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…

Navtec has developed a portable emergency Inmarsat-E beacon that weighs less than 1,200g. Called the navtec epirb global-3 it has an alerting time of approximately three minutes and contains a GPS receiver…

Poseidon, the interactive ship structure dimensioning application from Germanischer Lloyd, has been upgraded. Now called Poseidon ND, it has been given a set of new features and a new user-friendly interface, says…

Alaska Tanker Company (ATC) and Cascade General have signed an alliance agreement for the maintenance and repair of ATC?s fleet of Alaska North slope tankers, formalising a longstanding relationship between the two…

Blohm+Voss Repair has won a seven ship block booking from Yangming Marine Transport Corporation. The contract, which is valued at up to DM10 million ($5.3 million), covers routine drydocking, maintenance and repairs…

Remontowa, Poland?s leading repair yard, has achieved ISO 9001 quality certification. Certificates were awarded by both Lloyd?s Register and the Polish Register of Shipping in January. Certification covers the design and building…

Belgian underwater repair specialist Hydrex has carried out the first underwater repair to a lip-type sterntube seal. Having successfully developed techniques for underwater repairs to face-type seals, the company has been testing…

Permanent repairs to the 10,584g reefer Dole America are being completed at Hamburg?s Bredo yard following temporary work at Fleet Support (FSL) in the UK. The vessel sustained hull damage in collision…

Norwegian offshore operator Havila Supply is converting supply vessel Havila Reel into a cable layer for charter to the Alcatel group. The vessel, which was built to the UT705 design and subsequently…

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…

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…

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…

Passenger ferry operators in the EU are counting the cost in lost revenue following the demise of duty free sales in the middle of last year. Across the European Union, ferry companies…

The IMO may have handed engine manufacturers a virtual monopoly on spare parts and reconditioning. Shipowners with engines complying to the IMO?s NOx code may find their sources of spare parts and…

As the year ends, Kvaerner has failed to meet its deadline for disposing of its 13 yards and has only sold three (Leirvik, Kleven and Govan). A spokesman for the company says…

An independent Norwegian Cruise Line will order one ship per year says Geir Aune, president and ceo of NCL Holdings ASA. Speaking in a press conference he said that the company?s bid…

Liberia, Algeria and Poland have been voted off the 32-state IMO Council for 2000 - 2001 to be replaced by the Bahamas, Malta and Morocco. As Liberia?s register is the second largest…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…