Early Christmas presents don’t please all!

Last week saw two early Christmas presents for companies in the cruise and ferry business; one very welcome, the other no so! Carnival Corp’s early present to Rolls-Royce Marine was write in a Florida court for US $100m damages for ongoing problems with the complex podded propulsion system onboard Cunard’s flagship QM2. The world’s leading cruise operator is alleging ‘fraud and conspiracy.’ This isn’t the first time that there have been problems with the Mermaid podded propulsion system, RCCL took the manufacturers to court over problems with the pods fitted to Celebrity’s four Millennium-class vessels. Both parties settled out of court.

A more welcomed early Christmas present last week was the gift of two state-of-the-art high speed passenger/vehicle ferries from the Government of Saudi Arabia to the Government of Egypt. Both 37 knot vessels, built in Australia, will significantly improve the comfort of passengers travelling across the Red Sea between the Egyptian port of Safaga and Dibba in Saudi, as well as the reliability of the service. Sphere: Related Content

Carnival sues Rolls-Royce over QM2 pod problems

Carnival Corp, parent of Cunard Line, is suing propulsion system specialists’ Rolls-Royce/Converteam for US $100m over ongoing problems with the Mermaid podded propulsion system used propel QM2.

In a law suite filed in Florida last week, carnival alleges ‘fraud and conspiracy.’ Carnival is looking to recover mullions of $s in damages to compensate for repair costs and other losses incurred by ongoing propulsion with the ship’s four main propulsion pods.

Carnival claims that the pod system never performed as promised and further alleges that Rolls-Royce/Converteam are guilty of ‘fraudulent and conspirational’ acts. QM2 has been plagued by propulsion pod problems ever since being delivered by the then Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire in 2004. She is the first cruise ship to be powered by four propulsion pods; two fixed units and two azimuthing pods.

Carnival says that Rolls-Royce and Converteam knew that each time they pretended to fix a failed pod it would, in fact, break down again because in reality they had no solution whatsoever for the complex design and manufacturing defects plaguing the Mermaids installed on QM2, nor did they want to incur the cost of undertaking a complete redesign.

The problems with QM2’s pods relate to the lifetime of the bearings in each pod. Rolls-Royce/Converteam claim that each bearing should have a service life of between 15 and 20 years. In reality, says Carnival, Cunard is changing bearing every three years.

Commenting on the pod problems, Mickey Arison, chairman of Carnival said: ‘It will be very embarrassing to Rolls-Royce if this is not resolved. And expensive.’

This is not the first time that Mermaid pods have had problems with cruise ships. RCCL sued Rolls-Royce for problems with the pods on Celebrity’s four Millennium-class vessels. Sphere: Related Content

Fred Olsen looks to start new fast ferry routes in the Canaries

Ferry operator Fred Olsen is looking at starting new fast ferry services in the Canaries. The company is looking to operate a new service linking three ports on the island of La Gomera: Valle Gran Rey, Playa Santiago and San Sebestian de La Gomera, with the major tourist island of Tenerife.

Fred Olsen is also looking at operating a new fast ferry service between the island of Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, the latter is currently served by a conventional ferry, making he trip in four hours. However, the planned fast ferry would make the trip in around one and a half hours. The port used on Fuerteventura would be Morro Lable on the south coast of the island.

Meanwhile, Fred Olsen’s fast ferry Bonanza Express ran aground last week while on its regular service between La Gomera and the port of Los Christanos. All 175 passenger and crew were safely rescued. Sphere: Related Content

Spanish ferry operator orders at home

Spanish ferry operator Naviera Armas has ordered four new Ro-Pax’s with the Vigo shipyard of H.J. Barreras. The first two of the 1,500 passenger capacity, 26 knot vessels, will be delivered in February and May 2010, with the remaining two vessels following in January and May 2011. Sphere: Related Content

