Beihai Morning Shine, a Chinese cruise ship with 415 tourists, has arrived at Ha Long Bay. Quang Ninh province’s Tourism Department said this was a pilot sea trip from Beihai city in Guangxi province of China to the bay.
After the pilot trip, the Beihai-Ha Long Bay sea tourism service will be officially launched on July 24. The cruise, which can accommodate 800 passengers, will carry Chinese visitors to Ha Long Bay every two days.
At present, the Beihai-Ha Long Bay routes operate while Hainan-Ha Long Bay service has stopped operating until this August due to lack of passenger ships.
With the opening of Beihai-Ha Long Bay sea route, Quang Ninh province is expected to receive about 10,000 Chinese tourists each month.
Source: TT
Translated by Duy Minh A NEW ferry service linking Shetland with Norway and the UK could be running by the end of next year.
The provision of a "motorway of the sea" is being brought about by a joint venture comprising Shetland Development Trust, ZetTrans and Møregruppen AS (a mid-Norway public/private consortium).
Companies are now being invited to tender for the service with adverts across the EU. It is hoped to have a preferred operator in place by mid-October.
The Shetland Times Ltd.
KUALA LUMPUR 23 July - This from Lloyd's Register-Fairplay, 23 July 2007:
Gambling magnate KT Lim has reduced his effective ownership in Star Cruises following severe losses by Star's Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) brand. Resorts World, which is controlled by Lim's Genting Group, announced that it will sell a 14% stake in Star to
investment group CMY Capital for HK$2.6Bn ($338M) in cash within the
next three weeks. Previously, Resorts World had owned 34% of Star Cruises.
Resorts World said the sale was a "strategic decision to mitigate its
exposure to the volatile earnings of the Star Group", adding that the
disposal "is in the best interest of Resorts World". The decision follows
a $156.2M loss by Star in FY 2006, then a further $79M loss in 1Q07,
stemming from NCL's troubled Hawaii programme. The share-sale
announcement noted that CMY owner Dato' Chua Ma Yu held 4.85M Star
shares as of 30 June and that CMY will acquire 1.01Bn Star shares through the
Resorts World deal. The announcement asserted that while KT Lim is a
director in Resorts World, he is not a party to the proposed disposal and
is not personally connected to CMY or its owner, thus the sale is not
being deemed a related-party transaction." A traditional keel-laying ceremony has been performed for the
32,000-tonne Seabourn Odyssey, which will be one of the most sumptuous
ships sailing cruise holidays when completed.
The Yachts of Seabourn and T Mariotti SpA performed the ceremony in San
Giorgio Di Nogaro, Italy, over the weekend.
Pamela C Conover, Seabourn’s president and chief executive, put a US
silver dollar coin in the keel as the first section of the ship’s huge
hull was joined welded to it.
And Marco Bisagno, the president of T Mariotti SpA, put a newly minted
Italian one euro coin in the keel.
Ms Conover said: "Seabourn’s Odyssey Class vessels are being born of a
time-honoured Italian legacy, whereby innovative designers and skilled
craftsmen team to create objects of beauty that inspire and bring
delight to people over many years."
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
5:00AM Monday July 16, 2007
Hundreds of New Zealanders on a "holiday from hell" have been forced to
wait for flights out of Vanuatu because their storm-damaged cruise ship
will not return to Auckland.
The 1200 passengers on P&O's Pacific Star are still in Vila, after the
liner sailed through gale-force winds and swells of up to 10m shortly
after leaving Auckland on Tuesday.
During the storm 50-knot winds, with gusts up to 70 knots, damaged the
ship's bow and some of its windows and external doors, as well as
satellite equipment.
P&O spokeswoman Sandy Olsen said the bow was being repaired in Vila,
before the ship sailed to Brisbane, without passengers, for a thorough
inspection.
"The ship can sail, but we want to inspect it thoroughly, so we are
taking it to Brisbane." |
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