General News

KPN, Royal Dutch Telecom of the Netherlands and Telstra of Australia are to merge their global mobile satellite communication businesses. KPN will hold 65 per cent of the shares with Telstra holding…

Following the S$167 million ($99 million) cash purchase of Keppel Marine Industries? marine-related businesses by Keppel Hitachi Zosen, the group has made 132 if its 3,314 workers redundant. The redundancies are spread…

Although the Kelvin Hughes Manta integrated bridge system uses flat screen technology the company says it can also be fitted to standard consoles of commercial vessels where type approved displays would replace…

Holland America Line (HAL), part of Carnival Corporation, has signed an agreement with Italian shipyard Fincantieri for the construction of two new 84,000g cruise vessels which are expected to enter service in…

R C Marine has introduced the ISAS CDP-4000 series of integrated steering control and autopilot systems. These combine the company`s ISAC CDP-3000 series and Coretec`s autopilot. The company says this system will…

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd has signed a letter of intent with Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, to build the third and fourth Vantage-class vessels for Royal Caribbean International. The total price…

Classification society Bureau Veritas has presented its first three fully operational chemical cargo management systems to tanker operators Van Ommeren Tankers, Marphocean and Vinalmar. Called VeriSTAR Chemical it is a PC-based management…

As anticipated, Aida Cruises, in which P&O Cruises now has a 51 per cent stake, has agreed an order with Aker MTW in Germany for cruise ship newbuildings in the form of…

Two new Vantage-class cruise ships under construction at the Meyer Werft yard for Royal Caribbean are to get integrated bridge systems from Litton Marine. The ships are scheduled for delivery early this…

Kvaerner Fjelltrand in Singapore has been awarded two new orders for its well known 40m FlyingCat passenger catamaran ferry by the State Treasury Department in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Valued at close to…

The UK?s Fleet Support Ltd (FSL) has won its first offshore conversion project. The 30,000dwt crude carrier Blue Star is being converted into a floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO) for deployment…

MAN B&W has orders for 20 of its K98 engines for container ship propulsion, half of which are 12-cylinder units - which at 68.6MW (93,270 bhp) will be the world?s most powerful…

Keppel Hitachi Zosen Group (KHZ) has completed the purchase of Keppel Marine Industries marine related businesses for approximately S$167 million ($99.97 million), and is rationalising operations to remain competitive. Headcount has been…

Cargill International has recorded fuel savings of up to 10.25 per cent following the retrofitting of Sistemar CLT propellers to its panamax bulkers Powhatan and Paiute. The savings were calculated from March…

Croatia?s Viktor Lenac has entered into an agreement to purchase another floating dock, increasing capacity at its yard in Rijeka. The aframax floating dock will be much larger than the yard?s two…

Caterpillar has extended the use of its hydraulic electronic unit injectors (HEUI) to the 3400 and 3200 series engines. The system uses a hydraulic intensifier that magnifies the force of the high…

Privatisation of the Astilleros Espanoles group repair yard Astander was finalised on November 16. The Santander yard has been sold to the Greek group Lavinia Italmar, which also owns the Astican yard…

Shipping is now the second largest export earner in Denmark. Generally speaking, the Danish shipowning community is in good shape, says Jan Fritz Hansen, a director at the Danish Shipowners Association with…

Finn-filter has introduced an automatic back flushing HFO unit capable of handling up to 200 lit/min of hot fuel. The unit can be fitted to either the hot or cold side of…

Bahrain?s ASRY passed a significant milestone with last year?s drydocking and repairs to Red Band 138,557 dwt tanker Knock Dun, the 2000th vessel handled by the yard since it started operations in…

Establishing agreed performance standards may prevent manufacturers from making misleading claims. Proving that one machine is better than another has often been fraught with difficulties. Yet it has always been important in…

Baudouin has added the 6R123 engine to its range ? a slightly smaller version of its 6R124. The straight-six 123 is based on a Mack truck engine, has a swept volume of…

The largest capacity all-reefer container ships in the world have been delivered to Dole Fresh Fruit from HDW, Germany. Two examples of a new class of open top all-reefer container ship with…