Australis Cruise Line of Patagonia has revealed the name of its new expedition cruise ship, Ventus Australis, currently under construction at Asenav shipyard in southern Chile. The 210-passenger ship will be launched in late 2017. Built for cruising on the southern tip of South America, the Ventus Australis will replace the smaller, 136-passenger Via Australis, which was built in 2005 and sold recently to Lindblad Expeditions. The Ventus Australis will be a twin sister to the 210-passenger Stella Australis, launched in 2010 and the new ship will offer cruises from Ushuaia in Argentina to Punta Arenas in Chile.

Azamara Club Cruises’ 30,277gt/2000 built Azamara Journey will make her Australian debut in early 2017. Her maiden Australian season will see the ship call into Australian ports 21 times.

CMV’s 16,144gt/1948 built Astoria (above) will operate her farewell season in Spring 2017 with itineraries from Tilbury to Amsterdam and Antwerp, Springtime Gardens and the River Seine, Land of the Northern Lights, Round Britain and the Majestic Fjords. The forthcoming Columbus will depart on her maiden World Cruise from London Tilbury on 5th January 2018.

Costa Cruises’ ill-fated Costa Concordia, or what remains of her (above), departed on its final voyage on 1st September from a dry dock in Genoa for final dismantling operations. With the removal of the last two sponsons in late August, preliminary operations for the transfer from the area ex Super Bacino to Dry Dock no. 4, where the vessel will be dismantled over the upcoming months, were concluded.

Crystal Cruises will undertake an historic rendezvous in Sydney Harbour in 2018 when the Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony meet up on 17th February as part of their respective world cruises.

Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 arrived into New York on 8th September for the dawn of New York Fashion Week, following a successful seven-night voyage from Southampton seeing fashion royalty on board including Dame Zandra Rhodes CBE, Colin McDowell MBE, Fern Mallis and Gail Sackloff OBE, treated to a host of runway shows, glamorous dinners and exclusive unveilings.

Fathom added two Cuba Cruise dates in autumn 2016 in response to strong consumer demand for its cruises, namely 9th October and 6th November, both week-long voyages aboard the 30,277gt/2001 built Adonia.

Floating Accommodations has been managing the 40,171gt/1982 built former cruise ship Ocean Gala and secured work for her as an accommodation ship. The former Island Escape found this new role in February when Sweden signed a deal to lodge 1,800 asylum seekers aboard the ship in Utansjo, Harnosand, on the Baltic Sea. However, Harnosand municipality vetoed hosting the ship and the Swedish migration board accepted that decision, before scrapping the deal with Floating Accommodation entirely in July, arguing that the necessary requirements had not been met. The Swedish migration agency (Migrationsverket) has refused to pay a 54 million kronor ($6.44 million) bill for the costs of running the ship. The Swedish authority argues that Floating Accommodations defied the initial refusal to have the ship at Utansjo and has been billing Migrationsverket around 800,000 kronor per day since the start of July for the running costs of the ship. The situation rumbles on but the Ocean Gala is now up for sale for around $20 million.

Holland America Line’s 55,575gt/1993 built Maasdam visited Australia for the first time in October, joining the 82,897gt/2007 built Noordam on sailings around Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific throughout 2016 and 2017. The vessel will operate a new itinerary for the cruise line, the 31-day Pacific Explorer on 22nd November 2017, which will visit Tauranga, Nuku’alofa, Moorea and more. The 82,820gt/2003 built Oosterdam has been redeployed to Alaska (based in Seattle) from Europe for the 2017 summer. The ship will be part of a seven-vessel deployment in Alaska, joining the Amsterdam, Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Volendam and Zaandam.

Liverpool’s Port Authorities have approved a £950,000 feasibility study into a proposed new cruise terminal development on Liverpool’s waterfront. The port authority aims to construct a purpose-built cruise facility capable of handling up to 3,600 passengers and turnaround calls. The proposal includes the demolition of the timber landing stage in favour of a new pontoon in the river to accommodate the new terminal. It is expected that the building will be on two levels built on reclaimed land. In 2016, the River Mersey terminal has handled 61 vessels and 76,000 passengers, generating around £6.5 million for the city’s economy.

Norwegian Cruise Line was named Europe’s Leading Cruise Line for the ninth consecutive year by the World Travel Awards on 4th September 2016 in Sardinia, Italy. NCL will continue its commitment to Europe in 2017 with further growth in the continent, deploying five ships to mark a ground-breaking year for the Line. The expanded fleet with new itineraries includes the Norwegian Jade, which will sail a series of cruises from Southampton, and Norwegian Getaway, which returns to Europe for the first time since her inaugural celebrations in 2014.

P&O Cruises’ 69,840gt/1995 built Oriana is to undergo a much needed and extensive three-week refurbishment in Hamburg at the end of November. The adult-only midsized ship will receive a complete makeover of her cabins, restaurants, bars, entertainment areas and public spaces to provide a whole new elegant and sophisticated look. Details of changes include Oriana’s main dining rooms, the Peninsular and Oriental restaurants, which will each be updated with rich new colour schemes, replacing the carpets, curtain fabric and upgrading the lighting. The passenger cabins will also be transformed with a new palette of natural creams, soft greys and teal. Chairs, sofas, tables and lamps will also be updated with newer classic styles as well as upgraded bathrooms.

P&O Cruises is collaborating with leading designers Richmond International, who also worked on the décor for Britannia and various luxury hotels across the continent, to provide a modern yet classic look and feel throughout to retain the ship’s classical elegance. The ship’s first outing ex-refit departs Southampton for Zeebrugge on 16th December.

