This Blog is for New to Cruise and the well Traveled , on this site we will publish information about Cruise and Holiday information, with some insider stories in the travel press.
Royal Caribbean reverts to traditional seating in main dining rooms
Dining room on the Independence of the Seas; photo credit Dave Jones
Royal Caribbean International has decided to end its main dining room format called Dynamic Dining, which was launched with Quantum of the Seas two years ago.
Starting with the Nov. 27 sailing of Anthem of the Seas, the main dining room will operate under the My Time Dining system. Ovation of the Seas will make the change on Nov. 23.
Dynamic Dining was conceived as a way of breaking up the main dining room into smaller venues. The Quantum-class ships were built with a quartet of 480-seat rooms that had different menus and themes. Diners could make reservations, and rotate among them.
When more tradition-bound guests complained, an option was added for a fixed early or late seating called Dynamic Dining Classic.
After Nov. 27, the same menu will be available in all four restaurants: Chic, American Icon, Grande and Silk. As on other ships that have My Time Dining, guests can choose their own dining times and table mates. Alternatively, they can choose the traditional early or late seating at a fixed table.
Royal Caribbean said guests booked on Anthem and Ovation who have already selected the Dynamic Dining Classic option for their upcoming cruise will be assigned to either early or late seating to match their original choice of time. Guests who have selected the Dynamic Dining Choice option will be assigned to the My Time Dining flexible option.
Royal Caribbean said guests on the flexible option will dine in the American Icon and Silk dining rooms while guests on early and late seating's will eat at either Chic or Grande.
In a statement, Royal Caribbean said it decided to end Dynamic Dining after sifting through guest feedback. “Our guests have told us that they prefer the ease of a cruise vacation where they have flexibility without having to plan extensively,” the statement said.
Two Viking Cruises crew members have been killed after one of its ships struck a bridge in southern Germany.
The Viking Freya was carrying around 200 passengers when it hit the bridge along the Main-Danube Canal early on Sunday.
The ship had just cast off while it was still dark from the town of Erlangen on its way to Budapest.
Police said the driver's cabin was crushed under the rail bridge, killing a 49-year-old at the wheel and a 33-year-old sailor. The other 47 crew members and 181 passengers were unhurt.
Police said they are still investigating the cause of the crash.
"For reasons not known so far the driver's cabin of the ship collided with a bridge, and two crew members, 33 and 49-years-old, were killed," police spokesman Michael Petzold said. "The two men had to be freed with heavy equipment by firefighters."
Passengers had to remain on the ship for several hours while rescue teams worked to extend a walkway to get them off the ship.
Viking Cruises said in a statement reported by the Associated Press: "We are heartbroken, and company executives are on the scene to work closely with local authorities to understand the details of the accident."
Passengers are being allowed to continue on another vessel from the town of Passau or return home. It said customer representatives would be in touch upon their return home to discuss compensation for the disruption of their trip
I was not happy disembarking the new Regent Seven Seas Explorer in Rome. The fact is that I was not quite ready to leave.
I had turned down the initial preview press invitation because we were booked on the ship's second inaugural sailing from Venice to Rome on an itinerary that included calls in Croatia, Montenegro, Greece and Italy. We were traveling with 38 clients on our annual client trip; 34 of our guests had previously traveled with Regent and its several five-star all-inclusive competitors. In some ways it was like traveling with three dozen Judge Judys, ready to observe, listen and then pass judgement. Would this sparkling new vessel pass muster? Was the hype really justified?
About the hype: Like most new builds, the superlatives began with the announcement of the new ship. This ship would have the largest cabins, the largest suite afloat, the most expensive chandelier and a Chagall and a Picasso among the 2,200 pieces of artwork. There was the usual collection of statistics: this ship would feature 52,000 square feet of balcony space, which actually breaks down to 138 square feet per cabin. On a typical two-week voyage it was predicted that just over 2,000 pounds of lobster would be consumed. Caviar would be served from time to time (there was a table display one day at lunch, and I noticed that no one was touching it.)
The consumer press was all over the story, having enjoyed their brief cruise before paying guests would board for the inaugural. So there had been a bevy of good PR for this ship, much of it totally justified.
But here is the thing about this ship's hype: I have a bit of history with the Norwegian/Oceania/Regent group and their management. I remember when they launched the Oceania brand and they produced an introductory brochure that stated that they would have "the best cuisine at sea." I had suggested that it might be prudent to wait until the ship was actually launched and serving meals before making such claims.
