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http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35403/press1.html Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:02:25 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35403/press1.html On Waves Awarded Fleet wide contract with MSC Cruises to provide on board GSM connectivity. On Waves Ehf, the leading maritime mobile services provider, announced today that it has been awarded a Fleet wide contract that covers all MSC Cruises ships. The agreement covers ten vessels and will include additional vessels in the future. On Waves services will enable voice, SMS and Data connectivity in so far uncovered by terrestrial networks areas at open seas. Further, On Waves services will include Crew Calling pre-paid cards, live on board generated informative messages and live TV and Video transmission over compatible GSM mobile phones and devices. "This major agreement is a milestone in the industry and we are very proud to participate by offering our maritime GSM and CDMA services to the passengers of MSC Cruises," said Constantin Simeonidis, CEO for On Waves. "To have the trust of an organization like MSC Cruises which operates in several countries in Europe and in the US is a great endorsement of the reliability of our maritime GSM and CDMA services and we are highly honoured to participate into MSC Cruises commitment to bring the best of the mobile technology to their guests." Mr Emilio La Scala General Manager of MSC Cruises welcomed the introduction of ON WAVES to the fleet. He said it has become a welcome innovation to the company's electronic communications inventory, particularly with the growing demand by passengers requiring reliable, fast communication. He said the initial trials had proven to be a fleet-wide success, particularly because of the ease of use and availability of telephone, data and video facilities for passengers and crew. ABOUT ON-WAVES EHF On-Waves is a subsidiary of SIMINN, formerly known as Iceland Telecom, headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland. SIMINN has been providing roaming services to the maritime market since early 2003. On-Waves acts as the maritime GSM service provider for Iceland's national telephony provider, SIMINN, a company with 1,200 employees, a market value in excess of US$1.2B and over 450 GSM roaming agreements. In order to provide maritime GSM services, SIMINN has undertaken major investments and has secured extensions of all its terrestrial Roaming agreements into maritime domain. On-Waves and SIMINN are fully compliant with GSM Association standards and regulations. On Waves currently provides service to 35 vessels, both cruise ships and large ferries, operating in Europe, the Caribbean and the southern hemisphere and has a significant backlog for additional vessels. On Waves offers also its services into merchant marine to enable crew welfare on board. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/it/iso-travel-solutions/press6.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:34:58 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/it/iso-travel-solutions/press6.html ISO Travel Solutions at the Arabian Travel Market At this year's ATM in Dubai ISO introduces for the first time ever their new "ISO Dynamic Travel Components" strategy in hall 1, stand TT 345, from 6-9 May 2008. ISO has developed several new solutions as fully web based systems. All developments are done as Java components (J2EE) and thus can be used web-based and integrated in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). As a result ISO can offer a new tour operator solution (Pacific), a travel web portal with full SAP integration (Atlantic) and a Customer Relationship Management System (Emerald). ISO has developed a new IT solution for tour operators called "Pacific". This is a software kit that allows tour operators to adapt the system to their individual needs. It has an extremely fast performance, is web- and component-based built on a service-oriented architecture. Modern Booking Kernel, engineered for high volume load and optimal system performance Multi GDS Engine for the flexible connection to external flight, rental car and hotel systems Adaptable Internet booking engine 100% Java Components, based on Standard J2EE Application, Server completely browser based Developed with automated quality assurance tool (nightly regression tests, code coverage analysis Model driven, automated code generation Oracle database Absolutely independent, because of usage of open source ATLANTIC FOR THE SAP MARKET ISO is hospitality solution provider for SAP and offers with Atlantic (powered by SAP Netweaver) the perfect integration of touristy components in worldwide SAP standard solutions. Atlantic is also based on ISO Dynamic Travel Components and is perfectly qualified for tour operators who already use SAP or are planning to use it. For many years ISO has been developing SAP based solutions for international airports. Now, ISO continues this successful strategy in the tourism sector and any company using SAP or interested in using SAP can get a tourism IT solution, in connection with SAP ERP. As a member in the SAP Advisory Group Platform Thought Leadership Council ISO is in the position to test and use newest technologies within the SAP platform. The SAP Netweaver Enterprise Portal provides a consistent user interface for all tour operator workflows and allows optimised and highly integrated operations. The SAP Web Application Server guarantees scalability and reliable availability also with heavy load transactions. With the purchase of the majority shareholding of the German Faber Castell Consulting ISO made another consistent step for providing not only professional software and consulting services for customers using SAP, but also offering hosting services for SAP solutions in tourism. A new Service Oriented Architecture approach to a component based CRM for tour operator and tourism portals ISO furthermore presents the newest release of Emerald, the CRM solution especially designed for the tourism industry. Emerald is now also based on the components of the ISO Dynamic Travel Components framework. Powerful campaign management functionalities, the perfect integration of tour operator solutions and an improved business partner management top the new release of Emerald off. SOFTWARE SERVICE STRATEGY FOR SME (SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES) IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY Furthermore ISO announces a new software service strategy for small and medium sized enterprises in the tourism and hospitality industry. ISO's solutions are already used by many renown companies all over the world, the customer list includes the Emirates Group, Etihad Holidays, TUI, Thomas Cook, Amadeus, Air Canada Vacations, to name but a few. In the past ISO's main focus was on the large players in the market, mostly because these organizations have their own IT teams and infrastructure to handle the comprehensive solutions from ISO. These solutions are state-of-the-art systems for tour operators, airlines, hotels, etc. They offer a tremendous functional scope and automate up to 80% of all processes of a tourism company. Due to their complexity the systems had required a local installation and a local IT team to administrate and manage the solutions. This made it rather hard for smaller and medium sized companies to fully benefit from these solutions as well. Secondly, ISO is now also in the position to offer hosting services for all solutions. This means all systems are hosted in ISO's own environment in Germany without any need for local installation on the users' PCs. Thus any organization of any size can get easy access to the market-leading solutions of ISO. The user only needs a web browser and can use any function from any place in the world. With this new strategy ISO aims at the hundreds and thousands of smaller and medium sized businesses all over the world in the tourism industry. Especially in the growing Asian and Middle Eastern markets. