October

Charlston
The Fantasy is the main ship among nearly 70 ships that are expected to call by the end of the year on the port of Charleston, at the foot of Market Street downtown. Plans are for that number to increase to 90 next year, and about 100 once the State Ports Authority's planned terminal is built just upstream.Engine discharges aboard the Fantasy and other cruise ships docking here are handled more environmentally friendly than the little-treated sewage the ships discharge out at sea. So is a gangway full of garbage and other solid waste. more...

Turku
STX Finland Oy and Viking Line ABP have signed a preliminary agreement for the construction of an environmentally friendly, new generation cruise ferry for Viking Line. The agreement includes an option for a sister ship. The ship price will be about 240 million euros, and will be built at Turku shipyard for delivery in the beginning of 2013. The new cruise ferry will be the most environmentally friendly big passenger vessel to date. Even though it has not yet been decided the goal is to use LNG as the fuel. The ship has no marine emissions and its aerial emissions are extremely low. The cruise ferry is about 210 metres in length with a gross tonnage of 57.000GRT, carry up to 2800 Passenger.

Port Canaveral,FL/FloridaToday
For the past few years, from the $126 million fuel tank terminal to a $7.5 million parking garage and a $22 million terminal upgrade for Disney Cruise Line to the $1.5 million Inter-agency Maritime Operations Center, Port Canaveral has been home to some of the county's biggest construction projects. And today, Canaveral Port Authority commissioners are expected to approve moving forward with early work on another endeavor, a new terminal that could help generate future cruise business. more...

Vladivostok
Russian sea ferry Georg Ots will arrive on Saturday to the port of Vladivostok in Russia's Far East to serve as a floating hotel during the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. 
The passenger ferry Georg Ots is expected to arrive in Vladivostok on Saturday morning. The ship will become a floating hotel for the participants and guests of the APEC summit to be held in Vladivostok in 2012," said the Rosmorport company, the owner of the ferry. According to Rosmorport, the ship is expected to ferry passengers between Vladivostok and the island of Sakhalin and the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East prior to the APEC summit. more...

San Francisco became the first California port and one of only a handful in North America to provide clean shore power for cruise ships when Island Princess today plugged in at Pier 27. The city follows Juneau, which pioneered cold ironing for cruise ships in 2001, Seattle in 2005 and Vancouver, BC, in 2009. Los Angeles and San Diego are close to implementing hook-ups at their cruise terminals. Nine Princess vessels are currently outfitted to plug into a shoreside power source, an investment of nearly $7m in equipment alone.

Zug, Switzerland
Following a brief “shipyard stay“, sea chefs presents itself with a completely new online presence. Within clear structures and enhanced by a sophisticated design, we provide information on the focuses of our work: hotel and restaurant management on ocean-going and river cruise ships.
sea chefs has adopted a new advertising slogan: World. - Class. -  Team.
In this context: "World.” stands for service  -  “Class.” for group of companies and management, and“Team.” for job search and working on board. 
The section for job seekers has been redesigned in every aspect. Under the menu item “Team“, anyone who is interested will be presented with the best jobs on the water. Thanks to the useful search function, you will now find what you are looking for even faster - because the current job ads can be sorted by shipping company as well as by area of activity and position. Beyond this, it is possible to submit a speculative application and obtain detailed information concerning the requirements for working aboard a cruise ship. This encompasses exciting movies which enable the applicant to gain very personal insights into day-to-day working life on board. Have a look and apply on: www.seachefs.com

Piraeus
One of luxury line Regent Seven Seas' three ships, the 700-passenger Seven Seas Voyager, is experiencing a propulsion problem and will need to be repaired before it can sail again with passengers. A spokesperson for the line tells USA TODAY the seven-year-old vessel developed the problem on Sunday as it was preparing to depart from Athens on a Mediterranean cruise.
The voyage has been canceled.Regent says the Seven Seas Voyager will depart Athens on Oct. 6 for Genoa, Italy, where its propulsion system will undergo an assessment and repair in a dry dock. The line didn't give an estimate of when the ship would return to service.

Yesterday at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone there was the delivery of the Queen Elizabeth of Cunard Line, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc. Following the Queen Victoria, built in Marghera in 2007, the Queen Elizabeth is the first vessel Monfalcone shipyard has built for Cunard and the second "Queen" Fincantieri has delivered to the prestigious British brand.
At 90,400 gross tonnes the 294-metre long Queen Elizabeth is the second largest ship ordered to date by the owner since the Queen Mary 2, and is one of the largest panamax vessels, i.e. capable of passing through the Panama canal. In delivering the Queen Elizabeth Fincantieri further strengthens its high profile relationship with the British market, for which it has built 16 splendid ships. Since 1990 Fincantieri has delivered 56 cruise ships, of which 51 for the leading brands in Carnival Group. A further 9 vessels are due to be built at the Group’s shipyards within 2014.