The latest “Largest Container ship in the world” has just been delivered from a yard in
S.Korea:
The next number up is not far away.
Is there an upper limit??
And the Chinese/Polish JV Chipolbrok order 4 large multipurpose HLV from a Chinese yard:
Somebody is still optimistic about the future of shipping…
The newly re-established Helsinki Shipyard commence construction of two luxury Expedition Cruise ships for polar condition:
Expect to get more details from Tupsis soon (??)
Not much to say about those ships, I’m afraid. While they are rated at Polar Class 5, they don’t appear to be icebreaking.
However, it will be interesting to see how a Russian operator fits to the expedition cruise market. Will they be focusing on international or domestic market? Will they be allowed to sail to locations within the Russian Arctic that are out of bounds for foreign vessels?
Oh, and it’s nice to see Helsinki Shipyard rising from the ashes once again. Hopefully they will be able to bag new orders after this duo.
Keppel O&M om strong position yo weather the present crisis:
Don’t know if this includes the US subsidiary, Keppel AMFELS in Brownsville.
The hull of Ice breaking Expedition cruise ship Le Commandante Charcot is under tow to Vard Søviknes Shipyard in Norway for outfitting:
Ponant posted a whole bunch of photographs of on their company Facebook page. Without the Azipod propulsion units acting as rudders, the ship doesn’t appear to be the nicest hulk to tow…
It’s kind of funny that one of the world’s most capable icebreakers is neither an American naval vessel nor a Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker, but a French luxury cruise liner…
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The first joint Brodosplit/Kleven project since the last came under DIV ownership. A large residential yacht has been ordered by Ocean Residences Development Ltd:
https://oceanresidences.com/
The key management has a background from The World, Residences at Sea.
She will be jointly completed by the two yards:
Building of the hull and part of the technical installation will be done by Brodosplit while final outfitting and interior decoration will be at Kleven. Delivery is scheduled for 2024.
Thun Tank has ordered a second “Not always afloat but safely aground” tanker to be built in the Netherlands:
Niche market play.
If the wakes are any indication, it is towing directly astern of the tug, which has just started the next S turn to starboard.
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New Live Fish Carrier (LFC) for Bakkafoss to be built and completed at a Turkish shipyard:
If you thought that Fish farming was some low tech “hole in the ground” stuff, think again. Plenty of opportunities for Mariners that is willing to learn new things.
Yet another Polar Expedition Cruise ship for Ponant is nearing completion. The Le Jacques Cartier is out on sea trials from Vard Søviknes:Shipyard:
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:6238664/mmsi:578001400/imo:9852420/vessel:LE_JACQUES_CARTIER/_:455be53c8a91ed1553580f52085e2b63
She is the next to last in this series of 6 sister ships.
The ice breaking cruise ship Le Commandant Charcot is under outfitting at the same yard for the same Owner/Operator.
I wonder when they’ll tow the hull to France for Azipod installation. That was postponed due to the COVID-19 situation.
I have not heard anything about that.
I thought that the Azipods would be either installed while still on dry land in Romania, or be installed afloat at the outfitting yard in Norway.
The expedition yacht cum research vessel OceanXplorer has been delivered from the DamamYard in Rotterdam:
https://www.charterworld.com/news/87m-expedition-yacht-oceanxplorer-launched-at-damen-shipyard
She is not new, but originally the Volstad Surveyor, blt. 2010:
https://www.skipsteknisk.no/delivered-ships/volstad-surveyor/29/211/
More details on the Oceanxplorer:
In theory, it’s possible to install Azipods while afloat - the Russians did that with the smaller VI1600 units on their icebreakers:
However, the 17-megawatt VI2300L type units for Le Commandant Charcot weight almost 300 tons even without the propeller:
If you drop that, it will not float 
Never been involved with installing or removing Azipods, or any other thrusters of that size, but removing and re-installing thrusters on rigs and drillships was fairly common in Singapore.
The main issue is the fact that the large Azipod units are not underwater-mountable, so the mounting interface needs to be above water.
China Merchant Shipping confirm order with China Merchant Shipyard for 4 new multi-purpose HLV (keeping it in the family):
Russian yards is emphasizing the domestic market and domestic equipment:
https://en.portnews.ru/news/296591/