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36596/press1.html Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:43:54 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36596/press1.html CONVOTHERM Best Combi Steamer for Cruise Line CONVOTHERM combi steamers are made in Germany for customers all over the world. They are specially designed for galleys for cruise vessels, passenger and freight ferries, naval ships, luxury yachts and merchant marine. CONVOTHERM is the technical market leader in combi steamer with the unique +3 feaures: The energy saving Advanced Closed System (ACS) with Crisp&Tasty function automatically maintains humidity levels based on the type of food being prepared while providing faster cooking times than other combi ovens. The Crisp&Tasty function keeps moisture inside of food while producing crispier, perfectly-browned appearance and texture. The patented disappearing door makes the kitchen safer by eliminating the need to reach over or walk around oven doors. The Press&Go function desired result by push of a button! It couldn't be simpler: Superior quality - at just the press of a button - guaranteed any time and every time. CONVOTHERM means user-friendly. The latest highlight of CONVOTHERM is the new easyTOUCH. easyTOUCH is the new keyword for user friendliness with the CONVOTHERM Hot Air Steamer Series +3. The simple and unique operating guidance of the new easyTOUCH reveals completely new possibilities for today's chef. Presented on a large colour display with touch screen. Self explanatory, direct navigation with a finger tip - that is the way. Behind the word easyTOUCH much more than an easy operating guidance is hidden. With the countless active and interactive possibilities easyTOUCH turns into a service provider for the user. Starting with automatic diagnosis programs which send error messages as a pop up. Even the upload of your own product pictures right onto the touch screen is as easy as can be with the new easyTOUCH. Meet us at the Sea Trade in Miami - German Pavillion. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36595/press1.html Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:32:12 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36595/press1.html Getting Home Safe How can cruise shipping manage the issues of size? New ships being planned today will carry well over 8,000 people. How can they be kept safe and evacuated if there is a fire, collision or grounding? IMO has set down new regulations which are aimed at protecting core systems and allowing the ship to get safely to port after an incident. MSC82 agreed amendments to SOLAS which detail the casualty threshold concept that is the amount of damage a ship must be able to withstand and still safely return to port. The amendments also provide regulatory flexibility so that ship designers can meet any safety challenges the future may bring, extending the alternative design provisions implemented in Ch II-1 and III. These new concepts of casualty threshold, safe return to port capabilities and safe area will apply on new ships having length of 120m or more, or having three or more main vertical zones. Although the amendments come into force in 2010, it is ships under project now which will have to comply, to give series builders time to gear up. There are two key areas which class, authorities, owners and yards will have to work on. The first is to improve redundancy. There will have to be more systems and better boundaries between systems, so that the ship can maintain power and movement even after sustaining quite bad damage. And there will have to be a much greater focus on risk analysis to clearly examine and define what the risks are, opening the way for innovative solutions to layout and construction which will raise casualty thresholds. Bureau Veritas is already working on these concepts, applying its extensive experience of risk analysis in many industries. And BV is also a class leader in the Safecraft working party, which is setting criteria to evaluate new, high capacity evacuation systems. Size can be managed, and big ships can be safe, but there are some big challenges ahead for everyone in cruise shipping. Bureau Veritas is one of the largest classification and certification society worldwide (2nd in terms of number of ships classed: 8,000 in 2008). Its interventions are carried out by more than 1,200 exclusive marine surveyors located in 330 survey centers in 140 countries. The objectives of Bureau Veritas are to improve and maintain maritime standards of safety, security, quality and protection of environment in providing a large range of services in the maritime field: Classification of ships and offshore units Certification and issuance of statutory certificates on behalf of more 125 Government and Flag authorities Technical assistance services and consulting by its subsidiary Tecnitas Information systems and services with its VeriSTAR familly software and its specialised website Training facilities in the marine technical and regulatory field Bureau Veritas class around 16 per cent of the new passengerships under construction , with some significant orders being a fourth 1.275 cabins Musica-class cruise liner for MSC to be built at Aker Yards St Nazaire, and two 65.000GT cruise vessels for Oceania Cruises at Fincantieri Sestri with delivery in 2010 and 2011. Another significant order was the ro-pax vessel for Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, 950 passengers and 1,500 lane meters to be built for the first time at Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd. Deliveries in 2007 included the 2,550-passenger MSC Orchestra, which was built at Aker Yards, St Nazaire as the second of now four sister ships. It is already in service in the Mediterranean cruise trade, where its Comfort Class and CleanShip notations are proving their worth in practice. Aker Yards St Nazaire is currently building two 3,300-passenger vessels of over-panamax size to BV class for MSC Cruises, the MSC Fantasia and the MSC Splendida. They will be the first cruise ships with BV's highest environmental notation, CleanShip-Super-AWT, when they are delivered in November 2008 and spring 2009. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36593/press1.html Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:17:04 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36593/press1.html Becker Marine Systems Delivers Rudder Systems for World's Largest Cruise Ships Becker Marine Systems is the leading and most innovative maritime supplier of high-performance rudders, rudder systems, Automated Material Handling (AMH) and communication systems for all kind of vessels. The German based company currently equippes six of the world's largest cruise liner new buildings under construction at Aker Yards St. Nazaire in France and Fincantieri in Italy. The order includes two high-performance TLFKSR® twisted flap rudders for the Mediterranean Shipping Company as well as two TLFKSR® rudders for Norwegian Cruise Line. The new cruise vessels MSC Fantasia and MSC Splendida will have a length of 296.0m, a breadth of 32.92m, a capacity of carrying 3,900pax and will be finished in November 2008 and March 2009.The cruise ships newbuildings for NCL will be 304.2m long, 37.0m wide and will be due to delivery in 2010. Additional twisted rudders TLFKSR® with a size of 25.5m². each will be produced for the Superliberty class vessels of Carnival Cruises, currently under construction at Fincantieri. The MS Carnival Dream and MS Carnival Magic with a length of 304.2m, a breadth of 37.0m and a draught of 8.2m will carry 3,652pax. The orders of Becker's twisted flap rudders TLFKSR® underline the company's success in combining both, the manoeuvring and the innovative demands. The TLFKSR® rudder system is suited for best manoeuvring performance at low speed due to flap, but also suited to minimise cavitation erosion due to incorporation of the twisted leading edge. Further benefits of the TLFKSR® are reduced fuel consumption, reduced risk of vibration and low installation height. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36591/press1.html Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:55:49 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_36591/press1.html Cutlery Made in Spain Arcos Hermanos S.A. is the first Spanish company and one of the most important at an international level in producing high quality cutlery for professional and houseware use. Founded in 1875, the company owns several plants in the province of Albacete (Spain) with an important team of more than 500 people and a total surface of around 30.000m². We produce more than 600 different items and more than 70.000 pieces per day. Additionally, we have the most modern machinery and equipment, including the highest technology in robots for the cutlery production, updating them continuously. The objectives of ARCOS are clear: quality, design, service to our customers and environment protection. ARCOS has a market share in Spain of 40% and from the total turnover a 60% goes to the export and a 40% to the local market. We now export to more than 60 countries and our aim is to continue the increase of the export market, being present in the most important international shows for catering, gifts and household, as well as different investments in advertising and marketing. Our company also has the Quality Certificate UNE-EN-ISO 9001:2000 granted by ENAC. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/it/iso-travel-solutions/press5.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:30:23 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/it/iso-travel-solutions/press5.html World Premiere at the ITB Additionally to its existing out-of-the-box tour operator systems OCEAN, TOPIX and Canary, with the Pacific platform ISO Travel Solutions breaks a completely new technological ground for the future IT landscape of companies in the tourism sector. Pacific is the new product name for the ISO dynamic travel components. Pacific can be used by tour operators as 'Software-Kit' with several so-called 'Services'. These services are well-developed software components, which cover all necessary tasks of the daily work of a tour operator. Each service fulfils an individual task, simply speaking for example Base Data Management, Booking Kernel, Business Partner Management, etc. Thus, the combination of all these services forms a complete full-scale tour operator system. The additional great benefit of the new technology, is the fact, that a tour operator does not have to use all these services, if they are not needed. Instead, each tour operator can select the services that are actually needed and that should be used. This way the installed system will be tailor made to the operator's need, and the costs will also be reduced to the absolute minimum. The concept of this software kit was developed based on the newest technologies with the focus on highest system performance, all that of course web-based. As a result Pacific can be used by tour operators of any size and volume and can be configured according to their individual needs. Some technical and functional highlights of Pacific: Modern booking Kernel, engineered for high volume load and optimal system performance Multi GDS Engine for the flexible connection to external flight, rental car and hotel systems Adaptable Internet booking engine 100% Java Components, based on Standard J2EE Application Server completely browser based Developed with automated quality assurance tool (nightly regression tests, code coverage analysis, etc....) Model driven, automated code generation Oracle database Absolutely independent, because of usage of Open Source Frameworks PACIFIC: FIRST CUSTOMERS The Jumbo Group decides in favour of the new platform Pacific from ISO. The components are completely implemented in Java, highly scalable, web based and allow quick connection of new distributors through their sales-channel-management. "Njoy Portugal" (Portimao, Portugal), a destination information portal for Portugal, decides in favour of the new internet booking engine and other components of Pacific provided by ISO Travel Solutions. Njoy Portugal realizes the enormous changes in the landscape of tourism and opens each market participant the possibility to sell their services such as standard airport transfers or Formula 1 tickets for daily updated prices. With a set of tools, starting with XML interfaces for packaging, white label solutions up to affiliate solutions, Njoy Portugal will be in a position to provide an additional source of income to different meta search engines, travel agencies, tour operators and even online magazines. The new tour operator solution of ISO called Pacific already stands on the international reference list of Amadeus when it comes to tour operator solutions with Amadeus connection. ISO furthermore presents the newest release of Emerald, the CRM solution especially designed for the tourism industry. Emerald is now also based on the components of the 'ISO Dynamic Travel Components' framework, now. Powerful campaign management functionalities, the perfect integration of tour operator solutions and an improved business partner management top the new release of Emerald off. The Hurtigruten Group ASA decided in favour of Emerald 2.1 and becomes the first major customer of the new product version which will go live in the second quarter of 2008. AMADEUS USES CRM COMPONENTS FROM ISO Amadeus has chosen CRM components from ISO and already integrated them in their middleware. ISO therewith continues its successful partnership with Amadeus not only in Germany but also at international level. The first productive use is planned for the first quarter 2008 in Germany. Amadeus considers CRM as a central element in the further development of its distribution channel 'Amadeus Selling Platform' to a marketing and retail solution for their currently 380,000 users worldwide. ISO provides with Atlantic (powered by SAP Netweaver) the perfect integration of touristy components in worldwide SAP standard solutions. Atlantic is also based on "ISO Dynamic Travel Components" and is perfectly qualified for tour operators who already use SAP or are planning to use it. For many years ISO has been developing SAP based solutions for international airports. Now, ISO continues this successful strategy in the tourism sector. As a member in the SAP Advisory Group “Platform Thought Leadership Council” ISO is in the position to test and to use newest technologies within the SAP platform. The SAP Netweaver(R) Enterprise Portal provides a consistent user interface for all tour operator workflows and allows optimised and highly integrated operations. The SAP Web Application Server guarantees scalability and reliable availability also with heavy load transactions. With the purchase of the majority shareholding of Faber Castell Consulting ISO made another consistent step for providing not only professional software and consulting services for customers using SAP, but also offering hosting services for SAP solutions in tourism. International tendering for Atlantic confirms ISO strategy The high interest of internationally operating tour operators in Atlantic and the integration of SAP standard systems such as SAP FI (accounting) confirms ISO in its strategy to combine highly specialised components with reliable standards and best practices in consultancy to a user-specific solution. ROTTERDAM, HOLLAND: TRAVEL TREND CHOOSES ISO Travel Trend decides in favour of Atlantic. The specialist for long-distance journeys with high demand on flexible product design needs to be optimally supported by its reservation system. "ISO Dynamic Travel Components" are integrated within the SAP Netweaver Enterprise-Portal. New components such as a multi CRS Engine permit the online flight connection of Worldspan and optimally support the activities of Travel Trend. OCEAN/CANARY The tour operator solutions OCEAN/Canary were extended by online connections to the flight rate system QPX as well as to Dancenter. An online car rental connection is being developed at present. The Amadeus flight connection, which is already existing for several years now, is currently being adapted to the new web services interface. Additionally, ISO developed an export and print functionality for price tables, an internationally applicable packaging IBE as well as the master data export to Traveltainment. For tour operators specialised in group or cruise travel, the handling of sub-allotments as well as the graphical seat reservation was extended. Furthermore new automatisms monitor the allotment status and request further allotments from the service providers if necessary. Likewise different airline reporting procedures (PNLs) have been developed which are used e.g. by a new customer called Sub Aqua Tauchreisen (Munich). Due