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SHIPPING NEWS 2009
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Officially LOUIS MAJESTY
July 2: Although word has been out in Europe for the past couple weeks, Louis Cruises officially announced today that its 40,876 gross ton, 1992-built, 1,790 passenger M/V NORWEGIAN MAJESTY will be renamed LOUIS MAJESTY when the ship joins the Louis fleet on December 4, to assume the Genoa and Marseille-based program of cruises currently operated by the MV CORAL (ex CUNARD ADVENTURER, SUNWARD II, TRITON). Laid down as BIRKA QUEEN and completed for Miami-based Majesty Cruise Line as ROYAL MAJESTY, the ship was sold to NCL in 1997 and renamed NORWEGIAN MAJESTY. In 1999, NORWEGIAN MAJESTY was expanded with the addition of a 33 meter midsection at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, sold to Louis Cruises in 2008 and subsequently chartered back to NCL to complete her scheduled program. The LOUIS MAJESTY has two pools, six international restaurants and nine bars and lounges as well as a double deck show lounge.

Commenting on the enhancement of both the fleet as well as the own brand cruise programs, Mr. Costakis Loizou, Louis Group Executive Chairman, stated: "LOUIS MAJESTY's acquisition and imminent commencement of her cruise program under the owner's brand operations, forms yet another solid step in materializing the company policy for the continuous upgrade of its product and services. The addition of MV LOUIS MAJESTY, a contemporary cruise liner, to the fleet substantially increases the annual number of passengers who choose Louis Cruises. Her deployment from the ports of Genoa and Marseilles, where Louis Cruises' cruise programs enjoy great success and continuous development, is indicative of the company's growing strength in the international cruise market and its further establishment as a major cruise operator in the Mediterranean".

Fisheye photo of what will become QUEEN ELIZABETH at Monfalcone shipyard of Fincantieri. Photo courtesy Cunard Line.

QUEEN VICTORIA's Sister
July 2: In a formal keel laying ceremony at the Monfalcone shipyard of Fincantieri near Trieste, Italy, today, the first blocks of Cunard's future QUEEN ELIZABETH were laid in place. Weighing 364 tons, a section of six pre-manufactured blocks, fitted with an additional 104 tons of pipes, cables, insulation and other equipment, are the first evidence of the new ship, which when completed, will measure 92,000 gt and be delivered in September 2010. Her maiden voyage is planned for October from Southampton.

Mega Yard Opens
July 2: The world's largest shipyard (measured in physical size) has opened at Changxing Island in Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province. STX (Dalian) Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the STX Group from the Republic of Korea (ROK), have not revealed the cost of the yard. Able to build two ships each with a dead weight tonnage of 320,000 simultaneously, the yard has a dock 460 meters in length.

CARNIVAL DREAM in dry dock. Photo Maurizio Eliseo 2009.

CARNIVAL DREAM in dry dock. Photo Maurizio Eliseo 2009.

CARNIVAL DREAM off the coast of Trieste. Photo Maurizio Eliseo 2009.

Revving Up The DREAM
July 1: The newbuilding 130,000 gt CARNIVAL DREAM, the largest and first of a new class of ships for Carnival Cruise Lines, has departed dry dock for her sea trials. Very special thanks to Maurizio Eliseo of www.transatlantici.com for providing his spectacular photos of the DREAM in dry dock and off the coast of Trieste.

CARNIVAL DREAM's map of her trials off the coast of Trieste, contributed by Bill Hoey. The AIS on Marinetraffic.com shows that the vessel reached 24.5 kts at one point during her tests.

Steamship Historical Society of Southern CA on YouTube
June 29:

Hollywood To Honolulu Hits Hawai'i
June 28: MaritimeMatters publisher Martin Cox, and his co-author Gordon Ghareeb on "Hollywood to Honolulu, the story of the Los Angeles Steamship Company" prepared for a book launch near Hollywood today at 5pm at Skylight Books in Los Angeles. Meanwhile the book, published by the Steamship Historical Society and Glencannon Press, was headlined in Hawaii's Star Bulletin. Click here for the feature in Starbulletin.com

Click here for previous SHIPPING NEWS June 2009

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