French Cruise line from Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced it was launching a new French cruise line that will initially operate with a single cruise ship.

The 376-cabin cruise ship Holiday Dream will be transferred to the new line, CDF Croisieres de France, from Royal Caribbean's Spanish cruise line, Pullmantur. After a $60 million renovation and cultural transformation, the ship will become the Bleu de France. Starting in the spring of 2008, the Bleu de France will sail a Mediterranean itinerary, departing from Marseille, and shift to a Caribbean itinerary for winter 2008-2009 sailing out of La Romana, Dominican Republic.

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Melting of ice in Arctic opens up shipping route

The Arctic's Northwest Passage has opened up fully because of melting sea ice, clearing a long-sought but historically impassable route between Europe and Asia, the European Space Agency said.

Sea ice has shrunk in the Arctic to its lowest level since satellite measurements began 30 years ago, ESA said, showing images of the now "fully navigable" route between the Atlantic and the Pacific. A shipping route through the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic has been touted as a possible cheaper option to the Panama Canal for many shippers. Polar regions are very sensitive to climate change, ESA said, noting that some scientists have predicted the Arctic would be ice free as early as 2040.

Almost all experts say global warming, stoked by human use of fossil fuels, is happening about twice as fast in the Arctic as elsewhere on the planet. Countries such as Russia are hoping for new shipping routes or to find oil and gas.

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LNG vessel to join Qatargas fleet

Qatargas announced the naming of the Q-Flex LNG vessel Tembek at a ceremony held at Samsung Heavy Industries shipbuilding yard in Geoje Island, South Korea.

The Tembek will be used to ship LNG produced by Qatargas 2's Train 4 to customers in Europe. It is one of 14 ships that are being built in Korea to service Qatargas Trains 4 and 5. The LNG vessel is owned through a joint venture between Qatargas Transport Company (Nakilat) and Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG), from which Qatargas will charter the vessel.

The Q-Flex and the even larger Q-Max are a new generation of LNG mega-ship with about 40 percent lower energy requirements than conventional vessels due to the economies of scale created by their size and the efficiency of the engines.

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CNPC has eye on Oil Search

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is considering bidding up to $5 billion to for Australia-listed Oil Search, reports local media.

CNPC Exploration, a venture between CNPC and its Hong-Kong-listed arm PetroChina, is looking to buy the Papua New Guinea-focused company. Several European energy firms are also considering bids. Oil Search said in a statement it had not received any formal approaches by any party in regards to a take-over. However, the company said it was continuing to discuss potential participation in a range of proposed gas developments in PNG with a number of international companies. Oil Search's large gas reserves in PNG are understood to be the attraction for any potential predator.

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