But I was wrong. The Oceania food hype was totally justified, and so were the pre-launch press releases about dining aboard the new Explorer.
I was unhappy disembarking because I had gotten into the ship's rhythm, and I was able to forge a series of magnificent days.
Mornings were for sightseeing, walking or driving to places I have not been to in a while, updating hotels, restaurants and meeting locals who might be useful to me in the future. A shop here, a guide there, a hidden ice cream haven in Amalfi. The goal was filling an entire little black book.
But the late afternoon was for the spa, a quick shower, cocktails with clients and then a long, leisurely dinner with friends.
I won't talk a great deal about the shore excursions since the reality is that cruise lines have less control in that area than the public imagines. On Regent they are, for the most part, included. In Taormina, for instance, you could get transfers to explore the town on your own. I noticed that Regent has pushed back the departure times of many of its morning shore offerings so guests can have a proper breakfast before going on tour around 10 a.m. Complimentary transfers were included into town where necessary. There were some longer stays. Regent is recognizing that sophisticated travelers want some down time, not a perfectly timed series of never-ending historical sightseeing marches through Europe's churches.
Please forgive me, but I feel compelled to generate some of my own hype for the onboard Canyon Ranch experience. It was, simply put, the finest spa experience I've encountered in more than 30 years of travel.
Each of my scheduled services was preceded by a professional interview. Notes were taken and specifics were discussed that would truly personalize the experience. My massages were done by Thai therapists who began the deep tissue back massage by jumping up on the table with me. That allows for extra pressure from the knees and elbows.
One of my therapists explained that she felt she had found the core of my being, something I've been searching for these past several decades. It involved dripping oil and a single finger pressed down on a location near the center of my scalp. I actually saw heaven, and I had a Philly cheesesteak while I was there.
After the treatment, there are a bevy of relaxation venues, including a cold room with ice walls and a scented sauna. Afterwards, I walked out the back onto a private balcony with an incredible infinity pool hovering over the back of the ship. There, a spa butler brings you drinks while you spend as much time as you want to relax. I loved the infinity pool when the ship was in port; it provided a perfect vantage point to watch the action.
Much has already been written about the design of this new ship. Yes, there is marble on marble, stone and granite. The lighting was never glaring, always elegant, and after 10 days I was still discovering little design details like the lights in the main Compass Rose Restaurant, bursts of yellow along the side walls with shades of blue in the center of the room. You could actually hear guests discussing the lighting onboard.
There were more high ceilings than one expected, and some guests speculated that the "ship is half-empty" despite the fact that every single cabin was occupied. That is when a ship's designers know that they got this one right.
But I prefer not to dwell on design. This ship was budgeted at $450 million, and it went over by more than a little; speculation is that it actually cost closer to $600 million. For that money, I would expect that the design would be exceptional.
It is, however, the human factors aboard a new ship that matter most. What is the ship's lifestyle, and how does it mesh with the guest's demographics? This is where the Regent Explorer achieves a sort of nautical nirvana. My group and I found we could live our lives on this ship, relaxing when we wished, butlers always on call, imaginative and memorable cuisine, culinary classes that were filled with great take-aways, an enveloping comfort of fine art and a spa that has no peer at sea.
It would be tempting to devote all of this space to a celebration of the cuisine aboard this ship. Lunch was satisfactory, but dinners were often spectacular, with even the most hardened critics finding lots to like about the staff and the innovative cuisine.
The toughest reservation seemed to be for the Pacific Rim. I barely made it into the restaurant, as I was totally taken by the $500,000 Tibetan Prayer Wheel at the entrance. Guests can pick any wheel, spin it and contemplate the message it contained. It was a thoughtful, distinctive piece of art made of cast bronze from Australia. It required a reinforced floor to support it. Most CEOs would never consider such an expense for something so unnecessary and challenging to install. But the entrance to this restaurant had to be memorable, and it is fully indicative of the amazing attention to deal that I found on this ship.
The art continued on the plates. There were Versaces at every setting, and each was themed. There was a sake menu, incredible appetizers including sushi and sashimi prepared by knowledgeable hands. The main dishes included a memorable miso cod, but the most popular dish was the lobster tempura served in a lobster shell.
One night we were seated in the Prime 7 steakhouse with friends in our group, a newscaster who had just returned from covering both political conventions. I ordered a 16-ounce T-bone steak because I knew they were using Colorado prime. The waiter leaned in and quietly whispered, "Sir, I can make that a 32-ounce cut if you would prefer."
I declined, but it is really nice to know that there is a ship out there that provides more than you want and a lifestyle geared to exploration, relaxation and truly memorable dining experiences.