to new customers in Romania, Abu Dhabi and on the Cap Verde Islands, the system becomes further on more internationally. In addition, ISO has current projects in South Africa and USA taking in consideration country specific adaptations. HOTEL SOLUTION MONACO MONACO was extended by a 2-way-OTA-connection to reservation systems as well http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35404/press1.html Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:51:10 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35404/press1.html BP Marine's Role in SEA Card Helps Win US Government Award BP Marine has collected its third accolade after the innovation of its SEA Card - Ships' bunkers' Easy Acquisition Card - solution was recognised by the US Government. Created as a solution to the US Defense Energy Support Center's (DESC) search for a more efficient marine fuel procurement process, SEA Card played a significant role in the Government Fuel Card Program winning the 2007 David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award. The award honours superior Department of Defense acquisition teams and is named after the late David Packard, founder and chairman of Hewlett-Packard and later, deputy secretary of defense. The Government Fuel Card Program team received the honour for making the acquisition system for air, fleet and sea fuels more efficient, responsive and timely. Acting Undersecretary of Defense John J. Young Jr said: "This is our most prestigious team award for acquisition excellence. It recognises teams that demonstrated exemplary innovation and best acquisition, technology or logistics practices." When the Government Fuel Card Program Office was formed in 2006, the AIR and Fleet Card programs had been active for 10 years, but SEA Card was still just a concept. Today SEA Card - through the expertise of BP Marine and its partner, international transaction processor Multi Service Corporation - provides a secure on-line order management system to fuel Navy, Military Sealift Command, US Coast Guard and Army vessels. Users can order, receipt and pay for fuel electronically at commercial ship refuelling merchants worldwide. The simple, yet secure auditable process has led to the ordering of more than $200 million in ships' bunker fuel annually. Jointly, all three programs process around 900,000 transactions every year for approximately $750 million of services. BP Marine's first award of 2007 came in May when its innovative seawater scrubber technology Krystallon - a joint venture with Kittiwake Developments Ltd, won the Protection of the Marine and Atmospheric Environment award at the Seatrade Awards 2007. The only marine exhaust gas scrubbing unit in commercial operation today, Krystallon was recognised for its work to make shipping more sustainable. With marine environmental legislation tightening, its technology, which brings about a massive reduction in ship emissions including 100% sulphur oxide gas removal and 80% particulate removal, is playing a critical role in helping shipping companies manage their emissions levels. In September, BP Marine won the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) second annual Bunker Award in recognition of its commitment to quality standards, quantity assurances, customer satisfaction and overall contribution to the Singapore bunkering industry. BP was the largest bunker supplier by volume in 2006, and is now committing to increasing its oil storage capacity in the port. This year it expects to see Singapore bunker sales hit 30 million metric tonnes (mt). http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/waste-management/aco-marine/press2.html Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:34:01 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/waste-management/aco-marine/press2.html ACO MARINE Grease Separation Systems for AIDA Cruise Liners ACO Marine, part of the ACO Group of companies, received enquiries for galley water systems from the shipyard Jos L Meyer GmbH in Pappenburg for their new AIDA cruise liner (3,100 people on board, 250 m3/day of galley water). To meet the customer requirement ACO Marine offered their automated grease separator, the LIPATOMAT NS15. The shipyard recognised the LIPATOMAT's unique features and in particular that, unlike most other separators, the LIPATOMAT range does not need to be fully discharged at regular intervals. Grease and/or sediments are separated within the process and then disposed of separately without interrupting the operation of the unit. This allows separate handling of grease and sediments on board and greatly reduces the overall space requirement. Grease on cruise liners is usually burned in an incinerator with the sediments being stored separately prior to discharge ashore. The LIPATOMAT system usually discharges grease, sediments and treated water on a gravity flow-through principle but for AIDA it was necessary to pump these waste streams to independent tanks against a 3-5m discharge head. To meet this requirement ACO Marine developed a bespoke solution comprising the automated LIPATOMAT 15 grease separator, a pumping station for treated galley water connected to an outlet from the grease separator and two progressive cavity pumps directly connected to the grease and sediment outlets. All components were mounted on a common frame, piped and wired complete with integrated system control panel. This compact modular solution greatly simplified the shipyard's installation of the grease separation system on board the vessel. ACO Marine have been working closely with the shipyard for a number of years and received orders from Jos L Meyer GmbH for this grease separation solution on board the three AIDA class of vessels with the last shipset being delivered in October 2007. ACO Marine is concluding discussions with the shipyard for further vessels in the class after the yard received new orders. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_33498/press1.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:35:06 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_33498/press1.html Adamarine to Work With Two Major Cruise Line Operators Adamarine are working alongside two major cruise operators in providing their crew with medical care in Turkey. Adamarine manage every stage of the patient care process from beginning to end, including transportation, lodging, arrangements of medical visits, independent examinations or second opinions, distribution of entitlements and training of medical staff. The company have also launched a new service called "Supplier Accreditation Program" aimed at assisting Ship owners in the profiling and auditing of prospective suppliers in their jurisdiction. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_32076/press1.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:02:32 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_32076/press1.html Air-Conditioning and Ventilation Technology from Noske-Kaeser Ready for the Perfect Climate Hamburg based specialist in air-conditioning and ventilation technology, Noske-Kaeser, has developed CabinCon, a new serial of a fan coil unit. Due to the new room control unit, the room temperature can be adjusted individually - the passengers will enjoy an excellent and extremely silent air-conditioning. The air volume can be regulated in three steps or - as an option - stepless and is adapting automatically to the room ambient conditions. Installation is very quick and easy, because the CabinCon is compact and with a weight of only app. 18 kg much lighter than comparable units. The fan coil will be delivered ready for operation. The CabinCon is a state-of-the-art unit: due to the possibility of visualisation, the room parameters can be adjusted remotely at any time - by the commanding persons of the ship, for example. The new CabinCon is designed for a long and low operation cost product life cycle. Consequently, strong environmental aspects are considered and the unit can be recycled nearly completely. Actually, Noske-Kaeser is engaged in delivery and installation of sophisticated air conditioning and ventilation plants on the next three new club ships to be built for Aida Cruises at the Papenburg shipyard of Meyer Werft. The cruise liners are to be delivered up to 2009. For the first time ever so-called fan coils will be used for the air-conditioning of public areas on such cruise ships and largely replace conventional air conditioning and ventilation of inside rooms through air conditioning centers and ducts. The internationally operating Noske-Kaeser group develops and manufactures system solutions in the fields of air-conditioning, ventilation, refrigeration, piping as well as fire fighting and NBC protection systems. Worldwide, merchant and naval vessels, cruise liners and yachts, rail and special purpose vehicles are equipped with plants and units made by Noske-Kaeser. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35405/press1.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:56:55 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35405/press1.html New Actionair Marine Fire Damper Designed for World Wide Application Ruskin Air Management has launched an updated and improved version of the successful Actionair A-60 Marine Fire Damper. Units are now available in an extended range of sizes from 100mmx100mm up to 1m square, with the option of multiple units to meet the needs of even larger applications. Actionair's A-60 Marine Fire Damper was the world's first to achieve the coveted USCG-EU MRA Certification. Every unit also bears a stainless steel plate showing the distinctive 'ship's wheel' logo that symbolises Marine Equipment Directive compliant (MED) approval and an individual number so that it can be tracked throughout its life cycle. Other key approvals include Lloyds EC Type Approval (Module B), Germanischer Lloyd Approval, Lloyds Certificate of Fire Approval and American Bureau of Shipping Certification. Ruskin has achieved major success with the Actionair A-60 Marine design - particularly with builders of fast ferries and luxury yachts. Orders have been won from both European yards, including those in Italy and Germany, and as far afield as Australia and Chile. PURPOSE DESIGNED Purpose designed for application in marine and offshore projects, Actionair A-60 Marine Fire Dampers provide a complete solution for fire safety requirements in association with ventilation and A/C systems. All units are corrosion and vibration tested. In its latest enhanced format the Actionair A-60 incorporates an electric actuator option with a 60 second reset time, an LED indicator on the Electrical Thermal Release (ETR) and a more versatile Pneumatic Thermal Release (PTR) design - which takes only three seconds to rest! A-60 Marine Fire Dampers feature aerodynamic, stainless steel interlocking opposed blades, operated by a 'failsafe' spring mechanism. 'Failsafe' is achieved by means of a unique and patented Electrical Thermal Release (ETR), which operates automatically at 72oC, or if the power supply is interrupted. A manual test switch permits periodic operation of the damper for test purposes, simulating actual 'failsafe' release under fire conditions. A green LED lamp is now built into the ETR housing - giving clear and simple visual confirmation that the actuator is receiving power, the ETR is correctly fitted and the thermal fuse is intact. A-60 Marine Fire Dampers are available for use with both rectangular and circular ductwork. They can be used in systems with maximum pressures up to 1500Pa and duct velocities to 15m/s. Models are suitable for both vertical and horizontal applications with airflow in either direction. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_32461/press1.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:49:12 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_32461/press1.html Hamburg Cruise Center New tourist attraction for Cruise Passengers in the Port of Hamburg With a grand opening, the first mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Ole von Beust, inaugurated this morning the BallinStadt museum. He was assisted by Duane Butcher, consul general of the United States of America, Michael Behrendt, executive chairman of the Hapag-Lloyd AG and Dr Werner Marnette, executive chairman of the Norddeutsche Affinerie AG About 650 guests attended the festivities, which took two hours and were filled by speeches and music played by the state orchestra of Hamburg. The Museum of Emigration, called BallinStadt museum, is located on the peninsula Veddel amid the Port of Hamburg. Visitors are able to experience emigrant's way of life at the original historical scene. Over 150 years ago the emigrants started from here for a new world far away. To reconstruct the past, the visitors can walk through six different theme halls, where all phases of emigration, from leaving home, crossing the Atlantic to the arrival in New York and the beginning of a new life are presented in an engaging, interactive form. The world's most comprehensive database, featuring more than 600 million entries enables visitors to research the emigration history of their ancestors. About 58 million Americans have German ancestors. For the cruise passengers the BallinStadt museum is an attractive point of interest. Either as a pre or post program, as well as a shore excursion during a transit call, it is easily to reach from the Hamburg Cruise Center. It takes 15 minutes by boat or 10 minutes by bus. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35409/press1.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:24:29 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35409/press1.html Baltic Bunkering Company - Meeting the Challenges of Bunkering in St Petersburg Baltic Bunkering Company (BBC) was founded in St Petersburg in August 1995. Backed by strategic alliance with Petersburg oil terminal, the biggest oil storage facility in the northwest Russia, the company succeeded to create reliable and high quality bunkering service. Today, BBC is one of the biggest and most dynamic companies amongst bunker suppliers in St Petersburg. The company supplies high-quality bunker fuels including low sulphur products. All the fuels are closely monitored and controlled to ensure that they meet ISO 8217:2005 standards. BBC has a wide experience of bunkering all type of vessels: reefers, bulkers, container ships, tankers and, primarily, passenger ships. Significantly, operational passenger ships are amongst the most difficult to cater to, and subsequently not all of the suppliers in St Petersburg work with them: besides the short stay in port, their need for large quantities of supplies, restrictions regarding quantity of bunker barge moorings and minimum pumping rates, stringent restrictions and even interdiction for bunkering during night time serve to excacerbate the already challenging list of considerations. The BBC, however, has many years of experience in catering to the bunkering needs of passenger ships docking in St Petersburg. Client vessels supplied by the company include cruise ships belonging to operators such Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Costa Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Silversea Cruises , Cunard Cruises, Holland America Line , Seabourn Cruise , Fred Olsen and Saga Cruises. BBCs business development plan is dictated by the certain principles key to the port services industry - the company does not drive ahead; they make sure that they keep up to date and conform to the development plans of the city as a whole as well as the port business at large. BBC currently have a team working jointly with the management of the St Petersburg oil terminal on a new investment project - the construction of a specialized bunkering area on POT territory. It is no secret that in Russia the State is the lynchpin in business. It is evident that no one private company could solve large-scale problems on its own. BBC highly appreciate that the development of sea transport infrastructure became one of the State priorities in praesenti. Russia is now seeing new ports and new trans-shipment terminals being developed in the Baltic Sea region and prolific development of the sea port of St Petersburg itself. Last year the presentation of the reconstruction concept of the main ship channel of the sea port of St Petersburg was made. The fact is that, at present, because of the narrow ship channel, our port cannot receive modern sea-going vessels with a deep draught. The reconstruction will make possible a draught for calling ships from 11.6m up to 14m, will make the navigation in the harbour safer and increase the quantity of port calls by 19%. It will lead to a port turnover increase from 57.5 million tons up to 70-90 million tons per year. An important capacity increase of the container terminal has already been announced. In addition, the plan for the construction of a new passenger terminal and its design-project were ratified. The new terminal will be situated at Vassilievsky Island and it is planned to complete construction by the end of the year 2009. Current estimates are that the capacity of this passenger terminal will reach 12,000 tourists per day. Our port becomes more accessible, more attractive for tourism and shipping. All this will have an inevitable effect on the bunker market of St Petersburg. According to our initial estimates in the near future, as soon as big modern vessels start to call the port, we shall see a considerable increase in bunker market volume. Baltic Bunkering Company is planning to meet the standards necessary to work at the new level of business and to be high on the list of bunker suppliers in St Petersburg. