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Corsica Ferries is further expanding its network in the Western Mediterranean. As of 21 April 2019, the Bastia-headquartered ferry company will add a seasonal service from Toulon and Nice to Trapani which will be operated up to three times per week.

Officials at the Murmansk Commercial Seaport are taking another shot at reducing the smog of soot that wafts into the city every time port workers load a ship full of coal bound for export to other countries. The “black attack,” as locals call the coal dust, has been a headache in Russia’s Arctic capital for as long as anyone can remember. In the winter it taints snow banks and ice, creating gray rivers of filth with every thaw. For the rest of the year, the coal paints a black crust on city windows and fouls the air. Local politicians have meanwhile petitioned Moscow to forbid the transfer of coal via Murmansk unless it is enclosed in something, instead of housing it in enormous heaps out in the open, but that has largely come to nothing, The problem has gotten so bad in recent years that Vladimir Putin himself last year said alleviating the coal dust in the air around Murmansk was one of his main priorities in a speech he gave in nearby Kaliningrad. https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/murmansk-port-experiments-with-screens-to-control-coal-dust

A general strike in French Polynesia has seen cargo stuck in the Port of Papeete following action by port workers. Port workers haven’t allowed any goods to leave the area unless they are perishable goods or pharmaceuticals, but the airport has been unaffected with only a sole worker on strike, according to reports, said Radio New Zealand. Five unions called for the strike to force the government to abandon its pension reform project, according to Radio New Zealand. The reform is due for debate on 21 September. A union leader reportedly said the strike would continue until the government engages in talks about both pension reform and the social security system. The reform was put on hold in April after protesters forced their way into assembly proceedings during a general strike.

Trawler Solombala (782 gt, built 1988), experienced fire, while undergoing its repair works in the Port of Archangel, at 0800 hrs, today. The fire broke out in one of the cabins on the vessel. Twenty eight personnel along with seven fire fighting appliances fought the fire, which was extinguished at 0850 hrs. The damages were restricted to the cabin measuring 3 metres x 4 metres. No injuries were reported by the crew members or the fire fighters

London, Sep 19 -- A press report, dated today, states: An earthquake of magnitude 5.8, struck the Western Province of Solomon Islands, just before midnight, local time, on Sep 18. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake's epicentre was located at a depth of 10 kilometres, about 48 kilometres east-southeast of the provincial capital Gizo. No Tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre. There are no official reports of damages, as of now.

Saga Cruises’ first newbuild boutique cruise ship is to be christened during a ceremony at the Port of Dover, UK on 5 July 2019. Spirit of Discovery will be the first vessel to be named at Dover in more than a decade, which will also make her the first to be christened at Dover Western Docks following a £250 million (US$330 million) redevelopment. “As the place that Saga’s first cruise ship set sail from more than 20 years ago, Dover was ‘the natural choice,” said Nigel Blanks, Saga’s COO.

The Coast Guard assisted in the rescue of four crewmembers from a shing vessel after it capsized near Sabine Pass on Tuesday morning. Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders in New Orleans received an emergency position indicating radio beacon signal from the 65-foot shing vessel Captain M&M, which provided an approximate location of the vessel, and launched an Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew. Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders launched a Station Sabine 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew and sent out an urgent marine information broadcast with the vessel’s location.

Pakistani officials confirmed Thursday that Saudi Arabia will make heavy investments in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a central pillar of China's international Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of infrastructure projects. “Saudi Arabia is the first country that we have invited to become a third partner in CPEC," said Pakistani minister of information Fawad Chaudhry at a press conference in Islamabad. "Saudi Arabia is expected to bring massive direct investments to the project." Pakistani media pegged the value of the Saudi assistance package at $8 billion, and suggested that the scope of work would include a major petroleum complex at the port of Gwadar. A high-level diplomatic delegation from Riyadh will visit Pakistan in early October to discuss details.

Polskie LNG says the cryogenic liquid container (ISO-container) was loaded with LNG on Thursday, September 20. The LNG terminal provides the service of loading road tankers with LNG. So far, over 3000 road tankers have been loaded at the facility and the popularity of this service is constantly growing. It has been the first ISO container loading operation in the history of the Świnoujście plant:

Odfjell Terminals entered into an agreement with Koole Terminals B.V. of the Netherlands (Koole) to sell its 100% ownership of Odfjell Terminals Rotterdam (OTR).The sale will generate USD 100 million of cash proceeds to Odfjell.

DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 20 (Reuters) – At least 42 people drowned when a ferry sank on Thursday in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria and government officials feared the final death toll could be more than 200, a senior local official said. Ukerewe District Commissioner Colonel Lucas Magembe told Reuters that the rescue mission to find survivors from the disaster had been halted until dawn on Friday with 42 people confirmed dead. Initial estimates showed that the MV Nyerere was carrying more than 300 people onboard. It went down in the afternoon just a few meters from the dock in Ukerewe district, according to national ferry services operator TEMESA said. But it was hard to establish the precise number of passengers on board since the person dispensing tickets had also drowned with the machine recording the data lost.