Was everything perfect? Of course not. But this was only the Explorer's second sailing, and I expect that the needed service improvements will be initiated. For the record, disembarkation was totally impersonal. No one said goodbye to departing guests. The staff got low scores on our "recognition tests," and guests were almost never addressed by name, a hallmark of luxury service.
But these things can be fixed. The fact is that the Explorer has emerged from the yard as a serious challenger to the title "Best Ship at Sea."
Lifeboat Drill Accident: One Killed, Four Injured in Fall Aboard Harmony of the Seas
The Harmony of the Seas (Oasis 3) class ship leaves the STX Les Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard site in Saint-Nazaire, France, May 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Story by: https://gcaptain.com
One crew member was killed and four others were injured Tuesday in an accident during lifeboat drill aboard the world’s largest cruise ship.
Royal Caribbean confirmed that a Harmony of the Seas crew member had died of injuries sustained during a lifeboat drill conducted in Marseille, France. For other Harmony of the Seas crew members are receiving medical treatment, the cruise company said.
BBC reports that the five crew members were inside the lifeboat when it became detached from the fifth deck during a safety drill and fell 10 meters into the water below. Two of the injured suffered life-threatening injuries, BBC reported.
Harmony of the Seas is the world’s biggest cruise ship at more than 227,000 gross tons. The ship has capacity to carry 5,479 guests and is home to about 2,100 crew.
The cruise ship was delivered in May following 32 months of construction at the STX France shipyard in Saint Nazaire, France.
“We’re keeping our colleagues & their families in our thoughts & prayers,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement posted to Twitter.
The incident is the latest accident to occur during lifeboat safety drills on board cruise ships. In July, one crew member was killed and three others were injured aboard the Norwegian Breakaway were injured during a rescue boat drill in Bermuda. In 2013, five crew members died and three were injured during a drill aboard the cruise ship Thomson Majesty in the Canary Islands.
Accidents such as these have prompted the Cruise Lines International Association, the largest trade organization serving the international cruise industry, to adopt a policy requiring that “the loading of lifeboats for training purposes is to be performed only while the boat is waterborne and the boat should be lowered and raised with only the lifeboat crew onboard.”
The policy calls for at least one lifeboat on each ship to be filled with crew members equal in number to its certified number of occupants at least every six months for ships with more than 300 crew members.
The Titanic sails again: Inside the lavish £300million replica of doomed ocean liner, which is due to set sail in 2018
Planned by Blue Star Line, the Titanic II will stick to the incredible detail of the original ship which sank in 1912
Titanic II's launch has been pushed back to 2018, with a maiden voyage planned from Jiangsu, China, to Dubai
Amenities include a small swimming pool, Turkish baths, a gym with Edwardian equipment and a squash court
If this replica of the RMS Titanic ever sets sail, it will look eerily similar to the ill-fated ocean liner that remains the most famous ship of all time.
These captivating side-by-side images show how the planned Titanic II will stick to the incredible detail of the original ship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean more than 100 years ago.
Even though today’s massive cruise ships have on-board amenities such as robot bartenders and giant slides, the Titanic replica will be toned down in comparison and stay true to its namesake with a small swimming pool, Turkish baths and an Edwardian gym.
The grand staircase, recreated in this rendering, remains one of the most famous features of the original ship, which set sail in April 1912
The grand staircase on White Star Line ships, including the Titanic and Olympic, was reserved for first class passengers only
The first class smoking room was a private space for male passengers and was meant to resemble gentlemen's clubs in London
Café Parisien, one of the original Titanic's dining options for wealthier passengers, will be recreated on the replica ship
Café Parisien, for first class passengers, was designed to have the appearance and feel of a sidewalk cafe in the French capital
Titanic's 6ft deep pool (left) was filled with salt water after the ship had set sail from Southampton en route to New York
The original Titanic was the largest ship in the world when it set sail on its ill-fated maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912
Man Asks An Old Lady Why She’s Alone On A Cruise Ship. Her Response Shocks Him
About 2 years ago my wife and I were on a cruise through the western Mediterranean aboard a Princess liner. At dinner we noticed an elderly lady sitting alone waiting for her food in the main dining room.
I also noticed that all the staff, ships officers, waiters, busboys, etc., all seemed very familiar with this lady.
I asked our waiter who the lady was, expecting to be told she owned the line, but he said he only knew that she had been on board for the last four cruises, back to back.
