General News

This month sees the introduction of a new passenger and freight roro ferry operator on three Scottish "lifeline" routes, and with it three new ships. With the takeover, from October 1, of…

Commercial life is never easy for a shipyard, but at least some can take a bit of comfort from their niche. Ship owners naturally go to Korea, Japan or China for the…

The recent purchase of two ropax ferries by DFDS Tor Line from Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa ? the company formed by ARP, the Polish Restructuring Agency, to take over the assets of the…

Times are changing. For the American shipbuilding industry the 1980s were rough. Despite the Cold War defence spending of the Reagan years, many famous names went to the wall. But for those…

Six may not sound like a lot. But there are six cabins on Royal Caribbean?s latest ship Brilliance of the Seas from which the revenue goes straight to the operator?s financial bottom…

Our industry is sometimes known to be slow to accept change and cautious in the implementation of new concepts and practices. There is nothing wrong with this approach in a mature industry,…

Much coverage has been given of the potential for Vietnam to follow China?s recent advance and mount a competitive challenge to the established Asian shipbuilding nations. However Nguyen Quoc Anh, director of…

Lua Cheng Eng, former chairman of Singapore-based shipping company Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), has pretty much seen it all. Over his nearly 33 years in NOL and shipping, he has witnessed the…

The Straits of Malacca is one of the world?s busiest waterways. Not surprisingly, therefore, the issue of navigational safety through the Straits remains a hot topic. A major subject of discussion today…

The Philippine Maritime Industry Cluster has outlined an action plan aimed at maintaining the global competitiveness of the country?s seafarers as well as it shipping and marine businesses.The Cluster comprises the Philippine…

Pioneering spirit transcends through generations. If The Motor Ship owes its existence to any one company, Italian shipping line Mediterranea di Navigazione is a definite contender.In 1910, Giorgio Cagnoni, the great grandfather…

Great American Lines Inc (GALI), pioneer of the two-way traffic concept on its transpacific service between the US and Japan based on cars and citrus fruit, has, earlier this year, received delivery…

Earlier this year the Waterhuizen shipyard in Groningen, the Netherlands, delivered a gas tanker with a collision resistant hull to which the hull designer attaches the bold adjective unsinkable. The ship, for…

There are numerous national and international codes that recommend and, in some cases, demand that noise levels are kept below certain limits. This applies not just to noise levels outside a ship…

A top five position is sought. The break has been made into the top ten. But Marseilles-based CMA CGM must still increase fleet capacity by more than 50%, without overstretching itself financially,…

Bureau Veritas is involved in a number of Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) studies that include the EC projects Nereus and Safety First for stability safety and fire safety of passenger roros respectively,…

Delmas, the Le Havre based shipping line, will this month take delivery of the third in a three ship series of 1,641 TEU container ships. The ships, Elisa Delmas, Flora Delmas and…

French owner GIE Dragages Ports has taken delivery of a hopper dredger with electric propulsion. The 5,000m3 trailing suction hopper dredger was built at Spanish shipbuilding group Izar?s yard in Gijon, northern…

Spanish shipbuilder Izar has secured another valuable ferry order in the shape of a ropax to be operated by Strandfaraskip Landsins (SSL), the state-owned shipping company of the Faroe Islands. This ferry…

The growth of Korea into the world?s leading shipbuilding nation has not troubled Europe?s critical equipment manufacturers. Korea?s shipyards have largely bought their steel and other non-critical components locally while relying on…

The government and the shipyard marketing departments may be anxious to connect the future of Korean shipbuilding with high value ships, but the reality of today is that much of the shipyards?…

The Korean Register of Shipping (KR) has extended its port state control pre-inspection service to ships scheduled to call at European ports.Relatively poor performance of KR-registered ships in USCG statistics for 1999…