Expedition ship grounds in Antarctica

The small Argentine expedition cruise ship Ushuaia ran aground last week while on an Antarctic cruise. All 84 passengers were rescued safety by the Chilean Navy. The 1970-built ship, formerly a research vessel operated by the US’ National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ran aground at the entrance to Wilhelmina Bay, near Cape Anna. Sphere: Related Content

P&O Cruises fits new balcony cabins to Arcadia

During her first major refit since being delivered from Italy’s Fincantieri in April 2005, P&O Cruises’ 1,996 passenger capacity Arcadia is receiving 34 new cabins with balconies during her refit at Germany’s Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven. The new passenger cabins are all located on the ship’s stern

When Arcadia returns to service on 20 December, the vessel will feature an enlarged deck area around the Aquarius Pool, which will feature a new bar, a 30-seater cinema, which replaces the ship’s existing Cyb@Study internet area, revamped Photo Gallery, new carpets, soft furnishing etc.

Following a Christmas cruise, Arcadia will depart on her first 101 Grand Voyage in the New Year. Sphere: Related Content

Austal delivers new fast ferries for Saudi Arabia-Egypt service

Australian fast ferry specialist Austal has delivered two high speed passenger vehicle ferries to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which have been offered as a gift to the Egyptian Government. Both vessels, Riyadh and Cairo, will operate on the service across the Red Sea, linking the Saudi port of Dibba with Safaga in Egypt, cutting the crossing time for the 100 nautical mile service to six hours.

Both 88m vessels can each carry 1,200 passenger, 120 cars and 15 trucks. Propulsion comes from four MTU 20V8000 M71R diesel engines, each developing 7,200kW at 1,150 rev/min (reduced output) and driving KaMeWa waterjets. Service speed is 37 knots.

Austal is also building two 69m passenger/vehicle ferries for Saudi Arabia, with delivery set for the middle of 2009. Sphere: Related Content

No Japanese newbuildings for Carnival

The Carnival Corp will not be building two newbuilding cruise ships at Japan’s Mitsubishi heavy Industries. Talks between the two parties have been underway for months for two 1,000 passenger capacity vessels for delivery in 2013 and 2014. However, due to the global recession and both companies not being able to agree on the price for the ships, the deal has been shelved for the time being. Sphere: Related Content

Rolls-Royce Marine sued by carnival over QM2’s problem propulsion pods

Carnival Corp, parent of Cunard, is suing Rolls-Royce Marine over the continuing problems with the Mermaid propulsion pods fitted to Cunard’s QM2. Sphere: Related Content

TEAM in major Spanish passenger boarding bridge contracts

One of the world’s leading designers and suppliers of passenger boarding bridges for cruise ships and ferries, Spain’s TEAM, has secured more contracts at domestic cruise ship ports.

The Barcelona-based company has just secured a contract from Malaga Cruceros SA to deliver in the spring of 2009 two of its Pegasus-type of passenger boarding bridges for the Estacion Maritima de Levante cruise terminal in the port of Malaga.

This new cruise terminal has been in operation for just under 12 months and handled 270 cruise calls and 335,000 passengers in 2008, and increase of 14.5% on figures for 2007.

Earlier this year TEAM delivered a single Pegasus passenger boarding bridge for the south berth of the new Malaga cruise terminal. Summer 2009 will see the completion of the construction of the north berth, where the two recently ordered bridges will be located.

Meanwhile, in a separate contract, TEAM is to design and supply a new type of passenger boarding bridge for Creuers del Port de Barcelona. Named the Creuers Barcelona-class of bridge, the two units will be delivered in the summer of 2009 and is designed to fit the largest cruise ship in the world, RCCL’s Oasis of the Seas. The large new passenger boarding bridges will operate at the A & B cruise terminals on the Adossado Quay in Barcelona.