As we left the dining room one evening I caught her eye and stopped to say hello. We chatted and I said, “I understand you’ve been on this ship for the last four cruises.” She replied, “Yes, that’s true.” I stated, “I don’t understand” and she replied, without a pause, “It’s cheaper than a nursing home.
So, there will be no nursing home in my future. When I get old and feeble, I am going to get on a Princess Cruise Ship. The average cost for a nursing home is $200 per day.” And THEN she said this:
“I have checked on reservations at Princess and I can get a long term discount and senior discount price of $135 per day. That leaves $65 a day for:
1. Gratuities which will only be $10 per day.
2. I will have as many as 10 meals a day (of fantastic food, not institutional food) if I can waddle to the restaurant, or I can have room service (which means I can have breakfast in bed every day of the week).
3. Princess has as many as three swimming pools, a workout room, free washers and dryers, and shows every night.
4. They have free toothpaste and razors, and free soap and shampoo.
5. They will even treat you like a customer, not a patient. An extra $5 worth of tips will have the entire staff scrambling to help you.
6. I finally get to learn how to salsa!
7. I will get to meet new people every 7 or 14 days!
8. TV broken? Light bulb need changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience.
9. Clean sheets and towels every day, and you don’t even have to ask for them.
10. If you fall in the nursing home and break a hip you are on Medicare; if you fall and break a hip on the Princess ship they will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.
11. There is always a doctor on board.
Now hold on for the best! Do you want to see South America, the Panama Canal, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, or name where you want to go? Princess will have a ship ready to go. So don’t look for me in a nursing home, just call shore to ship.
PS: And don’t forget, when you die, they just dump you over the side at no charge.”
The first next generation mega ship for a British cruise line has been ordered today for P&O Cruises.
US parent company Carnival Corporation signed an agreement for the 5,200-passenger vessel.
The new ship for P&O Cruises will be built by Meyer Werft at its shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, with an expected delivery date in 2020.
The vessel will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), an energy source claimed to be more environmentally friendly than traditional diesel fuel through reduced exhaust emissions.
Carnival Cruise Line will also take delivery of two similar 180,000 ton ships in 2020 and 2022.
The unnamed new P&O Cruises ship will carry significantly more passengers than current 3,637-capacity flagship Britannia, launched last year by the Queen.
At 180,000 tons, the new P&O Cruises ship will not be as big as the 227,000 ton Harmony of the Seas, currently the world’s largest cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International and capable of carrying 6,780 passengers.
P&O Cruises senior vice president Paul Ludlow said: “These are very exciting times.
“The number of British passengers taking a cruise in the past five years has significantly increased, boosted most recently by our very successful launch of Britannia last year.
“We know there is still huge potential as more and more people realise the value for money, choice and range of dining and entertainment options available on ships of all sizes.
“With an amazing range of itineraries, from two days to three months, there is a cruise to suit every budget.
“P&O Cruises is uniquely experienced in designing ships to meet the specific needs and aspirations of British passengers and the agreement by Carnival Corporation & plc to build a new ship of this size reflects all that our guests and prospective cruisers have been telling us and shows our confidence in the growth of the UK market.
“This ship will be the largest in the P&O Cruises fleet, will have a striking new exterior and interior design and will comprehensively embrace the company’s classic and iconic features. Innovative new guest experiences will be announced soon.”
In conjunction with the order, the delivery dates for new builds for AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises for 2020 will shift to 2021 to allow the company :to more effectively allocate measured capacity growth across its 10 global cruise brands in more markets throughout the world,” the global cruise company said.
Chief executive Arnold Donald said: "We are proud to be at the forefront of introducing LNG-powered ships to the cruise industry, working with our partners to achieve shipbuilding breakthroughs like this that will help us produce the most efficient and sustainable ships we have ever built.
"This is also an important step in our fleet enhancement plan that enables us to execute on our long-term strategy of measured capacity growth over time, while delivering innovative new ships that further elevate our already great guest experience.
“Every time we launch a new ship, we have a new opportunity to create excitement and show consumers why cruising is a great vacation at an exceptional value, especially for those who typically consider land-based vacations."
Bernard Meyer, managing partner of Meyer Werft, said: "We are excited to welcome P&O Cruises back to Meyer Werft in Germany and Carnival Cruise Line back to Meyer Turku in Finland.
“These new ships will be built in our most modern and environmentally friendly facilities, and we are very proud to design, build and deliver these ships that provide breakthroughs in innovation and for the environment."
SeaDream Yacht Club said the next cruise of the Sea Dream I, scheduled to depart Rome on Sept. 3, has been canceled.
