Largest cruise ship berths in UK

One of the world's largest cruise ships has arrived in the UK for the first time ahead of its naming ceremony.

The 160,000-tonne Independence of the Seas docked in Southampton, Hampshire, at 0700 BST - its home port. Built in Finland, the £400m ship equals the size of owner Royal Caribbean's two other ships, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas. It will be named in Southampton next Wednesday and will sail to and from the city all summer. Susan Hooper, senior vice president of Royal Caribbean, said: "Positioning one of our largest and newest ships in Southampton reaffirms Royal Caribbean International's strong commitment to the region. The European cruise industry is booming and 1.5 million Britons are expected to take a cruise holiday in 2008. Independence of the Seas will set sail on its maiden voyage on 2 May for a two-week cruise of the Mediterranean. On Tuesday, Cunard's three Queens - QE2, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria - met in Southampton for the first and last time. QE2 will retire in November when it will be converted into a hotel in Dubai.

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Panamax OOCL Panama Christened

Panama Canal Administrator Administrator/CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta and his wife, Ana Matilde Arias de Alemán, presided over the christening of the sixth 4,500-TEU Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) Panamax vessel.

It is the current maximum size for a ship to transit the Canal. At a ceremony held at the Geoje Shipyard in Korea, the new Panamax vessel was given the name OOCL Panama in honor of the historic role that the Panama Canal has played in the development of global commerce. The OOCL Panama will initially be deployed on the Asia-Australia AEA2 service. The port rotation will be: Yokohama / Osaka / Busan / Qingdao / Shanghai / Ningbo / Xiamen / Hong Kong / Kaohsiung / Melbourne / Sydney / Brisbane and back to Yokohama in a 42-day round trip.

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Indian naval ships arrive in S Africa for joint exercises

Indian Navy ships, INS Mumbai and INS Karmukh, have reached Durban harbour to participate in the 10-days long exercise with the navies of South Africa and Brazil off the Cape Town coast.

A special reception was accorded to the officers and the crewmembers of the ships, which are scheduled to take part in naval exercises from May 5 to May 15. "The relations between India and South Africa have taken a new momentum with the recent establishment of the Indo-African Forum in New Delhi," Indian High Commissioner to South Africa Rajiv Kumar Bhatia said while addressing the special reception ceremony here. This relationship will now reach new heights when the Indian navy takes part in joint exercises with the South African and Brazilian navies. It is a tremendous boost for the three countries from the South, he added. Indian Consul General in Durban, Harsh Varshan Shringla, prasied the officers and crewmen of INS Mumbai and INS Karmukh for taking part in social upliftment programs for disadvantaged people in the city since their arrival three days ago. The reception was attended by a large number of guests, which include the leader of Inkatha Freedom Party and chairman of the House of Traditional Leaders in KwaZulu-Natal, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and the Deputy Mayor of Durban, Logie Naidoo. The two ships will leave the Durban Harbour on Tuesday for Cape Town to participate in the naval exercises.

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Qatar and Rotterdam form port co-operation agreement

State oil company Qatar Petroleum and the port of Rotterdam have agreed to a long-term cooperation on strategy and development.

Rotterdam will help Qatar Petroleum to develop its Ras Laffan port, and in return the Dutch port hopes to gain closer links to the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). "With this cooperation Port of Rotterdam wants to strengthen its position as Europe's main energy port, especially in the supply chain for LNG and associated hydrocarbon products," the port's Chief Executive Hans Smits said. The cooperation was laid out in a Memorandum of Understanding during a visit of Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani to the Netherlands this week. Qatar sits on the world's third-largest gas reserves and aims to boost LNG capacity to 77m tonnes in 2010. LNG production in Qatar is split between two companies, Qatargas and Rasgas, both majority owned by the state oil company Qatar Petroleum. Dutch oil storage company Vopak and state pipeline operator Gasunie have said they are planning to build an LNG terminal in Rotterdam, estimated to cost about 800m euros ($1.25bn).
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Austal secures fast patrol craft fleet order

Austal has just announced the contract to build six 30-metre aluminium fast patrol craft for the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

This significant order includes additional contracts for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and crew training services. The all-aluminium fast patrol boats will support the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard in providing sustained surveillance in the country's internal waters, the archipelagic territorial sea and its exclusive economic zone. Each vessel will have a small 12-man crew, a maximum speed of 40 knots and will be armed with three general-purpose machine guns and a 20mm cannon. All six vessels will be constructed at Austal's facilities in Henderson, Western Australia and are scheduled for delivery by early 2010. During the construction period, Austal will provide a training programme including familiarization of vessel operation, ship based engineer training as well as maintenance training for shore-based support personnel. The fast patrol craft will play a major role in ensuring the safety of shipping, as well as the preservation of the marine environment. Each patrol boat is to be powered by two MTU 16 cylinder 2000 series diesel engines driving a Kamewa waterjet propulsion system, allowing a maximum speed of 40 knots and a maximum range of more than 1000 nautical miles at 10 knots.

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