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35406/press2.html Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:30:37 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/atzlisting/2037_35406/press2.html Introducing FUJIFILM Hunt Smart Surfaces' Duplex Fouling Realease System Fouling of marine surfaces by barnacles and other organisms that attach to ship's surfaces is an expensive and challenging problem for all seafaring vessels. Whether pleasure boats or commercial shipping, the added weight and increased drag caused by these biofoulant organisms reduces speed, increases fuel consumption and necessitates significant downtime and increased maintenance expense. Equally challenging is developing a coating that resists fouling, but does not pose a risk to the environment or to human health. Until recently, the universal approach to this problem relied on anti-fouling coatings applied to surfaces that contain biocides (poisons) in order to kill the marine growth. Unfortunately, all such coatings are toxic and recent international legislation has established that use of such coatings containing Tributyltin will be prohibited by the year 2008. In addition, other coatings containing Copper are under increased regulatory scrutiny. FUJIFILM Hunt Smart Surfaces, LLC is now proud to introduce its Duplex fouling release system technology. Our non-toxic solution is a patented, thicker, stronger, more effective silicone-based coating that causes marine organisms to release from surfaces. A solution that will not only save the sea, but also save your budget. NOT ALL FOULING RELEASE TECHNOLOGIES ARE CREATED EQUAL! Conventional systems can be vulnerable to wear and tear from debris in water or from contact with other structures. Our Duplex fouling release system is proven to be 20 to 50 times more durable than other fouling release coatings, providing steady long-term performance. In addition, our Duplex tie coat formula incorporates nanotechnology for unique synergy of four layers - two epoxy anti-corrosion layers and a tough protective silicone topcoat, which are effectively interlocked by a unique thermoplastic elastomeric tie formula that forms a molecular bond. The synergy among the four creates superior adhesion, which is far greater than anything currently in use. This patented solution unites durability, longevity, clean-ability, reparability and cost-effectiveness in a single product. With the phasing our of toxic antifouling coatings, our non-toxic Duplex System offers increased fuel efficiency, decreased maintenance costs, decreased downtime and total compliance with environmental regulations - all at the lowest release speed in the industry. Smart reasons to choose Smart Surfaces: Non-toxic, environmentally friendly - no heavy metals or biocides. VOC Compliant. No EPA reporting under FIFRA Maintenance savings - labor intensive scraping is eliminated, and cleaning processes are streamlined Superior release - removal by water jet with normal pressure or by self-cleaning with constant water flow Efficient release range - 12 knots - 43 knots Fuel savings - 6 to 10% reduction in fuel consumption Easy to apply - applied with conventional airless spray equipment Strength - unique technology that enables use on high speed vessels Superior bio-fouling protection is also compatible with superior environmental and cost protection. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/ports/tor-shipping Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/ports/tor-shipping Tor Shipping Tor Shipping, resident in Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, operates domestically and internationally focusing on four inter-related areas: ship management, port agency, chartering and ship brokerage. FAROE ISLANDS SHIP MANAGEMENT Tor Shipping manages administrative details for owners of ships registered in the Faroese International Register of Shipping - FAS. Currently, Tor Shipping represents and manages tankers, dredgers and offshore vessels for ship owners that have taken advantage of the many benefits of FAS. FAS has proven to be an excellent alternative to other ship registers in the region. It offers less bureaucracy, a simple registration process, and many favourable terms and conditions. Tor Shipping offers full-scale or partial ship-management services, flexibly responding to the needs of our clients. There are no restrictions as to the type or function of vessels that we manage. FAROE ISLANDS PORT AGENCY Many Faroese commercial activities are highly dependent on shipping as a consequence of our geographical location and the importance of the fishing industry to the economy. Tor Shipping plays an active role in facilitating these commercial activities as a trustworthy and conscientious agent for all types of vessels calling at Faroese ports. In recent decades, more and more cruise ships have arrived to explore the pristine waters of the Faroe Islands. In the relative small harbour of Tórshavn, the sight of a large cruise ship overlooking the old Viking thingstead can be quite astonishing. Over the years, Tor Shipping has had the honour of welcoming and assisting many such ships with their visits to the Faroe Islands ‐ playing a crucial behind-the-scenes role in helping to ensure that passengers have a pleasant and memorable visit. Tor Shipping offers 24-hour port agency service to all types of vessels calling at Faroese ports. FAROE ISLANDS SHIP CHARTERING Chartering is another area of expertise where Tor Shipping can be a service to you. Our many years of experience enable us to respond to your needs within the short timeframes typical of the chartering business. We look forward to meeting your chartering needs. FAROE ISLANDS SHIP BROKERS Tor Shipping offers ship broker services for the sale or purchase of all types of vessels on the international market. Our brokerage client list is varied and we have handled, for example, guard vessels, inspection vessels and ferries. However, as a natural consequence of operating in a society relying heavily on fisheries, we are predominantly involved in sale and purchase of fishing vessels. Our varied selection of vessels for sale range from dredgers to passenger ships. PORT OF TORSHAVN Well protected not only by its natural setting, but also new breakwaters, Torshavn harbour is safe and easy to call - even in bad weather. The harbour is 8.8m deep and the tidal range is 0.5m. Vessels with depths exceeding 8.8m may anchor in the Torshavn roads. Torshavn is a full-service port - ships, crews and all necessary services that might be required are available. Tor Shipping's office is situated in the heart of Torshavn - a five-minute walk from the harbour. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/shipbuilding/metizoft Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/shipbuilding/metizoft Metizoft Metizoft provides planned maintenance software and spare part control systems designed for the shipping market. Since the 2006 proposal of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) environmental shipping guidelines, 'The Green Passport', Metizoft's focus has shifted to the development of complete software solutions relevant to this policy. We meet the international software requirements of both new buildings and ships already in service. GREEN PASSPORT CERTIFICATION Sustainable ship management is often directed towards achievements on operational performance. The remainder cycles, those associated to building and disposal, are often ignored. The Green Passport certification is awarded to ship owners once they are able to account for all potentially hazardous materials on board, and document the information in an inventory. Successive ship owners will be obliged to maintain the accuracy of the inventory, with the final owner delivering it with the vessel to the recycling yard. SHIP CONSTRUCTION INVENTORY SOFTWARE Metizoft offers a complete inventory software tool to the shipyard during the stage of construction. This allows each component used in the building work to be linked, if necessary, to those materials posing a potential health or environmental hazard. Our software then follows the ship throughout its working life, being updated accordingly. COMPLIANCE TO HAZARDOUS-WASTE MOVEMENT CONTROLS Another advantage of achieving the Green Passport through Metizoft is that the inventory is demonstrative of transparency, as public awareness increases on environmental concerns and the certification indicates reliability. The inventory service will assist in ensuring compliance to legislative requirements on the control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous materials and waste. It improves safety and health and lowers environmental risks The Metizoft software assists ship owners in the construction of cleaner ships, during the operational stage. The package offers a complete overview of all present hazardous substances during maintenance, repair, refitting and rebuilding. CREW AND SUPPLIER COURSES AND 24-HOUR SUPPORT Metizoft also provide courses for crew and suppliers, and assistance of the company's purchase department. We collect the information and implement it into a database, and Green Passport documentation is customised for each new building. Additionally, we will provide suppliers with updated forms according to the existing IMO regulations. We deliver a complete inventory list with the location of all affected components, quantity and declaration of contents and hand it over to the classification authority (Det Norske Veritas) for final approval. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/onboard/next-gaming Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/contractors/onboard/next-gaming Next Gaming Next Gaming provides a wide range of gaming equipment including slot machines, automatic roulette machines and gaming tables as well as gaming chips and seating. Next Gaming will meet all your casino needs from live gaming, accessories, electronic gaming, design and set up, to full operations management. LIVE GAMING TABLES Gambling, gaming, entertainment - this is a casino&squo;s world. Next Gaming offers a wide choice of tables for live gaming, to satisfy every operator and player&squo;s needs. Blackjack Poker Punto Banco Roulette Roulette wheels Display and electronic equipment Table games layout CASINO ACCESSORIES AND SUPPLIES Next Gaming: more than just games. We create a wide range of accessories for casinos, including: Cards Chips and plaques Signage Seatings A STEP FORWARD: GAMING AS NEVER BEFORE We look at gaming as a whole new concept which integrates solid quality, bright ideas and concept design. Next Gaming is a Swiss based company offering a "turn key" solution for all your casino needs. We create value for our customers and affiliated partners by introducing creative design, top quality gaming equipment as well as innovative concepts in management and casino operations. Next Gaming stands for distinctiveness and excellence, recognized industry expertise and an attractive return on investment for our customers. ELECTRONIC ROULETTE AND SLOT MACHINES Next Gaming knows that the best casinos have not just tables, but also electronic roulette and slot machines that are more than just coins and wins: Next Gaming&squo;s roulette and slot machines are designed with electronic precision and also have the possibility to be customized. So, do not let them just spin! Our slot machines feature metal chrome cabinets with the latest releases on the market. Different models and sizes can be even customized according to every casino&squo;s needs Our electronic roulette tables are the height of technological perfection. Their unique ergonomic design provides effortless playing for the two roulette models: either with the eight fixed playing stations or a modular layout. CASINO MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING Next Gaming is also able to supply all kinds of services, following all customers from the start. Casino design Casino operations and strategic management Recruitment and training Marketing and communication Risk assesment and risk management Casino brokerage and business valuation Casino auditing All consulting services guarantee the best performances of their activity: from the design of the hall, to the management of the entire business according to marketing and auditing strategies. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/projects/norwegian-gem/ Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/projects/norwegian-gem/ Norwegian Gem In mid-2005 Norwegian Cruise Line Corporation (NCL) announced a new ship order with Meyer Werft, in Germany, for delivery in October 2007. "Once this tenth ship is delivered in October 2007, over 75% of NCL's inventory of beds will be on ships less than eight years old." The 93,500t vessel, which will be called Norwegian Gem (hull S.670), will have 15 decks and a capacity of 2,400 lower berths (1,200 cabins). It will be a sister ship to Norwegian Jewel, which was delivered in August 2006. The contract price for the ship was approximately $510m. This new order will be the tenth big new ship to join the NCL fleet since the fleets modernisation began in late 1999. Once this tenth ship is delivered in October 2007, over 75% of NCL's inventory of beds will be on ships less than eight years old. Purpose-built for freestyle cruising, Norwegian Gem will comfortably transport 2,400 guests and over 1,000 crew at a speed of 25kt. FACILITIES The ship will have over ten restaurant options from steakhouse to sushi and family friendly accommodations with a full range of kids and teen facilities and clubs on-board. The ship also offers guests a wide array of public bars and lounges, extensive sports and fitness activities and staterooms designed with rich cherry wood finishing. The Bora Bora Health Spa and Beauty Salon is operated by Mandara Spa, which fuses eastern and western-style treatments. The sports deck is open for basketball, volleyball and tennis. The onboard Body Waves Fitness Centre features state-of-the-art equipment, a hydrotherapy pool and classes. The ship features a wired internet cafe and a photo gallery with special kiosks for making digital prints. The ship will also feature a rock wall climbing facility and a bowling alley. RESTAURANTS Passengers can use any of the restaurants, including Cagney's Steak House, Blue Lagoon, Mama's Italian Kitchen, Tangos (tapas bar) and NCL's signature restaurant, Le Bistro. The main restaurant, Tsar's Palace, has a Russian theme with gold ceilings, shining chandeliers and ornate balustrades reminiscent of Faberge eggs. Dancers add to the ambiance at the Asian-inspired Chin Chin and pop art punctuates the scene at Azura. Bars and public lounges are available throughout the ship; these include Bar Central, Shaker's Martini & Cocktail Bar, Magnum's Champagne and Wine Bar and the Maltings Beer and Whisky Pub. The ship also features the unique Sky High Bar (a beer garden that looks like a hot air balloon). STATEROOMS Staterooms feature a vast array of amenities, including rich cherry wood finishing, television, refrigerator, safe, duvet and bathroom with shower and hair dryer. Suites and penthouses feature floor-to-ceiling glass doors and a private balcony. "The ship will feature a range of exclusive decks and cabins, which is in effect a restoration of the 'class' system on cruise ships." The ship also features the unique Garden Villas accommodation (570ft²), featuring a living room, dining room, three separate bedrooms, each with king- or queen-size bed, private luxury bath