News in Brief

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s 47,263gt/1987 built Grand Celebration returned to her homeport of Port of Palm Beach to resume a two-night sailing schedule from 21st December. The ship had been chartered for the previous two months to assist with the restoration of service to communities impacted by the Massachusetts gas incident.

Celebrity Cruises’ 130,818gt/2018 built Celebrity Edge was officially christened on 4th December in Port Everglades by godmother Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and co-founder of the Malala Fund.

Coral Expeditions’ 120 passenger capacity cruise vessel Coral Adventurer was floated out at the Vard Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam during early December. Vard is a subsidiary of Fincantieri.

The ship’s maiden voyage will take place on 24th April 2019, an 18-night voyage from Singapore to Darwin. From May until October she will cruise the Kimberley between Darwin and Broome. Itineraries to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea then follow.

Cunard Line has announced that the 90,901gt/2010 built Queen Elizabeth will spend a full season in Alaska June-September 2020. The company is making its return to Alaska in May 2019 and, due to high demand, will double its itineraries in 2020 to ten round trip voyages out of Vancouver ranging from nine to twelve nights and one getaway cruise to San Francisco for an overnight stay on 4th July. Port calls include Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and more. In addition, the voyages offer scenic cruising in the narrow waterways of the Inside Passage, the Hubbard Glacier and Sawyer Glacier’s twin fjords, Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. The ship enjoyed a 12-day overhaul at Damen Shiprepair Brest (DSBr) in November, returning to her home port on 27th November.

Holland America Line announced its 2020 Europe programme on 20th December that includes the 86,273gt/2010 built Nieuw Amsterdam (above) in the Mediterranean as part of a six-ship line-up that also features the 99,902gt/2018 built Nieuw Statendam, the 61,849gt/1997 built Rotterdam, the 57,092gt/1996 built Veendam, the 61,396gt/2000 built Zaandam and the 82,820gt/2002 built Zuiderdam. Itineraries range from seven to 35 days and Turkey is back on the agenda with seven overnight calls scheduled for Istanbul. Three ships will offer cruises in Northern Europe April-September featuring the Nieuw Statendam, Veendam and Zuiderdam. The latter two ships will include British Isles & Ireland calls.

Hurtigruten’s 20,000gt/2019 built and 530-guest capacity Fridtjof Nansen was launched on 9th December at Kleven Verft in Norway (above). The hybrid expedition ship, incorporating battery power, will join the fleet in 2020 following this year’s introduction of her sister ship, the Roald Amundsen. These newbuilds are two of three new vessels on order for Hurtigruten, with a yet-to-be-named sister following in 2021.

Jalesh Cruises is the name of the Indian start-up company that has purchased P&O Australia’s 70,310gt/1990 built Pacific Jewel (above) for further service. This is one of 28 ships sold by Carnival Corporation since 2006 with other recent sales including the 55,877gt/1993 built Pacific Eden, 39,051gt/1988 built Prinsendam and the 69,840gt/1995 built Oriana. Jalesh Cruises will start operations in April 2019 from Mumbai. The parent company is Zen Cruises and The Apollo Group will run its onboard operations including food and beverage, housekeeping, guest services, payroll, public health, vendor management and revenue collection. The Pacific Jewel will be renamed Karnika.

Ponant’s LNG-powered ice-breaking cruise ship Le Commandant Charcot had her keel laying ceremony at Vard’s Tulcea Shipyard in Romania on 14th December. The launch is planned in 2020 with delivery in 2021. The ship’s traditional steel cutting ceremony was held in November 2018. Designed for intense polar explorations, and with PC2 Polar Class certification, the ship will be able to reach destinations such as the Geographic North Pole and remote sites of the Antarctic continent including the Ross Sea, Charcot Island and Peter I Island.

Mitsui OSK Lines’ 22,472gt/1990 built Nippon Maru (above) collided with a U.S Navy Fuel Berth at the inner Apra Harbour, Guam, on 30th December whilst carrying 524 passengers and a crew of 244. The ship was departing Guam en-route to Saipan when she collided with Delta Pier. Initial assessments indicated that the lower portion of the stern on the starboard side had been breached. The ship returned to her berth and an inspection/enquiry commenced. The cost of the damage was considerable, all passengers were flown home and the ship’s Master was suspended. Reports later suggested that the Captain had failed a breathalyser test.

