The Greek ferry company Seajets is the new owner of the recently sold Holland America Line cruise ships ms Veendam and ms Maasdam. Once things get back to normal Seajets will enter the highly competitive cruise market with 3 cruise vessels in the fleet, as the company had already bought the cruise ship Oceana from P&O Cruises.
P&O Cruises Australia is extending its pause in cruise operations in Australia through December 2, 2020, as the company continues to take guidance from authorities, public health experts, authorities and society on restarting sailing.
After Carnival Corporation announced on July 29, that the company will be disposing additional two ships as part of non-cash impairment charge, it would appear that the next ship heading for scrapyard might be Carnival Imagination. According to the ship-tracking website Marine Traffic, Carnival Imagination’s reported destination is now set to the Turkish port of Aliaga with an estimated arrival at the scrapyard on 10th September.
Carnival’s UK-based brand Cunard announced extension of its pause in operations. The Iconic brand will resume sailings in March 25, 2021, with Queen Elizabeth; following Queen Mary 2 on April 18, 2021 and finally on May 16, 2021 Queen Victoria is expected to set sail with guests.
Costa Cruises announced today that the company has obtained RINA Biosafety Trust Certification, further enhancing health protocols for a responsible and safe restart of voyages in September, with Costa Deliziosa and Costa Diadema. As part of the safety protocols all guest bording the ships will perform the antigenic Covid-19 swab tests.
Costa Cruises released the latest update of the fleet restart with adjusted departure dates. According to the announcement, 5 Costa ships will set sail in August, starting with Costa Pacifica scheduled to depart from Genoa on August 21. Most of the new departure dates are adjusted by a day or two from the previously announced, as the company makes final preparations for the fleet restart.
MSC Cruises announced that the company received approval by Italian authorities to restart with limited voyages in the Mediterranean this August aboard MSC Grandiosa and MSC Magnifica.
The cruise ship Orient Queen, owned by the Lebanese cruise line Abu Merhi Cruises, sank in the port of Beirut after being hit by one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in human history. The ship which was about 300 meters from the explosion site was badly damaged and all efforts to save it were in vain. Expressing their deepest condolences Abu Merhi Cruises said the deadly explosion killed one crew member and one is still missing.
The Lebanese capital was shaken by a huge explosion at the port of Beirut on Tuesday evening, killing more than 100 people, injuring thousands, and causing massive damage to the city and the nation.
The Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten Cruises, announced today the company is temporarily suspending all expedition voyages on 3 ships including MS Roald Amundsen, MS Fridtjof Nansen and MS Spitsbergen.