and CD/DVD library. One bedroom has a full bath with tub and shower. A butler and concierge service is available. There is a private courtyard area with pool and sundeck. A new category of staterooms called Courtyard Villas features floor-to-ceiling glass doors, private access to a courtyard with pool, sundeck, hot tub and cabanas, steamroom and fitness equipment. The two deluxe Owner's Suites (pearl suites) (685ft²) offer a private balcony, living room and dining room, separate bedroom with a king-size bed and a luxury bath with separate shower. Again there is a private courtyard area with pool, hot tub and sundeck. Norwegian Gem's range of exclusive decks and cabins are, in effect, a restoration of the 'class' system on cruise ships. There will be a total of 540 staterooms and suites with private balconies. MEYER WERFT In June 2006 at the Papenburg ship yard, one of a total of 67 steel blocks of the Norwegian Gem was put into place on the keel blocks. Mr Loui Keong Hui, son of Tan Sri Lim, Chairman of Norwegian Cruise Line, was at the ceremony to lay the traditional 'lucky penny', before the 350t, 20m long, 27m wide and 9m high block was laid. The ship's length overall will be 294.13m, the breadth is 32.2m. The ship will be able to reach a speed of more than 25kt. The ship's construction will use the latest laser welding and laser cutting technologies. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/projects/fantasia/ Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/projects/fantasia/ MSC Fantasia MSC Cruises will add several new ships to their fleet in 2008, including the lastest in its 'Musica' class of Panamax vessels (the MSC Poesia) and its largest ship ever ‐ the MSC Fantasia. "Both the MSC Fantasia and MSC Serenata will offer an exclusive privately accessed area; the 'Happy Island'." The MSC Fantasia (along with its sister ship, the MSC Serenata -debuting in spring 2009) will be the largest ships commissioned by a European ship owner to date. At 133,500grt, 1,093ft long and 125ft (37.9m) wide they offer a passenger capacity of 3,900 (1,650 cabins) with 1,313 crew. The vessel will have 17 decks. 80% of its cabins will be outside and 95% of those will have balconies. The standard balcony cabin will measure almost 16m², plus bathroom and balcony. The MSC Fantasia is scheduled for deliverey in the latter part of 2008 and will sail alternating itineraries between the Canary Island and Egypt. It will have four pools including the fleet's first ever pool-with-sliding roof (Magrodome) and will feature a brand new concept ‐ exclusive areas of the ship. SPECIAL FACILITIES Both the MSC Fantasia and MSC Serenata will offer an exclusive privately accessed area; the 'Happy Island'. A boutique-style option offering a dedicated concierge, a panoramic lounge, its own private galley, private swimming pool, private elevator and solarium and direct access to the wellbeing centre. There will be 90 suites, each with a balcony plus butler service, exclusive to the guests of this area. The MSC Fantasia and MSC Serenata will also offer a three-dimensional cinema, a 16,146ft² spa, a sports bar and 6,000m² of restaurants, including a specialty restaurant and a 24-hour Tex Mex venue. Public spaces will stretch over 27,000m² and offer, among others, a main show lounge with 1,700 seats and a panoramic disco on deck 16. CONSTRUCTION The ship is being constructed by Aker (Chantiers de l&squo;Atlantique) at the St.Nazaire yard in France, recently acquired from Alstom. The MSC Fantasia will have an 8.5m (27.8ft) draught so that it can be manoeuvred into relatively shallow waters at small ports (an ocean liner like the Queen Mary 2 has the deepest draught at 32.6ft). APC Power Conversion has been awarded a contract to supply electric propulsion systems for the two MSC Cruises vessels. Both liners will each be equipped with two synchronous motors with 20.2MW supplied through synchro converters. APC's scope of supply will also include the propulsion transformers, advanced digital propulsion control and a remote control system. "The vessel will have 17 decks. 80% of its cabins will be outside and 95% of those will have balconies." The coin ceremony for the MSC Fantasia took place in April 2007; two gold coins from the shipyard and the owner were welded into the keel. The ship owner's coin was from Mrs Rafaela Aponte, a member of the Aponte family who own and operate MSC Cruises. An acclaimed pianist, she parted with a much loved gold coin she won as first prize from the Conservatory in Geneva. This follows MSC Cruises history of naming their ships along musical themes. The Fantasia's interior design is by De Jorio Design International (architects Marco and Giuseppe de Jorio) of Genoa, a leading Italian company in the architecture and interior/exterior design sector for cruise ships. http://www.worldcruise-network.com/projects/costa-luminosa/ Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.worldcruise-network.com/projects/costa-luminosa/ Costa Luminosa Costa Crociere SpA is an Italian company based in Genoa and is part of Carnival Corporation. Their fleet includes a total of 15 ships in active service and eight on order. "She will boast 772 cabins with private balconies, out of a total of 1,130 cabins." The Costa Luminosa will be a sister ship to the Costa Serena. The Luminosa, at 92,700t, is slightly smaller than the 114,000t, 292m Serena, which can accommodate 3,780 guests in 1,500 cabins. The Serena launched in may 2007. The Luminosa is being constructed by Fincantieri Maritimo and is scheduled to come into service in April 2009 (the ship was ordered in 2006). The estimated building cost is around $550m. Since 2003, Carnival Corporation has invested a total of &uro;3.5bn ($4.7bn) in Italy, placing orders with Fincantieri for new ships. Costa Cruise&squo;s total capacity is now about 23,200 berths in double-occupancy cabins. When the last of its new build ships (including Costa Luminosa) is delivered, its 15 ship fleet will have a total capacity of more than 30,800 passengers, double-occupancy. CONSTRUCTION The Costa Luminosa will feature a host of new design and innovative features, such as a golf simulator, covered pools, new design spa, and a lot of space saving features. "The 'Samsara Spa' [will be] one of the largest spas at sea at over 23,000ft²." When completed, the Costa Luminosa will measure 292m in length, with a double occupancy capacity of 2,260. In addition, she will boast 772 cabins with private balconies, out of a total of 1,130 cabins, making her the Costa fleet member with the highest percentage of balconied cabins (68%) and particularly suited to cruises with spectacular itineraries and picturesque scenery. A sister ship to the Luminosa, which is as yet unnamed, will debut in March 2010. In April 2007 Costa named its newest ship at the cutting of the ship's first plate in Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard in Venice. Pier Luigi Foschi, Chairman and CEO of Costa Crociere, said: "With the arrival of the Costa Luminosa, and the other ships now under construction, not only will we have Europe&squo;s largest fleet, but it will consist of a varied range of liners in terms of size, features and style&ellip; This way, we will be able to further diversify our offer and continue to propose new destinations every year. The Costa Luminosa and her sister ship will be the result of a brand new design concept, whereby ‐ rather than size ‐ we have concentrated on combining the best aspects of our product, such as wellness, exclusive itineraries, art and top quality cuisine, which are especially popular more and more with our guests." CRUISE FACILITIES The Costa Luminosa will feature the pick of the most recent innovations introduced on Costa's ships: the 'Samsara Spa' one of the largest spas at sea at over 23,000ft², a central pool area extending over two decks fitted with a retractable magrodome and a giant movie screen, as well as a Grand Prix race car driving simulator. In addition she will feature several exclusive innovations introduced for the first time on the Costa fleet, including a golf simulator. The interiors are being designed by the architect Joe Farcus, and will offer total comfort and state-of-the-art facilities, with guests able to walk around all of the passenger decks from bow to stern.