denmark at the end of the month. James Joyce completed her final commercial sailing for Irish Ferries on 15 January, performing a delayed 14:45 service from Pembroke Dock to Rosslare. She…

NYK CRUISES NYK’s new ship Asuka III was floated out of the smaller building hall at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg on 18 January, having her funnel fitted during the process. With a gross tonnage of approximately 52,000, the new ship will carry up to 740 passengers in 385 cabins and will be serviced by a crew numbering 470. After the ship has undertaken a spring transit of the River Ems, her delivery is expected in early summer, at which time she will be based in Yokohama and undertake the company’s longer itineraries. The company’s existing ship, the 50,142gt Asuka II (ex-Crystal Harmony), will operate shorter cruises from the same base. She has a higher passenger capacity, taking up to 960 people.…

US NAVY The outgoing Secretary of the Navy, in his final month in office, announced a raft of ship and submarine namings ahead of the change in US administration, with 19 future vessels being named. Most notable are the next pair of Ford class aircraft carriers, which will be USS William J. Clinton (CVN 82) and USS George W. Bush (CVN 83), after former presidents. Four future Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers are to become USS Robert Kerrey (DDG 146), USS Ray Mabus (DDG 147), USS Kyle Carpenter (DDG 148) and USS Robert R. Ingram (DDG 149), and planned Constellation class frigates, USS Everett Alvarez Jr. (FF G68) and USS Joy Bright Hancock (FFG 69). The fourth Flight II San Antonio class amphibious landing ship is to be named USS…

PLAN The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) revealed its innovative Type 076 amphibious assault ship in a purpose-built dry-dock at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, on 27 December 2024. Named Sichuan, after the province in south-west China, the approximately 50,000-tonne vessel has a length of around 260m and a 50m-wide flight deck, making it comparable in size to the US Navy’s ‘big deck’ America and Wasp class ships. However, it is the first of its kind to have twin islands and a single electro-magnetic catapult system and arresting equipment, a system first seen on the PLAN’s aircraft carrier Fujian (CV 18). This, and the arrangement of deck edge aircraft elevators, rather than aircraft lifts integrated into the flight deck as on the previous Type 075, suggest that the ship has…

TANKERS James Fisher has expanded its fleet with the acquisition of the 34,725dwt chemical/products tanker Lagavulin, renamed Leander Fisher. Previously owned by Singaporean-based Pioneer Tanker, the ship, which was ordered by the now-defunct Ocean Tankers in 2015, was delivered in 2022. The acquisition is part of Fisher’s strategy to enhance its service offerings and operational efficiency, and replaces the 2005-built Raleigh Fisher (22,184gt), which the company has operated since acquiring her from Maersk in 2019. The ship is likely to be contracted to the MOD for freighting services between the various oil storage depots around the UK. Raleigh Fisher has been sold to Indonesian interests, joining some of her former Maersk fleetmates, operating for Waruna Nusa as Ruby Dragon. Her final voyage under British ownership saw her deliver a cargo…

PORTS Peel Ports Group is set to invest £30 million into the development of a new roll-on roll-off berth at the Port of Sheerness to meet growing demand from both new and existing customers. The project will feature a new in-river berth and floating pontoon to increase capacity for handling ro-ro cargo and to cater for larger vessels, exceeding 230m in length. The new infrastructure will accommodate ro-ro vessels carrying a variety of cargoes, including vehicles, paper reels, timber, construction machinery, building materials, project cargo, agribulks and steel. This expansion supports the continued growth of Peel Ports’ customers, such as Volkswagen and CEVA, who rely on Sheerness as their primary location for southern UK operations. The project is currently in the design and manufacturing phase, with construction starting next year…