One of the main design challenges for TEAM in the design of the Creuers Barcelona-class of bridge is the 6m clearance that needs to be provided for the overhanging lifeboats of Oasis of the Seas and her sisters. Sphere: Related Content

Louis to review cruise routes following revenue drop

Cyprus-based cruise ship and hotel operator Louis is to review its cruise routes following the Group dropping into the red during the first nine months of 2008. Cruises account for 72% of the Group’s revenue.

Louis attributes the weaker cruise performance to reduced activity in the winter period, giving fewer ships and passengers, and the negative affect of weaker rates of the $ and the $ versus the €. Around 60% of all Louis’ passengers for cruises out of Piraeus come from the US. Sphere: Related Content

Port of Heraklion feature a new port policy

The Port of Heraklion is the main and most modern gateway for the transport of passengers and commodities on the island of Crete. Furthermore, it is one of the ten major Greek ports with national importance (apart from the Thessalonica Port Authority and the Piraeus Port Authority). Port of Heraklion ranks 3rd in the passenger and goods transportation in Greece.

The Port Authority has a new port policy for the Cruise Shipping and our port already functions as a Base Port for Cruise Ships – in co-operation with the Heraklion Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”. Our goal in the future planning is to operate a New Cruise Terminal with a New Passenger Station.

The Passenger Port serves 1,9 million people and over 310.000 vehicles annually. It possesses modern infrastructure while, at the same time, the existing good road network makes it easily accessible from the town, the Airport and the National road. The Passenger Port operates at Piers I and II, while the conversion of Pier III (currently Commercial Port) into a Cruise Terminal is also being planned.

There also exist two Passenger Terminals. The second one in pier II, which is the newest, stretches for 2,500 m2, and has modern facilities and equipment. In the future plan of the port is a third passenger terminal in pier III that will cater for the cruisers visiting.

From this year, the west side of the Pier III (currently Commercial Port) operates for the Cruise Ships.

It is already known that Heraklion is a historic city with a lot of physical and ancient views (like Knossos Palace, Historic Museum, Festos Palace etc) and is in the destination for Cruise routes in the Mediterranean Sea.

In that respect we can say that the cruise activity of Heraklion Port consist a business core activity in the development process of the Port Authority.

As I say above, the Port of Heraklion operates as a base port in cooperation with the airport of Heraklion, ‘’Nikos Kazantzakis’’. It is the only port in Greece that, in collaboration with the Airport Authorities, has the right to do the Check-in and Check-out of passengers at the New Passenger Station, giving the transit cruise travellers the chance to utilize the time in between until their departure from the airport.

The system of check – in, check – out among others offers:

1) Scanning x-rays machinery.
2) Passenger’s magnetic gate.
3) Exclusive use of anteroom in the New Passenger Station.
4) Use of place from shipping companies for passenger control.
5) Presence of Doctor during the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers.

Furthermore, the Port Authority offers a free issue of a city map and free transfer inside the port with bus.

The port will be soon under the compliance of the ISPS code. From the 1st August will put into practice the security measures for the Olympic Games which will give a great security to all passengers, cruise and commercial ships.

Geographic Location of the port
The harbour is located in the centre of Crete, on the North side of the island. It consists the main entrance - exit gate of both the town and the port. It lies in close proximity to the centre of the town and has a very good road network linking it with:

· The town of Heraklion

· The airport ‘’Nikos Kazantzakis’

· The new National Road (N.R. 90) – North Road Axis of Crete

Its location is extremely advantageous as the Port is situated in the centre of the south- eastern Mediterranean, thus in the junction of three continents.

· Latitude: 35.16N.

· Longitude: 25.10E.

· Sea Map: 1707.

Services
Without question the largest and more effective Port Agent and Tour Operator in Crete for the Cruise Industry is Commodore Travel. Highly specialized in their function, Commmdore Travel offer a top quality, attentive service to Cruise Lines and in addition to leading Companies in the Travel sector. Sphere: Related Content

‘The Ultimate Ship Tour' - are you ready to join an excirsion?

