Celebrity Cruises’ 90,940gt/2001 built Celebrity Summit encountered propulsion issues after departing from her berth at Cape Liberty, New Jersey, on the evening of 5th July 2015. The ship anchored for inspection before being assisted back to the quayside for repairs. The Bermuda bound ship eventually sailed the following morning at around 0400 local time.

Cruise to Nowhere No More: A change in rules by the U.S. Customs, will put an end to short, cruises to nowhere from 2016. New changes in how ships are cleared into and out of the United States of America by U.S. officials will mean that cruises to nowhere will require at least one foreign port of call, beginning in 2016. This somewhat bizarre move will affect several 2-3 night cruises to nowhere scheduled to be operated by Carnival Cruise Line and NCL in 2016. 

Expanding Saga: In June the over-50s cruise specialist Saga announced plans to expand its cruise business. Saga Holidays, which currently operates the 18,591gt/1980 built Saga Pearl II and the 37,049gt/1981 built Saga Sapphire, will gain more ships as part of the proposed plan. 

HAL to the rescue again: On 10th June the Noordam assisted 41 people on a sightseeing boat that had become disabled and was adrift off Jaw Point at Glacier Bay, Alaska. The vessel in question was the Baranof Wind, which was experiencing mechanical issues near Johns Hopkins Glacier. The ship lowered a tender, which collected 40 tourists and one Glacier Bay National Park ranger and returned them to the Noordam. All were deposited at Bartlett Cove, where the Baranof Wind excursion originated, before the ship headed for her next port of call, Ketchikan, Alaska.

Another HAL ship found herself in need of assistance on 4th July. The 55,575gt/1993 built Maasdam suffered engine failure in Boston Harbour but got underway to Halifax, Canada two days later. Majestic Move: The 73,941gt/1992 built Majesty of the Seas will continue to serve RCI following the announcement that she will homeport in Port Canaveral, along Florida’s Space Coast, starting in summer 2016. Originally RCI had announced that the Majesty of the Seas would move to Pullmantur Cruises from April 2016. This deployment will permit the 78,878gt/1997 built Rhapsody of the Seas to transfer to Tampa for 7-night Caribbean cruises in winter 2016. The Oasis Class ship Harmony of the Seas took to the water on 19th June at the St. Nazaire shipyard. Sea trials are set to begin from mid-February 2016. 

Port of Hull: At the end of June Hull City Council approved plans for a new cruise terminal along the Humber. Hull, which will be hosting the 2017 City of Culture, already sees a small number of cruise ships visit each year, however they must navigate a narrow lock, limiting the size of ships that can visit. The new plans would see a floating pontoon, similar to that found in Liverpool, located at either Sammy’s Point, next to the city’s popular ‘The Deep’ aquarium, or Albert Dock. 

Portuscale Cruises: On 5th July Portuscale Cruises’ 16,531gt/1955 built Lisboa was towed away from Lisbon, Portugal by the tug Hellas, bound for Tuzla, Turkey, and almost certain scrapping. The ship was sold due to her structural fatigue as, after 6 million Euro being poured into her, the requirements meant a further €5 million would have been needed. Portuscale’s Funchal and Porto remain in warm lay-up but it seems to be game over for the Lisboa. She was sold for around $3m.