The company confirmed that a fire broke out on the ship’s current cruise and passengers were disembarked at sea onto a high-speed ferry for transport to Naples. From there they were bused to Rome.
SeaDream said the small fire in the engine room was promptly extinguished and all guests and crew were unharmed.
SeaDream said the company’s marine and technical staff is evaluating necessary repairs of SeaDream I. The fire's cause is being investigated.
STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co aims to sell STX France, say media reports
STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co aims to sell STX France as part of a restructuring plan, according to media reports.
The South Korean company, which filed for receivership in May, reportedly told a bankruptcy court in South Korea that it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to help it sell its subsidiary STX France, and also said it plans to cut its staff in Korea by a third by the end of September this year.
STX’s creditors will decide in October whether to accept the restructuring plan, say media reports.
Previous sale attempts of STX France fell through in 2014 and 2015.
STX France was acquired by STX Offshore and Shipbuilding in 2009. The shipbuilder has a very healthy orderbook, with cruise ships on it including MSC Cruises’ two next generation Vista-class cruise ships and Celebrity Cruises’ Project Edge newbuilds.
It also built the world’s largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, which was delivered earlier this year, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed for a fifth Oasis-class ship.
Royal Caribbean this year spent $50 million renovating the Empress of the Seas for potential use in Cuba. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
Cruise lines are increasingly focusing their capital investments on renovating older ships as fleet sizes grow and attitudes evolve about the kinds of returns they get from new ships versus refurbished ones.
In Europe, where most new ships are built, 20.3% of what cruise lines spent at shipyards last year was for refurbishment, up from 5.7% in 2008, according to a new white paper from Seatrade.
Last year, Carnival Corp. spent more on improvement and replacement of its ships than it did building new ones.
For passengers and travel agents, that translates to having a broader selection of up-to-date vessels from which to choose and new features on older ships, not just on newbuilds.
Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 provides a recent example.
The QM2 pulled into its pier in Brooklyn in July after a $132 million “remastering,” one of the most expensive refurbishments ever undertaken. In 25 days at the in Hamburg, Cunard added 30 balcony cabins and 15 solo traveler cabins and completely redid a restaurant and lounge.
It also overhauled the King’s Court buffet restaurant, upgraded the Queens and Princess Grill restaurants and expanded the dog kennels, a feature unique to Cunard.
The atrium of the Ruby Princess, a ship that was refurbished last December. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
The QM2 was one of 40 cruise vessels renovated during the first six months of the year, according to the white paper, which estimated their combined cost of renovation at $1 billion.
That’s more than what the QM2 cost when it was launched in 2004.
There are several reasons why refurbishment is a growing business segment for shipyards.
For one, the fleets keep getting larger. There were 448 ships last year owned by CLIA-member cruise lines. Safety rules dictate that ships go to drydock at least once every five years. Since ships can have a useful life of 30 years or more, each one could get at least six refurbishments.
Some cruise lines are also slowing the pace of new construction. Carnival Corp., with 100 ships already, is sticking to growth of two or three ships a year. So the proportion of its capital spent on refurbishment is growing.
Last year, Carnival spent $981 million on new ships, chiefly the P&O Cruises ship Britannia, and $1 billion on ship improvements and replacements, according to its annual report.
Other cruise lines said the financial returns from refurbishments can equal or surpass those of newbuilds.
Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, has roughly doubled the amount budgeted for the dry-docking of Norwegian Cruise Line ships, to about $35 million per ship, according to the Seatrade white paper.
In comments to Wall Street analysts last November, Del Rio described it as an alternative strategy to simply churning out new ships to drive revenue.
“We think the return on invested capital on these kinds of choices outpaces the [return] and the payback of new vessels,” he said. “We’ve got billions of dollars invested in these ships. You have to maintain them at the highest standards if you expect to achieve these higher yields.”
As a result, all of Norwegian’s ships except one will undergo refurbishments between 2016 and 2018.
Norwegian and other cruise lines use drydock to add to older vessels features that have proven to be hits on newbuilds. This fall, Norwegian will add Margaritaville restaurants to the Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway after the concept was successful on the Norwegian Escape.
Carnival Cruise Line’s $500 million Fun Ship 2.0 program is largely about adding features to older ships that keep them competitive and consistent with its latest vessels.
“They’re looking to have a homogenous brand,” said Tony Peisley, a cruise industry analyst who authored the Seatrade paper.