Due to serious technical problems at the editorial office of ‘Off Radar’ last week we were unable to bring you ‘Off Radar’. I apologise for the inconvenience. ‘Off Radar’ is now back up and running.

One of the most contentious points on a cruise today is the pestering by passengers to visit the bridge and other areas off limits to passengers, such as the engineroom, galley etc. While many cruise lines allow limited passenger access to the bridge, and some upmarket lines with small vessels offer an ‘open’ bridge policy, it’s just not possible on today’s Mega ships to have a continuous procession of passengers traipsing over the bridge, getting in the way of the deck officers and crew going about the operation of the vessel. There are a number of health and safety issues to be considered when passengers visit the bridge, as well as insurance issues, if something goes wrong. This is why it’s almost impossible to visit a ship’s engineroom today. However, Princess Cruises have come up with a novel answer to the continuing requests from passenger to visit the bridge and other ‘off limits’ areas. When its latest ship, Ruby Princess, enters service this November, passengers will have the opportunity to visit what the line calls ‘back of house’ areas that are normally off limits to all but the crew. Passenger will be able to join the three hour ‘The Ultimate Ship Tour’, which takes in not only the bridge but also the engine control room, medical centre, print shop, laundry, photo lab and other areas. The tour will be offered once or twice a cruise on a sea day for a limited number of passengers. Princess Cruises will also be offering this tour on the rest of its fleet. However, there is a catch. If you want to undertake ‘The Ultimate Ship Tour’ it will cost you $110!

Branding is a very important area for cruise lines. However, those involved in branding can get carried away slightly by the importance of it, or lack of importance, to the passengers undertaking a cruise. There’s an awful lot of drivel written about why a cruise line has developed a new brand image or company logo, with the marketing and graphic design departments waxing lyrical about the ‘thinking’ behind the new design. This was brought home to me last week when it was announced that the very successful Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention, held annually on Miami Beach, was being re-branded. Apparently the existing diamond logo doesn’t acknowledge the bond between the show and its location. From 2009 the show will be renamed ‘Cruise Shipping Miami.’ According to the show organisers, CMP Information, ‘the new corporate design evokes water without competing with the numerous cruise and ocean images used in business. It positions the show on the industry side, serving all sectors from shipbuilding through services, technology, operations and destinations. The graphic elements reflects rippling water imagery, while a C and concentric circles locate the event at the centre of the industry, Miami, underlined in the show tagline: ‘Home Port of the cruise Industry.’ Great stuff! But does anyone give at toss? Sphere: Related Content

New life for QE2?

November this year will see the end of the line, in terms of maritime service, for arguably the world’s most famous passenger ship, Cunard’s venerable QE2. She is off to a new life in the Emirate of Dubai, as a floating hotel that will be part of the massive new Palm Jumeirah development. But still there remains much secrecy about her last few months with Cunard and any planned send-off celebrations. Much more secrecy surrounds what her new owners, Dubai World, have planned for the vessel. Some of the reports that I’ve received from Dubai are slightly worrying, especially for the many thousands of QE2 devotees in the UK, US and elsewhere, and contradict what Dubai World’s chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said when it was announced that Dubai had bought the ship from Carnival for US 100m. ‘Dubai is a maritime nation and we understand the rich heritage of QE2. She is coming to a home where she will be cherished,’ he said. However, some of the plans that I’ve heard about for the ship in Dubai are a bit tacky. I hear that the ship’s iconic funnel will be taken ashore and used as the entrance to the new hotel, being replaced by a glass replica that also houses a Penthouse Suite. Furthermore, a number of additional decks with Balcony Suites will be added to the upper deck of the ship. Meanwhile, as QE2 won’t be sailing off anymore, her diesel engines are to be taken out and sold off to power pumping stations in Dubai and Panama. Not exactly the ending that many in the industry had hoped for the vessel. Sentiment shouldn’t come into hard-nosed business decisions, I know. But you only have to look around Dubai at present to see what Dubai classes as forward thinking designs in terms of hotels, leisure resorts etc; tacky Las Vegas-style developments. I wonder what Cunard’s chairman Sir John Brocklebank, who signed the contract to build QE2 at John Brown, Clydebank, would say if he could see what’s about to happen to his baby? Sphere: Related Content

Enjoy your cruise!