LNG BUNKERING One of the world’s largest bunker suppliers, Monjasa, has expanded its operations in the Middle East by introducing the UAE’s first dedicated LNG bunker vessel, Green Zeebrugge. The 5,000m 3 vessel, owned by NYK, was chartered in November 2024, and arrived in Dubai in late December, undertaking her first employment, fuelling Costa’s 6,550-passenger cruise ship Costa Smeralda during the first week of January. Fredericia-based Monjasa’s move into LNG bunkering is part of its strategy to support shipowners in decarbonising their vessels. The company has been a leading supplier of conventional marine fuels in the Arabian Gulf since 2006 and has now extended its services to include LNG. Green Zeebrugge was the world’s first purpose-built LNG tanker, entering service as Engie Zeebrugge in 2017. She initially operated in the…

LAKE GENEVA The Lake Geneva diesel electric paddlers Vevey and Italie have been in service this winter on the commuter ferry for frontaliers who live in France but work in Switzerland. The first sailings left Lausanne on weekdays for Evian at 04.35 and the last returned at 22.15. Only a few years ago just one vessel was needed for this winter connection. Due to a massive increase in this market, at peak times two large vessels are needed, plus a couple more for the relatively recent winter connection to Thonon. To cope with this demand the CGN ordered two large hybrid ferries in 2020 for delivery in 2023, but delays in their building have meant that the first, Evian Les Bains, only entered service in January 2025, and the second,…

PADDLE STEAMERS The collapse of the Carola Bridge in Dresden on 11 September 2024 has had a serious impact on the operations of the Dresden-based paddle steamers. Dresden, Leipzig and Pillnitz, plus the large diesel passenger ships August der Starke and Grafin Cosel, were moored alongside the main Terrassenufer in the centre of Dresden at the time and have been unable to sail upriver on the tourist routes to Schloss Pillnitz and Bad Schandau or to the shipyard at Laubegast. Diesbar, Krippen, Kurort Rathen, Pirna and Stadt Wehlen were lying upstream of the bridge, but their berths are a long way from the main tourist hub, and so passengers have had to be transported to them by bus. The latest report suggests that the collapse was caused by hydrogen-induced stress…

More than half a century has passed since the famous liner RMS Andes went to Belgian breakers. Jack Gore looks back over the long and distinguished career of one of the most remarkable ships of her time. RMS Andes ended her service on 3 May 1971 after 31 years at sea. During her career she covered an impressive 2,770,000 miles, averaging 241 miles per day, and completed 285 voyages, visiting 174 different ports. The ship’s story began in 1932, when the directors of Royal Mail Lines first considered building a new passenger vessel to commemorate the centenary of the company, which had been founded in 1839. By 1935 tenders had been invited for a ship capable of a 21-knot service speed. Harland and Wolff of Belfast secured the contract for…

■ DECK 3 A stern ramp leads to deck 3, the main full-height vehicle space. On the port side is a tilting ramp which leads to deck 5. ■ DECK 5 To starboard on deck 5 is a small mezzanine deck to facilitate early loading of vehicles on the 0215 crossing. ■ PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION is spread over two decks, with passenger access to stairwells at the forward end of the vessel. ■ DECK 7 Looking over the bow is the Cornaa Café. Panoramic views from the windows allow light in from three sides to a range of table seating; there is a small servery with teas, coffees and light snacks providing refreshment. ■ PET FRIENDLY On both port and starboard are dog owner lounges. Amidships is the shop and information…

JANUARY’S MYSTERY The vessels behind the lighterage tug Wal are too far away for me to make a positive identification, but the larger vessel on the left is one of Ellerman and Bucknall’s large cargo passenger vessels of which there were four in this class: City of Port Elizabeth, City of Exeter, City of York and City of Durban. The tug to the right is one of London’s Sun Tugs (W.H.J. Alexander Ltd) and could be Sun XX 1 or Sun XX 11. I would suggest that the photo was taken in the 1960s, with the Ellerman vessel berthed at Tilbury landing stage. These four beautiful-looking Ellerman vessels were built for the South African service, but had all been sold by the early 1970s, when they were converted to ferries,…