As marine operators and euipment manufacturers continue to explore alternative marine fuels as a means to help lower vessel emissions, technology group Wärtsilä said it has initiated combustion trials using ammonia.As part of the tests, ammonia was injected into a combustion research unit to better understand its properties.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said that major cruise lines would suspend cruises for 30 days, following a series of industry announcements that came after repeated transmission of coronavirus among passengers at sea.“At my request, effective midnight tonight, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC have all agreed to suspend outbound cruises for thirty days,” Trump said on Twitter.
Several major cruise operators have voluntarily suspended operations in response to the developing coronavirus pandemic. For most, the reason given has been "an abundance of caution".On Wednesday, Viking became the first major cruise line to temporarily suspend operations, canceling all river and ocean cruises scheduled to embark between March 12 to April 30.
There was important cruise news in January: Viking – a premier European ocean and river cruise company - will offer two new “destination-focused travel experiences,” starting in 2022. One set of cruises becomes Viking’s first foray in the inland North American market, in this case the Great Lakes. Another set of cruises will head to the Arctic and Antarctica.
Army veteran-turned-Royal Caribbean Cruise Line founder Edwin W. Stephan passed away on Friday at 87 years old."We at Royal Caribbean mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to the Stephan family," said a statement from the global cruise company said.In 1969 Stephan founded the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and his contributions helped create the modern cruise industry we know today.
Hungarian salvage crews prepared on Monday to raise the wreck of a pleasure boat that capsized on the Danube river in Budapest, killing 26 South Korean tourists and two local crew.The Mermaid sank after a large Swiss-owned cruise liner struck it from behind on May 29 as both vessels passed under a 19th century bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain.
The engines of a luxury cruise ship that narrowly escaped disaster during a storm off Norway on Saturday failed because of relatively low levels of lubricating oil in the engines, the Norwegian Maritime Authority said on Wednesday.The Viking Sky, with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard
Rescue services had airlifted 479 people to safety from a luxury cruise liner with engine trouble off the coast of Norway by Sunday morning and began towing the vessel to a nearby port.The Viking Sky, with 1,373 passengers and crew on board, sent out a mayday signal on Saturday as it drifted towards land in the Norwegian Sea.
Norwegian oil company Equinor has signed a deal with vessel owner Eidesvik Offshore to test the use of carbon-free ammonia as a fuel aboard the Viking Energy platform supply vessel.Equinor has awarded Eidesvik Offshore a five-year contract with effect from April 2020, when the current contract for the vessel expires.
Wärtsilä won the deal to engineer, supply, and commission a hybrid propulsion system for an offshore sector vessel for Norway's Eidesvik.Wärtsilä willcarry out the upgrade project on ‘Viking Neptun’, a construction vessel, and this order follows two similar hybrid upgrade contracts awarded to Wärtsilä in recent months.The 15,900 DWT ‘Viking Neptun’ was built in 2015.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipper Golar announced that it has decided to proceed with a spin-off of its Tri-Fuel Diesel Electric (TFDE) LNG carrier business as well as to focus its activities primarily on floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) and downstream assets.According to a stock exchange announcement
A luxury cruise ship that had set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard arrived at a port in Norway on Sunday after narrowly escaping disaster when its engines failed during a storm.The Viking Sky sent out a mayday signal on Saturday as it drifted in rough waters in the Norwegian Sea to within 100 metres of land.