All four of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ ocean ships met in Cádiz, Spain on 10 September, marking the second time in history that the entire ocean fleet has been in the same place at the same time. Following on from the first four-ship meet in Bergen, Norway in July 2015, the Captains in Cádiz event saw Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch sailed into the Spanish port just before 8am. Their 4,000 guests were welcomed by the Los Sones de Cádiz band. Planned in collaboration with Cádiz Port Authority and various Cádiz and Andalusian tourism partners, the event enabled guests to tour the ships, participate in a ‘Siege of Cádiz’ themed treasure hunt, watch performances by live bands and Flamenco dancers, sample local produce and local sherry, and watch the crew competing in an inter-ship Tug of War competition. The celebration also enabled the fleet’s eight ship masters to meet up with one another and key executives, including the company’s chairman Fred Olsen

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - It's as much a sign of the changing seasons as the yellow leaves and bulky jackets: The last cruise ship of the year, in Anchorage, docked Monday morning and will leave about 10 p.m. the same night. The cruise industry as a whole is one of the bright economic spots in what has been a less-than-exciting past few years. "It is doing very, very well. The demand has stayed," Ralph Samuels, vice president of external relations for Holland America Line, said. According to the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation's 3-year outlook, growth in cruise passenger traffic this year and next will pump another $100 million into the Alaska economy, and push total summer visitor spending to well over $2 billion. Samuels calls this year a "record" and says next year will most likely be the same. "About 1.2 million, that will be a record year for cruise traffic this year," Samuels said, "next year will be probably 1.3 million. So it will be another record year." Samuels says that about 60 percent of the total traffic that arrives in Alaska gets here by ship. He says out of the other 40 percent, a quarter of those visitors have previously cruised to Alaska and have returned to the state on their own. "Alaska is a unique enough destination to be very different, but it is still affordable enough to go to," Samuels said.

Portuguese stevedoring unions are planning to stage a 24-hour strike on September 20, bringing the port operations in Leixoes and Lisbon to a halt. The strike period had started on September 10, and will last for a month, ending on October 8. However, the strike is only in force for the extra time periods except for the planned one-day stoppage planned for Thursday. Shipping companies are already feeling the impact and have announced measures. “This strike will unfortunately affect the normal activities in the ports of Leixoes and Lisbon, mainly vessel’s arrivals and departures

Australia’s new Antarctic icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, was floated in wet dock on Saturday at Damen Shipyards in Romania. It took two days to pump enough water from the nearby river into the docks, raising the water level six meters (20 feet) and floating the 10,751 ton ship about 30 centimeters above the dock floor. The ship is 25.6 meters (84 feet) wide and the dry dock is 35 meters (115 feet) wide. There’s about 10 meters (33 feet) of water in the wet dock, which will be enough to support the 16,000 ton weight of the ship when she’s completed.

The greatest project in the history of the Freeport of Riga — the Krievu Island Terminal — is entering into its final phase with the additional infrastructure works and construction of the required utilities, cargo areas, rail approach roads, a windbreak fence to meet environmental protection requirements, administrative buildings, and installation of coal handling technologies. The course of work creates confidence that all construction works on Krievu Island will be completed within the planned deadlines, the Freeport of Riga says in its press release.

Even before it has been officially opened, berth no. 4 at the Cuxport Terminal in Cuxhaven is already at work on its first offshore project. The new heavy-lift berth with a total capacity of 8.5 hectares of space is supporting Van Oord with the storage and transhipment of monopiles and transition pieces for Northland Power’s Deutsche Bucht windfarm, currently under construction in the North Sea. “By using the ship’s own cranes, it’s possible to complete the project without any shore crane. The fact that this new berth is being used for this project so soon after its completion shows how essential it is,” said Roland Schneider, head of business development at Cuxport.

angladesh Meteorological Department has issued marine warning, today, Sept. 20,2018. It asked the Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox?s Bazar, Mongla and Payra to keep hoisted local cautionary signal No.3, as the depression over East-central Bay and adjoining area moved west north-westwards and lies over the west-central Bay and adjoining area. It was centred at 0900 hrs, about 700 kilometres southwest of Chittagong port, 655 kilometres southwest of Cox?s Bazar port, 580 kilometres south-southwest of Mongla port and 575 kilometres south-southwest of Payra port. It is likely to intensify further and move in a northwestern direction. Under its influence steep pressure gradient persists over North Bay and adjoining area. Maximum sustained wind speed within 44 kilometres of the depression centre is about 40 kilometres per hour rising to 50 kilometres per hour in gusts/squalls. Sea will remain moderate near the depression centre. Squally weather is likely to affect the maritime ports, North Bay and adjoining coastal areas of Bangladesh. All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay have been advised to remain close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice. They are also advised not to venture into the deep sea.

Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Astoria made history during her inaugural visit to Poole this summer when she also became the largest ship to dock at the UK port’s new cruise berth since it opened in May 2018. The 160-metre-long Astoria berthed at the new £10 million deep-water South Quay, which can accommodate 220-metre-long ships and is said to be one of the largest port developments on the UK’s south coast in recent years.

On September 15, 2018, at approximately 2:45 a.m., Ferryland RCMP were called to a fishing vessel that was on fire. The vessel was docked at the Witless Bay Marina. Witless Bay Fire Department attended and extinguished the fire. The vessel was significantly damaged. There were no people in or near the boat. The Fire Commissioner's Office was contacted and attended the scene. The investigation is ongoing.