Port of Tyne hosted a record five international passenger ships on 16th August when the AIDAvita, (which arrived on 15th August), Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Voyager, DFDS Seaways’ King Seaways, CMV’s Astor and Holland America Line’s 99,500gt Koningsdam were in port. An estimated 10,000 passengers and crew also passed through the port’s International Passenger Terminal. In 2016 there were a record 43 cruise calls, up from 29 last year.

Princess Cruises’ new 143,700gt and Fincantieri built Majestic Princess will homeport in Shanghai when introduced in July 2017. The 115,875gt/2004 built Sapphire Princess has been based in China since her maiden voyage from Wusongkou Port in Baoshan District in 2014. The city is now the world’s eighth largest cruise liner port, hosting more than 400 voyages and 1.6 million passengers in 2015. After delivery the ship will undertake her inaugural voyage on 4th April 2017, a fiveday Adriatic Sea cruise roundtrip from Rome with stops in Kotor and Corfu followed by a six week programme of 7, 14, 21 and 28- day cruises departing from Rome, Barcelona or Athens. A repositioning voyage will depart from Barcelona on 14th May 2017, to the ship’s permanent homeport in Shanghai.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s (RCCL) 168,666gt/2015 built Anthem of the Seas was caught in the wake of Hurricaine Hermine on 4th September. The ship encountered 180 km/h winds and 40-foot swells as she sailed out of New Jersey for Bermuda. Back in February the same ship was caught in a storm off the coast of North Carolina. This time around the Anthem of the Seas “was basically in the worst quadrant of post-tropical Hurricane Hermine” reported a Florida-based meteorologist. RCCL then faced criticism for a near repeat of the first incident.

The company’s new 226,963gt Oasis Class Harmony of the Seas was the subject of some sad news on 13th September when a crew member died of injuries suffered during a lifeboat drill conducted while docked at the port of Marseille, France. Four other crew members received medical treatment in the same incident. An investigation found human error to be the most likely cause for the lifeboat to fall from the ship’s side. On a lighter note, RCCL are seeking a Godmother for the ship, which will be named on 10th November.

SeaDream Yacht Club’s 4,333gt/1984 built Seadream I (above) suffered an engine room fire on 2nd September resulting in her next two voyages being cancelled. The fire was quickly extinguished. All 166 guests and crew members were unharmed with passengers being disembarked to a high-speed ferry for transport to Naples, where they boarded a coach for transfer to Rome, their scheduled disembarkation port.

Swan Hellenic’s 12,892gt/1996 built Minerva (above) will be heading eastwards for her Winter 2017-2018 season calling at destinations including Dubai, Sri Lanka, Oman, India, Vietnam, Philippines and Borneo. Passengers will be able to enjoy shore excursions in 26 countries during the 13 cruises. The season begins on 27th October 2017 with a cruise from Greece to Oman through the Suez Canal and down the Red Sea. The Minerva’s cruise over Christmas and New Year departs from Singapore and makes six calls in Indonesia whilst the return journey sees her sail back through the Suez Canal and with three Mediterranean cruises before arriving back in Portsmouth on 29th April 2018.

Trimline has completed a sixweek refurbishment to transform Royal Caribbean International’s Splendour of the Seas into Thomson Cruises’ TUI Discovery. A team of 180 people refitted the ship during her refit in Cadiz, Spain. Trimline worked on various areas of the ship, including fitting custom bulkheads, fitting a DJ booth in Bar Eleven, installing an outside stage on Deck 9 and re-carpeting corridors throughout the ship. The team also refitted all 915 cabins, reupholstering the furniture, installing new carpets, replacing bathroom mirrors, shower curtains and almost 4,000m of wood trim. In addition, Venue was converted into an entertainment and seating area with a new DJ booth, poseur tables, drinks ledges, new bulkheads and freshly upholstered furniture.

Similarly, the company transformed the Live Room on Deck 4 from a two-part venue into an open space, adding new bulkheads, deck heads, a raised deck and stage areas, and a custom built bar. Bespoke solutions included an acoustic ‘floating’ deck, sound dampening to reduce noise levels to cabins situated directly below, and a programmable system for dimming and changing LED light colours. The Asian decor was also removed plus a 6m high pagoda from two-tier restaurant 47˚ and Gallery 47˚, fitting floor-to-ceiling windows on either side, new lights, carpets, wall coverings and table tops and re-upholstered dining chairs. The team also installed glass screens and a polished stainless steel surround for the waiter stations.

Vard has confirmed that contracts for the construction of four new vessels for Ponant Cruises have been finalised and have become effective. The 131m long and 18m beam ice-class expedition ships will each be 10,000gt tonnes. The hulls will be built at Vard Tulcea in Romania, with delivery scheduled from Vard Søviknes in Norway in 2018-19. Developed by Vard, Ponant and Vard’s parent company, Fincantieri, the new ships (above) will be based on the Le Boreal class ships delivered by Fincantieri to Ponant between 2010 and 2015. The ships will take the names Le Lapérouse, Le Champlain, Le Bougainville and Le Kerguelen, with all four names paying tribute to great French explorers who set sail to discover new continents. The first two 200 passenger capacity ships, Le Lapérouse and Le Champlain, are due to launch ready for summer 2018 season.

Viking Cruises has announced a combined minority investment of $500 million by TPG Capital and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) on 12th September for a combined stake of 17% in MISA Investments Limited (the parent company of Viking Cruises). Subject to regulatory approvals the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016. Credit Suisse acted as exclusive placement agent to MISA Investments in connection with the transaction. Expansion in to China was also mooted during the announcement.