General News

Stratos has re-launched Inmarsat-A services with the inauguration of a fully digital system which it says gives enhanced call quality and data throughput. The company is also offering over 40 per cent…

On March 9, Carnival signed a letter of intent with French yard Chantiers de l?Atlantique for the $700 million contract to build Cunard?s giant cruise ship, now named Queen Mary 2 (See…

An impressed current cathodic protection system from BAC Corrosion Control is to be used to provide long-term corrosion protection for the 86m gas turbine powered aluminium hulled catamaran Austal Auto Express 86,…

Labroy Shipbuilding & Engineering has been awarded ISO 9002 accreditation by ABS. It is the first shipyard in Batam, Indonesia to receive this certification.Labroy repaired a record number of non-group vessels in…

Princess Cruises, the subsidiary of P&O, has confirmed that it has awarded a contract to build two 113,000g cruise ships to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in Japan (see Cruise).The newbuildings, which should…

Dalseide Shipping Services has developed a machine designed for de-scaling and cleaning outer pipe surfaces in a 360deg single operation. Called Rustibus Pipe it has a capacity of up to 25 m/hr…

AESA repair yard Astilleros de Cadiz has started converting the 7,000 dwt supply vessel Viking Lady into a cable layer for Norwegian owner Eidesvik & Co.The vessel is being lengthened from 92.4m…

Cruise companies confirm their confidence in the future by continuing to expand their operations, particularly in the Caribbean.According to figures compiled by G P Wild (International) for the last quarter of 1999,…

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has signed a letter of intent for two more Eagle class cruise ships from Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Finland (see Cruise).These ships would be the fourth and fifth in the…

PBE says the latest version of its AutoLog AL20 programmable logic controller gives a higher specification with bigger power and performance on a smaller footprint. It is mounted on a printed circuit…

In spite of a tough market Lisnave managed to attract 132 vessels to its yards for repair in 1999; a 12% increase on 1998. Total deadweight tonnage increased by 5% to over…

Short-term uncertainty dogs shipping sector

Struggling German shipyard Kvaerner Warnow Werft has been awarded an order for a pair of 2,524 TEU container ships based on its CV2500 design.Due to be delivered in the first half of…

A new web site designed to help engineers and maintenance professionals find solutions to problems in vessel mothballing, industrial lay-ups or corrosion prevention is available at: www.protec-inc.com.The site shows the evolution of…

Sweden?s Celsius group has sold its wholly-owned Gothenburg repair yard Gotaverken Cityvarvet to the Damen Shipyards Group. "The sale is consistent with Celsius? policy for strategic consolidation," a company statement advised, "and…

Emissions heat MEPC debate

Daewoo Heavy Industries (Daewoo) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in Korea are to share an order for a total of ten 6,700 TEU post-panamax container ships from Mediterranean Shipping Company.Due to be…

Berendsen says it supplies its new range of Lynx hydraulic power units with valves mounted and tested, the unit painted, mountings designed-in, lifting eyes provided and, optionally, the motor wired to a…

1999 pre-tax profit at restructured Keppel Philippines Marine improved by 20% to P93 million ($2.27 million). Revenue was up by over 90% to P774 million ($18.9 million), as a result of the…

Electronics is changing the dependence of low-speed engines on mechanical control. By far the biggest changes to effect the low-speed engine is the addition of electronic ?intelligence?. This offers increased flexibility, reduced…

Crystal Cruises has announced its intention to build a third cruise ship, similar in character and size to its two existing ships, the 48,621g, 950 passenger Crystal Harmony, built by Mitsubishi Heavy…

Hamworthy KSE has signed a contract with Guangzhou Shipyard to supply cargo access equipment for two 4,700 dwt, 1,600 lane-metre roro vessels currently under construction for Rederi AB Gotland. The company will…

Container vessel MSC Giovanna went into Dorbyl?s Durban yard for damage repairs following a collision with bulk carrier Decurion off Cape Town in January.The container vessel suffered severe damage to the bulbous…