TUI Cruises has announced the expansion of its fleet with an order of two additional new class vessels.  The new units, which will be built by Fincantieri in the Italian shipyard in Monfalcone will be significantly larger than the previous new builds in the Hamburg shipping company. The size of 161,000 gross tons clearly exceeds the previous ships of the Tui Cruises fleet. In comparison, the latest “Mein Schiff 1" comes to 111,500 gross registered tons.

Norwegian Cruise Line confirmed the previously announced option to build the fifth and sixth ships of the Leonardo Class with the Italian Shipbuilder Fincantieri SpA.

The Police arrested two Syrian immigrants in the port of Rhodes, Greece attempting to leave the country illegally and travel abroad on a cruise ship. The incident occurred on July 4, at around 1:30 p.m. when the crew of the cruise ship Celebrity Reflection, spotted two Syrian nationals age 32 and 18, and alerted the port authorities.

Today July 9, at the Criminal Court of Marseille started the trial of the P&O Cruises captain on charges for air pollution. This is the first case of its kind in Europe, claiming that the cruise ship P&O Azura exceeded the legal limit on sulfur emissions while in the port of Marseille, France. If found guilty the master of the vessel faces up to a year in prison and a €200,000 fine.

Anti-Tourism activists in Spain have vowed to increase the protests in the region popular cruise destinations this summer because as they say over-tourism. Following recent developments, Royal Caribbean has issued an advisory letter warning its shipboard personnel to stay out of harm’s way. Here is the letter distributed by Royal Caribbean.

Dear At Sea employees,

A crew member on board the Cunard’s ocean liner Queen Mary 2 was evacuated due to a medical emergency and transported to a hospital on Friday evening.

A British stewardess was found dead in her cabin onboard the Superyacht “La Polonia” while the vessel was docked at the Italian port of Imperia. Rebecca Boyle age 32, was found dead by her fellow crew members after she celebrated England's World Cup win over Colombia. According to the police report, Rebecca tragically died by falling into her cabin and breaking her neck.

The number of people going on cruises is increasing dramatically all the time. In 2007 nearly 16 million people took cruises globally but this is expected to exceed 25 million by 2019. By comparison, marine accidents were reported to be responsible for the deaths of just over a thousand people in 2017.

A crew member was reported missing from the cruise ship Norwegian Gateway on Saturday, while the vessel was sailing 28 miles northwest of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Ships authorities contacted watchstanders at the Coast Guard 7th District Command Center at 3:20 p.m.

Cicero De Andrade, a crew member working as a bartender on the cruise ship MS Sovereign operated by Pullmantur Cruises went missing in Italy. The Brazilian national was last seen on June 20, after he disembarked from the cruise ship at the port of Civitavecchia. Cicero De Andrade is a 27-year-old male from Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.