For a cruise to be a success, it’s not just only the voyage that has to go right, everything needs to be on the ball from embarkation, through the cruise, shore excursions, and finally disembarkation and onward connections, especially with regard to fly-cruises. This was brought to mind last week when I had a drink with a cruise ship photographer friend of mine who had just returned with his wife from an Alaskan fly-cruise with Princess Cruises. The cruise aboard Diamond Princess was excellent, said my friend. However, the experience started going down hill as soon as they disembarked to make the journey back to the UK. They left the ship in Whittier and were taken by coach to the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage for an overnight stay before flying from Anchorage to London, via Seattle the next morning. Their baggage had left the ship separately for the hotel. As they couldn’t check-in to their hotel until nearly five hours after arriving in Anchorage they were taken to Princess Cruises’ Hospitality Centre, but as all bays for parking coaches were occupied their bus had to make three trips ‘around the block’. During these trips they passed their hotel and noticed that all of their bags were outside in the heavy rain, it was only on the third pass that a tarpaulin had been placed over the bags. By then the damage had been done! When they got to their room in the hotel they found that all clothing in the bags was soaking wet! Complaints where made to the hotel who ‘were not interested.’ The following morning after boarding the coach to take them to Anchorage Airport for their Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle they were told that the flight had been cancelled due to ‘technical’ reasons. However, some passenger had said that they had been told about the cancellation the night before. My friend, who spent many years as a senior executive in the airline industry, said that if this was the case why hadn’t there been any contingency plans made? This question was met with a zero response from Princess Cruises’ staff, with one of them saying that their responsibility ended with delivering the passengers to the airport! On arrival at Anchorage Airport the 40 plus group of passengers who were returning to London were put on the next flight to Seattle but missed their connection to London. Although they were all put on the next London flight, nearly three hours later, many people missed onward connection in London. The cruise experience should be a seamless positive experience. It’s no good offering just the good experience at sea, if the land-side operations fail abysmally. Sphere: Related Content

"In-House" Marine Operations, as Credit Crunch sinks in

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One of the results of the continuing credit crunch globally is that a number of cruise liens are looking at the marine and technical management of their fleets, especially if they outsource this work to a ship management company. Having direct control of the technical and hotel side of a ship’s operation can result in noticeable savings. So it’s been something of a bad week or two for leading cruise ship management specialist V. Ships Leisure which has lost major contracts with luxury brands Oceania and Seabourn. Seabourn believes that by bringing its ship management operation in-house it can achieve greater efficiency as well as having greater control of its marine and technical operations. Oceania, which has two newbuildings underway in Italy, believes that having its ship management operations in-house will bring in ‘economies of scale.’ The decision by both operators to drop V. Ships Leisure is not believed to be a reflection of the level of service provided by the Monaco-based specialist.

Staying with Oceania, the line’s boss Frank Del Rio, who heads up parent Prestige Cruise Holdings, has been giving some insight into the company’s first ever newbuilding. Marina, as she will be named, is set to enter service in September 2010. Frank said that Marina’s interior will be ‘transitional and eclectic, warm not load. The look won’t be English, but more elegant.’ Ouch! Sphere: Related Content