Peregrine Adventures, the joint venture between Intrepid Group and Chimu Adventures, has announced a new programme of small-group polar expeditions from October 2020 using the newly refurbished 12,907gt/1982 built Ocean Endeavour (above), with capacity for 199 guests.

Quark Expeditions will utilise the 200-passenger World Explorer in the Arctic for summer 2020 for 12 departures on the new Mystic Cruises ship. The newbuild ship will debut for Nicko Cruises in early 2019 before moving to Quark for her debut Antarctica season on this charter agreement. The ship is one in a series of three newbuilds under construction in Portugal for Mario Ferreira’s Mystic Invest empire. Alongside the World Explorer, Quark will also offer a number of summer Arctic departures on the 4,614gt/1975 & 132-guest ice-class vessel Ocean Adventurer.

Royal Caribbean Cruises’ 48,563gt/1990 built Empress of the Seas (above) rescued two sailors stranded at sea for 20 days on 21st December between Jamaica and Grand Cayman in only a small boat. The 2020 fleet deployment has been revealed with the 225,282gt/2009 built Oasis of the Seas set to make her New York debut in May 2020 from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey. The ship will convey guests to The Bahamas all summer with 7-night itineraries, as well as a select number of short cruises north to New England and Canada. The European deployment includes the 168,666gt/2015 built Anthem of the Seas, the 155,889gt/2008 built Independence of the Seas at Southampton, the 225,282gt/2010 built Allure of the Seas, the 138,194gt/2000 built Explorer of the Seas, the 78,717gt/1998 built Vision of the Seas and the 78,878gt/1997 built Rhapsody of the Seas on the Mediterranean plus the 90,090gt/2004 built Jewel of the Seas based at Copenhagen and the 90,090gt/2002 built Brilliance of the Seas at Amsterdam.

Silversea Cruises has announced plans for a second extensive refurbishment of the 17,235gt/1995 built Silver Wind (above), which will see the ship awarded ice-class certification as well as a number of expedition cruising additions. The drydock is scheduled for August 2020, will take two months and comes under Silversea’s Project Invictus programme. A fleet of Zodiacs and kayaks for on-water exploration will be added as well as an upgraded theatre. All suites will undergo another full upgrade. The Spa and Salon will each be completely refurbished, the Reception/Atrium will be overhauled and additional improvements will be made to La Dame, La Terrazza, the Main Bar, the Observation Lounge, the Panorama Lounge, the Pool Bar, public bathrooms and more besides. Accommodating fewer guests (just 254) and retaining her characteristic small-ship feel, the Silver Wind will offer higher space ratios, a higher crew-to-guest ratio, and more upper suites, among other enhancements. Following her refit, Silversea plans to deploy the ship on both traditional and expedition itineraries, including the Arctic and Antarctica. The ship will resume service on 10th November 2020, embarking on her inaugural season in Antarctica.

Star Clippers announced in early January a range of new destinations for their fleet of tall ships in the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia with departures beginning in April 2020. The Royal Clipper (above) will again be sailing in the Western Mediterranean during summer 2020, with itineraries departing from Venice, Civitavecchia and Cannes, calling at many new ports. In Southeast Asia the Star Clipper will begin calling in Cambodia during a new 11-night round trip itinerary out of Ko Samui, Thailand. The company’s newest vessel, the Flying Clipper, will debut in 2019.

Star Cruises will take delivery of a series of Contemporary-class ships from 2023 for Asia’s leading contemporary brand and built by MV Werften. In 2019 the 75,338gt/1999 built Superstar Virgo (above) will transfer to the Dream Cruises brand leaving the 51,309gt/1993 built SuperStar Aquarius, 50,674gt/1992 built SuperStar Gemini and the 40,053gt/1990 built Star Pisces in the fleet.