Newspapers are reporting that today the residents of Venice will protest the procession of over a dozen cruise ships which will sail through St Mark’s Basin. The Guardian states that a canal-bank protest is scheduled "over an invasion of up to 13 cruise ships in the space of 24 hours which . . . will turn
September 2013
Cruise Ship Bunker Fuel Coming to Your City: Benefits? It’s Cheap. Downside? Asthma, Cancer & Heart Disease.
A local CBS news station (WBZ) in Boston reports that although cruising is a popular vacation, there are significant environmental downsides. The massive cruise ships burn the dirtiest type of fuel in the world, even when they’re sitting in port.
There are schools, playgrounds and residences in the neighborhoods which surrounds the port in Boston.
Crown Princess Rescues Syrian Refugees in the Mediterranean Sea
The Daily Echo reports on the remarkable story of Syrian refugees rescued today at sea.
One of the unlikely heroes is the Princess Cruises cruise ship Crown Princess which responded to the plight of 158 refugees escaping the bloodshed in Syria in an un-seaworthy vessel consisting of 44 children, 20 women and 94 men. The…
“Why Ships Sink” Tonight on NOVA / PBS at 9:00 P.M.
Tonight at 9:00 P.M. NOVA will air "Why Ships Sink" featuring the story of the recent Costa Concordia and the 100 year old story of the Titanic.
I’m in the program, interviewed at the Port of Miami.
Costa Concordia: Finally Upright, What’s Next?
Lots of people thought that once the Costa Concordia was finally brought back from the dead and uprighted in Giglio, the cruise ship would be hauled off into the Italian sunset and taken to a scrapyard for dismantling.
That’s not going to happen anytime soon. As much as we all hope and dream that this…
Costa Concordia: The $800,000,000 Tilt
Its been an interesting two days watching the live streaming video of the "parbuckling" project which raised the stricken Costa Concordia out of the sea. The submerged, starboard side of the cruise ship, which has been underwater and resting on the seabed, is now strangely warped and disfigured.
It took some 19 hours to…
Costa Concordia Emerges from the Sea
Twenty months after the Costa Concordia crashed into the rocks and capsized off the coast of Giglio in a maritime disaster that killed 32 people and terrorized thousands others, the cruise ship emerged from the Mediterranean this morning following a spectacular "parbuckling" salvage effort costing over $800 million.
With many millions watching via live streaming…
Superfast Ferry Collides with Mein Schiff 2 in Italy – Minor Damage Reported
Newspapers in Italy are reporting that a collision took place in the port of Bari (Puglia) in the southest of Italy when a Superfast ferry struck the Mein Schiff 2 cruise ship.
Corriere del Mezzogiorne and La Reppublica (Bari) report that high winds up to 40 knows caused the ferry to break her mooring lines…
Costa Concordia Salvage Begins Now
Its been over 20 months since the Costa Concordia sailed into the rocks near the little port of Giglio. Thousands of passengers and crew panicked. 32 souls perished. 2 bodies of the dead remain in the sea.
Here is my first blog about the disaster. Little did I know just how bad the…
Bahamas Cruise Crime Controversy Continues: Is the Carnival Warning Adequate?
Newspapers in Nassau continue to cover the bickering over whether Carnival Cruise Line should be warning its passengers about the high rate of crime in the Bahamas.
In an article last week, we pointed out the criticism leveled against Carnival by the Atlantis mega-resort that Carnival’s warning letter provided to cruise passengers had the…
One More Day Before the Costa Concordia Rises from the Sea
Monday morning the much talked about "parbuckling" project will finally start to try and raise the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship from the port of Giglio.
I have clicked on the web cams at the port of Giglio hundreds of times since January of 2012 to see what has been happening with the…
Port of Miami Security Guards Arrested for Stealing Cruise Passenger iPads
The cruise industry promotes the safety and security of cruising by telling the public that all luggage is carefully x-rayed before being loaded onto cruise ships.
Post 9/11, the concern that terrorists may target cruise ships led to the implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code which requires that all cruise…
Loyal to Royal? Royal Caribbean Axes 100 Jobs in Corporate Headquarters
The rumors of job terminations at Royal Caribbean ended yesterday when multiple news sources announced that the Miami-based cruise lines cut around 100 employees from its payroll.
Seatrade Insider was the first publication I read yesterday about the large scale termination at the cruise line’s headquarters. Its article entitled Royal Caribbean Global EVP Bauer is…
Cruise Law News’ Four Year Anniversary: Have You Read Our Stories?
This week marks the 4th year anniversary of starting my blog Cruise Law News (CLN).
I’ve written 1,585 articles, which averages out to be over one per day. We have received over 4,700 comments to our articles, mostly from U.S. readers. Google Analytics tell us over 1,000,000 different people have read over 3,500,000 pages of…
22 Year-Old Passenger Disappears From Hjaltland Ferry
BBC News reports that a 22-year-old ferry passenger disappeared while sailing from Lerwick to Aberdeen yesterday. The young man was aboard the MV Hjaltland and was last seem early in the morning around 4:00 A.M.
An air and sea search, after the passenger was not located on the ship, was initiated but was unsuccessful.
BBC…
Overboard Ferry Passenger Rescued in Puget Sound
A number of news sources are reporting that a woman who apparently jumped from a Seattle-based ferry yesterday into Puget Sound has been rescued by the Coast Guard.
The M/V Wenatchee was reportedly crossing from Bainbridge Island to Seattle’s Colman Dock when the women went overboard. A witness who observed the woman in the water…
Three Cruise Lines Plan to Return to Mazatlan: Will They Provide Bullet-Proof Jackets to Passengers?
The L.A. Times Travel Section reports today that three cruise lines have announced that they plan to return to crime-plagued Mazatlan.
First, Holland America Line’s Veendam will return in November. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Star will return in December. The third line, Azamara, will sail the Quest to Mazatlan in February 2014.
In 2010 and 2011…
Atlantis Discourages Carnival from Warning Cruise Passengers of Crime in Nassau
A dispute has erupted in Nassau whether cruise passengers who disembark in the Bahamas should be warned of the risk of violent and often deadly crime.
In response to the widespread violent crimes and high homicide rate in the Bahamas, Carnival Cruise Line finally began warning its passengers of the crime problems ashore before the…