Woman names largest cruise ship

One of the world's largest cruise ships has been officially named by a member of the public who won a national competition for the honour.

Elizabeth Hill, from Baslow in Derbyshire, won the chance to name and christen the 160,000-tonne Independence of the Seas. Built in Finland, the £400m vessel will sail to and from Southampton. Five times Olympic gold medallist Sir Steven Redgrave attended the naming ceremony. Standing upright on its bow, the Independence of the Seas would dwarf the UK's tallest building London's One Canada Square at Canary Wharf which is 771ft tall (235m). The ship, longer than three-and-a-half football pitches, boasts shops, restaurants and bars on a man-made "street" which is longer than the pitch at the new Wembley Stadium. Independence of the Seas is expected to set sail on its maiden voyage on 2 May for a two-week cruise of the Mediterranean. Last week, Cunard's three Queens - QE2, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria - met in Southampton for the first and last time. Independence of the Seas can take nearly 4,400 passengers.

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Cruise Ship Docks Safely After Crack in Hull

A Greek cruise ship carrying more than 1,200 passengers and crew docked safely at the Aegean island of Milos after discovering a large crack in its hull.

The crack, which is above sea level was discovered after the Aquamarine cruise ship left the island of Crete for a tour of the Aegean with 872 Greek and foreign passengers and 407 crew, it said. The Aquamarine, owned by the Louis Group LCL.CY, had left the Cretan port of Herakleion at 0800 GMT and shortly afterwards the crew heard a loud noise and discovered a 1 metre-by 30 cm hole on the side of the vessel, about 2.5 metres above the water level. The official said all passengers were safe.
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First geothermal permit issued in Queensland

The first exploration permit for geothermal energy exploration in Queensland was issued earlier this month to New South Wales-based company Granite Power Ltd.

Two other companies, Kuth Exploration Pty Ltd. and Clean Energy Australasia Pty Ltd., have commenced the native title process, the final step before the granting of their exploration permits. Queensland Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said there were nine tenement areas located across Queensland. "Queensland has the potential to be a world leader in geothermal energy and the Bligh Government is backing this clean, green energy industry to the hilt," Wilson said. "The granting of this Exploration Permit is a significant milestone in the development of a geothermal energy industry in Queensland." Preferred tenderers for the third round of geothermal permit tenders will be announced shortly. Wilson said there had been an amount of uncertainty with some explorers in the application of the Commonwealth Native Title Act to geothermal exploration. "There has been some question as to whether the definition of 'mining' in the Commonwealth Act includes geothermal exploration," he said. "Queensland was the first state to pass a Geothermal Exploration Act and we're working on a new Geothermal Act to provide for world's best practice in geothermal energy production, he stated. Planning is underway for coastal geothermal exploration near major population and industry centres and we've also invested A$15 million in the Geothermal Centre of Excellence."

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Power glitch halts BP Alaska work

British supermajor BP said up to 400,000 barrels per day of oil production was shut down by a power outage in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay early Friday.

The outage downed six Prudhoe Bay processing plants and the Northstar field. “We anticipate by end of today three of the Prudhoe processing plants plus the Northstar will be operational,” BP spokesman Steve Rinehart. The three other Prudhoe units were expected back on Saturday, he said. A snowplow ran into a power line early on Friday causing the outages, he said.

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Vinalines' US$3 billion expansion plans

Mai Van Phuc, director of Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines), said that the company plans to invest around US$3 billion through 2010.

Phuc said the money would go towards fleet expansion, transport services development and port infrastructure. Vinalines is currently acquiring newbuilds and secondhand vessels, to increase its total capacity from 2.1 million tonnes at present to 2.8 million tonnes by the end of 2008 and up to five million tonnes by the end of 2010. I talso aims to replace older vessels with newer and bigger ones. Phuc said Vinalines also had 11 infrastructure projects in the works, most notably the Van Phong International Ship Container Terminal, to be Vietnam's biggest, due to start construction in June.

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