News

The 'Glen Sannox' berthed at Inchgreen on Feb 23 for pre-planned repair work, little more than a month after entering service between Troon and Brodick. The vessel's anchor gypsy chain wheels were replaced - something which was highlighted before she entered service for the first time on January 13 - while other remedial work.was also carried out. The ship returned to service on the main Arran route on the evening of March 2 after undergoing sea trials on March 1. The ship - intended to sail between Ardrossan and Brodick - will have to use Troon as its mainland port until major upgrade work is carried out at Ardrossan to accommodate the new vessel and its sister ship. The Scottish Government announced that money to bring the Ardrossan terminal - currently owned by private firm Peel Ports, which is also the owner and operator of the Port of Greenock and the statutory harbour authority for the Clyde - was being included in its 2025-26 budget. CalMac also admitted last week that services between Ardrossan and Brodick - which have been suspended since the 'Glen Sannox' entered service - would not resume until at least the end of April due to extended repair work on the route's usual vessel, the 'Caledonian Isles', which hasn't been in service since Jan 2024.

The SS 'United States', being towed by the 'Vinik No. 6', has arrived in Mobile, Alabama, on March 3, after completing the 12-day tranist from Philadelphia. The ship was maneuvered to a berth at the Modern American Recycling Services (MARS) facility in the port for the next phase of the effort to convert her into the world’s largest manmade artificial reef. Captain Mike Vinik, controlling the tug, had previously reported they were making better than anticipated speeds during the approximately 1,800-mile trip. Other than the initial bad weather near Virginia, it was a calm trip and Vinik maneuvered the liner inside the Gulf Stream to reduce resistance. The most spectacular image came as the cruise ship 'Utopia of the Seas', one of the largest cruise ships in the world, altered course for a rendezvous with the 'United States', which arrived off Mobile on the night of March 2 and waited for daylight about two miles off the coast, which the US Coast Guard had required for the dead ship tow. She entered Mobile Bay at midday, and was pivoted into her final position with the assistance of local tugs. The remediation team was ready to continue the efforts to prepare the ship. Removing the remaining fuel and cleaning her tanks is a priority. Externally the loose paint needs to be removed as well as other loose materials. The funnels, radar mast, and cargo kingposts are to be removed along with the windows and portholes. On the interior, all the contaminants need to be removed before final preparation for the reefing to the east near Destin, Florida. It will take up to about a year to make the preparations to reef the ship. Report with photos: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/liner-ss-united-states-completes-last-voyage-arriving-in-mobile

The 'Eurodam', carrying 158 passengers and crew members who had been infected with norovirus, returned to Port Everglades after a 10-day trip around the Caribbean on March 1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began monitoring the norovirus outbreak on the ship on Feb. 23. The CDC report stated 148 out of 2,057 passengers, or 7%, were sick. The illness affected 10 of 834 crew members, or 1.2%. Those affected by the illness reported experiencing vomiting and diarrhea, which was determined to be caused by norovirus. In response to the outbreak, the cruise line reported that it isolated sick passengers, upped its sanitization procedures and consulted with health officials to monitor the spread of the illness.

On Feb 2 at 10.57 p.m. the rescue helicopter from Aalborg evacuated a patient from the 'Crown Seaways', en route from Copenhagen to Oslo. The ferry was sailing north of Skagen, when the patient was hoisted. He was then flown to the hospital in Aalborg for further medical treatment.

The 'Poniente Jet' has cancelled all its departures on the Algeciras-Ceuta-Algeciras route on March 4, 2025. According to the Port Authority, the FRS Ferry company has made the decision to suspend all departures of the ship, arguing operational reasons that, so far, have not been detailed in depth. This cancellation added to the cancellations on March 3, that have affected the operation of the service. The Port Authority has urged those affected to be attentive to the updates that will be published on the official channels of FRSFerry and the port itself, in the hope that the situation will return to normal in the shortest possible time. The repeated cancellation of its departures raises questions about the effectiveness of the measures adopted to resolve the operational problems that have plagued the company. The port authorities continued to monitor the situation closely and undertake to report as soon as new details are available on the resumption of the service.