Royal Caribbean has unveiled new design details for what is set to be the world's largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas.The 250,800 GT vessel, the first in Royal Caribbean's new Icon-class, is being built by Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku, who began construction in June. First announced in 2016, the mega cruise ship is scheduled for delivery in October or November 2023.
A Romanian Navy vessel hit a drifting mine it was trying to defuse in bad weather on Thursday, but the crew of 75 were unharmed by the explosion, the defense ministry said.Mines began floating in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, and Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish military diving teams have been defusing those drifting in their waters.
Russia is to spend almost 1.8 trillion roubles ($30 billion) on the Northern Sea Route development project up to 2035, according to a document uploaded to the government's website.The document said the sea route, which is being facilitated by reduced sea ice as a result of climate change, is "a very important transport corridor, of both national and global significance".
The number of containers being lost overboard from ships at sea has been on the rise, according to a recent report from the World Shipping Council (WSC).In 2021, international liner carriers’ onshore staff and crews managed 6,300 ships, successfully delivering vital supplies worth $7 trillion to the people of the world, in approximately 241 million containers.
Several hundred mines have drifted into the Black Sea after breaking off from cables near Ukrainian ports, Russia's main intelligence agency and shipping market participants said.The Black Sea is a major shipping artery for grain, oil, and oil products."Due to storm weather, the cables connecting the mines to anchors were broken," Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB)
The world’s most famous luxury yacht is operating an advanced BIO-SEA ballast water treatment system from France’s BIO-UV Group.Christina O, the 1943-built motor yacht named after the only daughter of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, was fitted with a low-flow BIO-SEA system last year as part of a major refurbishment at the D.K Fotinakis yard, in Greece.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will convene a special meeting next week to discuss the risks to seafarers and ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UN’s shipping agency said on Friday.Over 15 countries earlier this week called for an IMO meeting as concerns grow for the safety of ships and their crews amid ships being damaged by projectiles.
Over 15 countries have called for a special meeting with the UN’s shipping agency to discuss the safety of ships and their crews sailing through the Black Sea and Sea of Azov after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing dangers to vessels.Many shipping firms have suspended sailings to affected Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine.
When Russia attacked Ukraine, the nearest naval vessel of a major NATO ally was in the Mediterranean. The last such ship from a major naval member of the Western military alliance left the Black Sea – an area roughly the size of California bordering Russia, Ukraine and NATO members Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania – over a month ago.
Russian warships entered the Barents Sea on Wednesday to rehearse protecting a major shipping lane in the Arctic, its Northern Fleet said on Wednesday, as Moscow stages sweeping military exercises involving all of its fleets.Russian military moves are being closely watched by the West at a time when a troop build-up near its border with Ukraine has sparked fears of a conflict.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd has paused some of its cruise operations amid rising numbers of COVID-19 infections due to the Omicron variant.The sailings of three ships - Serenade of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas - have been paused while the return of its Vision of the Seas to cruising has been postponed to March 7, 2022, the cruise line said in a statement on Friday.
Students from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) are set to resume at sea training with new safety measures in place following a temporary pause due to sexual assault and harassment concerns. The U.S. federal maritime academy’s Sea Year training program, which typically consists of a sailing period during a cadet’s sophomore year and a longer sailing period during a cadet’s junior year