The mystery ship is the P&O cargo liner Coromandel. She was berthed in London’s King George V dock at the same time that I was an Engineer Officer on the steamer Singapore in 1954. She was built, alongside her sister ship Cannanore, in 1949 by Barcla

Hafnia Tankers’ 74,190dwt tanker Hafnia Nile collided with the Sao Tome and Principe-flagged VLCC Ceres I, roughly 100km east of Singapore on 19 July. The Singaporean tanker was carrying a cargo of naphtha from Spain to the Far East when the incident

Two German single-ship operators have recently announced their future plans. Plantours, operator of the 15,067gt 400-passenger Hamburg, has decided to concentrate on more departures from German ports. That could so easily have been a series of short

US company Crowley has named the first all battery-electric harbour tug in the US at the Port of San Diego. eWolf was built by Master Boat Builders in Coden, Alabama, and delivers 70 tonnes of bollard pull from a fully integrated electrical package a

GNV’s latest newbuilding from the GSI Shipyard in China will appear as GNV Polaris at the end of October and has been earmarked for the link from Valencia to Palma, Majorca. Now in the later stages of fitting-out after a January launch, GNV Polaris (

The dredger Rhône has been working on the Mersey over the course of the summer. Rhône is one of two new hybrid water injection dredgers which were christened at Rotterdam in April. The other vessel, Rijn, has been working on the Maas. Rijn and Rhône

The federal government has launched the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), with plans to acquire up to 12 new conventionally powered submarines. The investment is urgently required to bolster security and increase surveillance of Canada’s Nort

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s new flagship has won a top title in the prestigious Shippax Awards, being named as the best and most innovative roll-on/roll-off passenger and freight ferry of 2024. The 24,161gt Manxman, built at the Hyundai Mi

Top Ships has received a charter extension for two tankers, Eco Yosemite Park and Eco Joshua Park (pictured). The pair of MR tankers have had their charter to Clearlake Shipping, part of Gunvor, extended by seven years, with the daily hire rate incre

When Spirit of Britain entered service in January 2011, she became the largest ferry ever to operate on the Dover-Calais crossing, and the first of two sisterships which have given more than a decade of service linking Dover and Calais. But even befo

ALFRED The catamaran, on charter from Pentland Ferries, has proved popular with CalMac passengers while running between Troon and Brodick on the Isle of Arran, and especially while making an extra Friday morning round trip, which continued into Augus

With the recent orders for two more 188,000gt Excel class vessels from Meyer Werft at Papenburg, Carnival Cruise Line now appears to have bitten the bullet and placed an order with Fincantieri for a trio of 230,000gt LNG-fuelled ships. The vessels ar

With the purchase out of bankruptcy of Crystal Cruises and its two now ageing ships, the likely direction of the new company is being assessed. It is now owned by A&K Travel Group, which is part-owned by the former Silver Sea chairman, Manfredi Lefeb

Gearbulk, which is currently in the process of a takeover by Mitsui OSK Lines, has sold its share in the joint venture High Heat Tankers (HHT) to partner Trafigura. The 50/50 joint venture operated 14 tankers, ranging in size between 15,000dwt and 37

Following a period with a slowly shrinking order book, the Meyer Werft shipyard has had a good summer, with orders being placed for a pair of 184,000gt ships from Carnival Cruise Line, as well as a fourth unit in the current Disney series, although n

BALTIC BOOST The Tallink Group’s upgrade of Tallinn-Stockholm route vessel Baltic Queen (2009/48,915gt), carried out during annual dry-docking at Naantali in Finland, has brought a 13 per cent increase in energy efficiency following the installation

Editor • Nicholas Leach [email protected] Art Editor • Mark Hyde Talk Media Sales www.talkmediasales.co.uk Group Commercial Manager • Mason Ponti Telephone • 01732 920499 Email • [email protected] Managing Director • Phil Weeden Finance Director •

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the delivery of three white-hulled passenger/cargo vessels by the Workman Clark yard, Belfast to Andrew Weir’s Bank Line for Indian Ocean trading. The ships, Isipingo, Inchanga and Incomati, were specifically d

The former RFA Diligence leaving Portsmouth Harbour for the last time on 13 March 2024. The one-time Forward Repair Ship headed for scrapping in Aliaga, Turkey, under tow of Boluda Towage’s 2011-built ocean-going tugVB Hispania (1,374gt, ex-Fairplay

With the summer upon us, readers will be enjoying their holidays and I am sure many will consider going to the west coast of Scotland, a beautiful part of the country, especially when the sun shines and the ferries run! In this issue we have an artic

On 26 June the launching ceremony of the future minehunter ORP Jaskółka (604) took place at the Remontowa Shipbuilding yard in Gdansk. She is the first of the second three-ship series of 258 project (Kormoran II class) ships which are being built for

After delays caused by Covid, supply chain logistics and the Ukrainian war, TT Line’s second ferry for its Bass Strait service was named Spirit of Tasmania V and then floated out at Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) shipyard on the west coast of Finla

Heavy seas and strong winds affected shipping along the South African coast during July, including containerships sailing round the Cape of Good Hope due to Red Sea diversions. CMA CGM reported that one of its vessels, CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin (185,

The cable recovery ship Rebecca (pictured below on 24 April outbond from Auckland) has been working on the ANZCAN undersea telecommunications cable. The 15,000km-long cable, installed in 1983, connects Sydney, Australia, Norfolk Island, Auckland, Fij

The first of two new ‘combat icebreakers’ has conducted builders’ sea trials. The Project 23550 vessel Ivan Papanin, described as an Arctic class patrol ship by the Russian Navy, is set to join the Northern Fleet later this year. A second, Nikolay Zu

The well-known ferry Isle of Arran is the only current major ship in the fleet of Caledonian MacBrayne more than 40 years of age. She is the second oldest vessel of the fleet, second only to the smaller Isle of Cumbrae, having been built in 1976. Nic

Swedish ferry company Stena Line reached a milestone in its fleet investment programme with the keel-laying of the first hybrid methanol-fuelled ‘NewMax’ vessel on 28 June at the China Merchants Jinling (Weihai) Yard, China. The ship will be deployed

An overview of the latest global naval developments over the past year, including Australia, Japan, USA, France and Portugal. REMEMBERING CRUISE & MARITIME • Founded in 2010, Cruise and Maritime Voyages enjoyed a decade of expansion, until Covid shut

The new 13m Shannon class lifeboat Richard and Caroline Colton II was named and dedicated at a ceremony at Barry Dock on 27 July 2024. The new lifeboat arrived at her South Wales home in March and has since been involved in four service calls. The im

BBC Leer, the first of 15 13,000dwt multipurpose triple-deckers, has been delivered y Taizhou Sanfu Heavy Industry, China to her owners, Leer-based Briese Groupfleet; sister vessels, BBC Houston and BBC Genoa, have already passed the sea trials. The