Cruise lines also struggle with what to do with their oldest ships, which still have value but are no longer very competitive in North America. Ten years ago, they were often transferred to European lines, but as Europe has struggled economically that trend has been reversed.
Patterned gray carpet was installed throughout the Azamara Journey during its drydock earlier this year. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean International this year took back the Empress of the Seas from its Spanish subsidiary, Pullmantur, and spent $50 million renovating it for potential use in Cuba, an emerging market.
Also sailing to Cuba is the Adonia, an aging P&O ship that Carnival Corp. transferred to the Fathom brand following a drydock in March that included both technical work and some redecorating.
The Adonia was refit and made available to Fathom, in part, to find a use for a ship that wasn’t doing well for P&O.
“That’s what they’ve been doing, they’ve been refurbishing, not retiring,” said Vince Ciepiel, an analyst at Cleveland Research who has expressed concern about lines having too much capacity.
Peisley said cruise lines are loath to sell ships to competitors, because, “It’s not so much that they can’t get rid of them as they don’t want to sell them to their rivals. So that kind of limits their options.”
The Seatrade white paper identifies four levels of refurbishment, ranging from adding new paint and carpets at a minimal cost of between $4 million and $5 million to a redo the size of the QM2.
Most fall in the $30 million to $50 million range and involve a combination of technical upgrades, such as new air scrubbers, and retrofits of popular features, such as bars and restaurants.
While new ships are built almost exclusively in Europe, refurbishments are done there as well as in Canada, the U.S., Singapore and the Bahamas. This year, the Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport is by far the busiest yard, with 19 cruise ship drydocks on its schedule.
Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. both have a 40% ownership stake in the yard, which was founded in 2000, and its location cuts transit times for refurbishment of ships based in the Caribbean.
Will AIDA Cruises LNG barge’s hurdles hinder cruise LNG take-up?
Viking Grace Receives 1000th LNG Top-Up
by Rebecca Moore for http://www.passengership.info/
The regulatory challenges to launch LNG barge-based electricity supplies to cruise ships – initially to AIDA Cruises’ new ships ‒ at Port of Hamburg have been called a “total disaster”. But on the other side of the coin Viking Lines has proudly announced it has achieved 1,000 bunkerings of its ferry Viking Grace via LNG refuelling vessel Seagas.
The passenger ship industry is keen to implement the use of LNG as fuel or for coldironing, but could the struggles that LNG-powered Hummel bunker barge has faced be a barrier to the greater take-up of LNG by this sector, in particular cruise ships?
German shipowner VDR marine director Wolfgang Hintzsche told the CWC LNG fuels summit in Amsterdam a few months ago that Hummel's regulatory struggles have proved to be "a total disaster, from the point of view of legislation for LNG bunkering". He warned: “LNG-fuelled ships simply will not come to Hamburg if we cannot sort out our bunkering problem."
The project has been dogged by in-port restrictions, the barge’s operating permit requiring it to have an expensive harbour tug on standby, engines running, during loading and for Hummel to return to a night-time berth outside Hafencity after every loading, which requires tug assistance.
And Bomin Linde has long-standing plans to launch a small-scale LNG terminal at Hamburg that could include ship-based LNG bunker supply services. It, too, says it has taken "much longer than expected" to secure approvals for its plans.
But passenger ship operators should take heart from Viking Line’s announcement last week that its trailblazing LNG dual-fuelled Viking Grace has reached a milestone after achieving 1,000 LNG bunkerings in partnership with Swedish company AGA Gas AB since it was launched in January 2013.
Viking Line highlights the smoothness of the bunkering procedure, saying that it met its needs for bunkering to occur as quickly as possible, with no interruptions, with assured deliveries and without affecting cargo handling on the quay.
Indeed, Jan Hanses, president and chief executive of Viking Line said “both the technical solution developed by AGA and the vessel’s operation have outperformed expectations”.
And Jonas Åkermark, who is in charge of the LNG marine market at AGA Gas AB, said: “There is still heavy interest in the Seagas, our ship-to-ship bunkering solution and LNG as marine fuel both in Sweden and internationally. We have a well-functioning infrastructure solution in place in Stockholm and the possibility of bunkering more vessels.”
Obviously the two are very different projects and Hummel and Seagas meet different needs, but they both underline the importance of smooth processes and infrastructure if LNG is to be successfully taken up on a wider scale by ferries and cruise ships, either as fuel or for coldironing. Hopefully the regulatory challenges thatHummel is facing will be ironed out, and passenger ship operators can take heart from the success of Viking Grace and its bunkering vessel Seagas.