The thorny problem of smoking onboard Cruise ships

The thorny problem of smoking onboard cruise ships has raised its head again this week with the news that British operator is to ban smoking inside on three of its vessels from October this year. However, those who must smoke will be allocated designated smoking areas on deck and, incredibly, will be allowed to smoke on their cabin balconies, if they have one! I’m a non-smoker and recently travelled in a balcony cabin on a newly-delivered cruise ship. The balcony experience was never great because of the constant stench of cigarettes from cabins next door, above and below, even though you weren’t supposed to smoke on the balconies! I was also recently aboard a small, luxury-brand vessel, having a look around. While passenger through the casino and then into the show lounge the smell of cigarette smoke was overpowering, even though the Hotel Director insisted that the ship was non-smoking inside. Most non-smokers have a very sensitive ‘nose’ for smokers! I appreciate that those who have to smoke should be allowed to – but not to the detriment of non-smokers. Not only is there a health problem with smoking, not just aboard ship, but also a safety one. Perhaps one way to get around the problem is for owners to offer ‘smoking’ and ‘non-smoking’ ships. But perhaps that’s just a pipe dream!

Read this weeks articles @ www.offradar.info Sphere: Related Content

Cruise credit crunch

It was only a matter of time before the global credit crunch impacted on the cruise industry. Last week leading cruise line RCCL announced that as part of its cost savings programme 400 shore-side jobs would go. With record fuel prices being paid by cruise lines there is only so much you can do to cut fuel consumption. So the axe had to fall on some of the company’s people. I wonder which line will be next in a major personnel culling exercise? Sphere: Related Content

Difficult times for Cruise & Ferry operators

Upmarket cruise line Silversea is feeling the pinch at the moment. Not only is it being hit hard by rocketing bunker prices, but the slow down of the US economy is hitting it hard in passenger numbers, as more than half of its customers come from the US. Added to this is the fact that it’s having problems recruiting and holding onto quality staff. Not a good state of affairs for a company that’s investing US $500m in a new ship and refits for two of its fleet. I wonder how many other luxury brands are in the same situation.

The lot of the humble ferry foot-passenger has not been an easy one in recent years as car/coach passengers rule the roost on many routes, particularly in Northern Europe. So it comes a no surprise to hear that French cross-channel operator SeaFrance won’t be carrying foot-passengers aboard its latest vessel, SeaFrance Moliere, when she comes into service, hopefully, at the end of July on the busy Dover-Calais run. The former Mediterranean ferry is completing a delayed £12m refit in Dunkirk to enable her to meet the demands of her new route, being equipped with new facilities for car and coach passengers, as well as freight drivers. However, it seems that there’s not enough money in the pot to fit her with foot-passenger boarding doors! The ferry operator says that only three per cent of its loadings on the Dover-Calais run are foot-passengers. So I guess that they will have to use rival operator P&O Ferries instead. Sphere: Related Content

Cruise ship naming going overboard!

It seems that today the major cruise lines are all trying to outdo each other when it comes to naming new ships. In the old days a ‘celebrity’ was chosen and a bottle of good champagne was broken over the bow. Not any more it seems! Recent cruise ship christenings have seen events akin to Broadway Shows or the official opening ceremonies of the Olympics or football World Cup. Today, it’s the done thing to have a world famous celebrity, even if many people don’t know who they are, or Royalty, as was the case with HAL and it’s new Eurodam. The exception here was RCCL which choose an ordinary British woman to name there new Independence of the Seas. The latest ship naming took place last week in the UK port of Dover where Carnival Cruise Line’s 113,000grt Carnival Splendour was named by British classical musician and singer Myleene Klaas. Not to be outdone by P&O Cruises, who choose Dame Helen Mirran to name their latest vessel Ventura earlier this year and had two Royal Marine Commando’s abseiling down the ship to break the bottle of champagne, Carnival decided to use a Royal Navy clearance diver to rise stealth-like from the sea, climb a 60ft rope up the ship’s bow to break the bottle – not champagne this time but a bottle of English sparking wine! The signal for the diver to emerge from the deep was provided by a radio signal when Myleene Klaas started playing a classical rendition of Rod Stewart’s famous song ‘Sailing’. All very ‘James Bondish’. Am I the only one out there who thinks that cruise ship naming are going slightly overboard? No pun intended! Sphere: Related Content