In early December two more cruise lines announced that they had received permission from the Cuban authorities to include cruises to Cuba in their programmes for 2017. There are now six lines that have received approval: Norwegian and her sister companies Oceania and Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Azamara and Pearl Seas. This development followed the announcement earlier this year that the Cuban authorities would be lifting their ban on Cuban-born people entering and leaving the island on commercial vessels.
Norwegian Cruise Line initially stated that its first cruise would be from Miami to Havana, sailing on 7th March 2017. This has since been modified: Norwegian Sky will operate this 4-day cruise, calling at Havana and then the Bahamas. Five dates are planned, through May 2017, and the first bookings are already being taken.
Royal Caribbean has announced that its inaugural sailing to include Cuba will be on the Empress of the Seas, sailing from Miami in April 2017 on a 5-night cruise.
Currently the only vessel sailing to Cuba is Adonia, operated by Fathom, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. Adonia was running bi-weekly voyages but has struggled to find enough passengers. Carnival recently announced the trips would stop in Spring 2017.
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The largest floating drydock in California recently arrived at the San Diego shipyard of BAE Systems. It is 950 feet long. The company has planned a $100 million investment to develop the yard ahead of the anticipated development of the US Navy along the West Coast of the US.
Carnival Corporation reported on 20th December that the fourth quarter income for 2016 had increased from $270 million to $609 million, year on year. Ticket sales, onboard spending and bookings for shore excursions all rose significantly. Overall the corporation posted a record $2.8 billion profit for the full fiscal year 2016.
Expenses were up on last year, with increases in payroll, fuel costs, food and overall operating costs affecting final profits. Donald reported: “We are anticipating another solid year in 2017… the underlying strength in out fundamental business leaves us well positioned to achieve sustained double digit return on invested capital”. It was agreed that China was a developing market, with a number of charters and sub-charters to be completed. Carnival was also actively looking to include Cuba in its programme, and had applied for authorisations for at least one of the Carnival brands to be approved by June 2017.
The CEO of Moller-Maersk, Soren Skou, announced on 12th December that the new strategy for the company would be to separate its energy activities from the transport and logistics operations. His plan is to develop the transport area for containerships. At first glance this seems odd, given the recent rally in oil prices and forthcoming deals with OPEC to control global output.
As part of the company’s planned savings, it is to scrap eight panamax ships in yards at both Alang and in China. Several are already being demolished, with the others to follow by mid-March 2017. They plan to reduce their fleet still further, as ships reach the end of their economic life. However, Maersk is committed to only using yards that meet or exceed the Hong Kong Convention on standards and safety.
In their 2017 report into the state of the industry, Cruise Lines International Association claimed a steady increase in interest in travel cruising and also significant level of investment within the industry. They stated that they expect further increases next year, and predicted around 25.3 million passengers could be texted to cruise during 2017.
On 19th October the Panama Canal Authority announced that opening of the new neopanamax locks had helped it to record the third-highest annual tonnage passing through the Canal in over 100 years. In the fiscal year which had just ended, over 330.7 million Panama Canal tons had transited safely, on a total of 12,114 vessels. Neopanamax vessels accounted for around 18.2 million tons, once the expansion project opened in June after 9 years’ construction.
Around 36% of the total passing through were container ships, followed by bulk carriers and tankers. LNG carriers are now also able to use the Canal, and the lifting of a 40-year old ban on crude oil has allowed Panama to export oil for the first time in decades.
On 15th November Reuters reported that Singapore-based Rickmers Maritime, which operates a fleet of 16 container ships, had been unable to pay interest of $3 million on a $71 million bond. A statement from the company said it faces the risk of going out of business unless it could restructure the debt with bond holders and senior lenders. This followed the company posting a loss of £74 million in the third quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, also on 12th December, came the sad news that a worker at a shipbreakers in Chittagong, Bangladesh was killed while working to scrap another container ship, the German Viktoria Wulff. The 10-year-old vessel had been sold for scrap when the owners went bankrupt in August.
For over 300 years members of the Sandy Hook Pilots Association have been helping ships’ captains to navigate their way through the tricky layout of the Hudson River and New York harbour. A spokesman for the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey, which represents local commercial shipping companies, revealed that the natural depth in the harbour runs to a maximum of 26 feet.
Over the years, as ships have got bigger and deeper, channels have had to be dredged and cut, and it is the local pilots who know and understand these channels. And it is not only the liners who come through, more and more container ships, tankers and other large vessels pass. Additionally the waterway is crowded with ferries, pleasure craft, yachts, canoes and all manner of small vessels.
In a report released on 13th December, it was confirmed that over 10% of the crew aboard the P&O Ferries Pride of Canterbury had failed a random drugs test. The company had conducted the test on all crew during a regular scheduled service from Dover to Calais, when it was found that 13 members failed the urine tests. The results have been sent off for further analysis, and depending on the outcome, the crew members face disciplinary action.
A bulk carrier, mv Antaios, was abandoned by the crew in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of South Africa, after a serious fire in the engine room. The crew of 19 were later rescued from their lifeboats by the Japanese ore carrier Nsu Inspire, which had diverted to the scene when it picked up the distress calls. They were later taken to Cape Town.
It was confirmed on 7th December that the Smit salvage tug, Smit Amandla, had managed to get a line aboard the stricken vessel, and was attempting to get it under tow. A distress call had been put out by the captain after the fire broke out and the engine room flooded, leaving the vessel helpless.