Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Ships Monthly

NEWBUILD UK Dredging (UKD), a division of Associated British Ports (ABP), recently marked the completion of its newest vessel, the UKD Seadragon, a Shoalbuster 2711 Water Injection Dredger (WID). Launched at Damen Shipyards, the vessel features a state-of-the art diesel-electric propulsion and power management system, optimising engine efficiency and significantly reducing emissions. UKD Seadragon joins UKD’s fleet, which includes three trailing suction hopper dredgers, one grab hopper dredger and two multipurpose workboats. The addition of the water injection dredger will allow UKD to extend intervals between hopper dredging operations, enhancing operational efficiency. The new vessel is equipped with a fully electric Damen E-DOP450 dredge pump, with a capacity of 4,000m³/h. It also features an A-frame at the stern.…

SMALL FERRY The operators of the historic Shields ferry have begun to experiment with renewable fuel as the route nears its 200th anniversary. In January transport company Nexus, which operates both the ferry crossing and the Tyne and Wear Metro service, carried out trials powering the famous ferry on biofuels. First launched on its current route in 1830, the ferry between South and North Shields on the Tyne is five years away from celebrating its bicentenary. But when that milestone arrives, there is the prospect that the ferry will be running on clean energy. Two vessels currently operate the route: the 222gt Pride of the Tyne, which entered service in 1993 and can carry 240 passengers; and the 174gt Spirit of the Tyne, with a 200-passenger capacity, which entered service…

NEW BULKER On 14 February Japan Marine United Corp (JMU) delivered the Capesize bulk carrier SG Twilight to Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line). The vessel was built at the Tsu Shipyard in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture. The innovative bulk carrier is equipped with a dual-fuel diesel engine which primarily uses LNG, and is the third vessel of its kind built by JMU. The use of LNG instead of conventional heavy oil means that SG Twilight’s CO2 emissions are reduced by 25-30 per cent. The vessel also complies with International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tier 3 regulations for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The 110,334gt Japanese-flagged vessel is 299.99m in length, has a deadweight tonnage of 210,933, and is powered by a Mitsui E&S DU WinGD engine, giving a service speed of…

INCIDENT The 2,478TEU Liberian-flagged container ship MSC Baltic III ran aground near Wild Cove, Newfoundland on 15 February, after losing power in rough seas. She was carrying approximately 470 containers, and her other cargo included food, lumber and paper supplies. All 20 crew members were airlifted to safety on the morning of 15 February, and the Canadian Coast Guard closely monitored the situation for pollution, but no oil was released. On 17 February CCGS Ann Harvey, a buoy tender and search and rescue ship, arrived at the scene. Initial response efforts were hampered by weather conditions, but once they improved, a Fast Rescue Craft (FRC) was deployed, and assessed the situation.…

NORSEA The former North Sea Ferries ferry Norsea was beached at Aliaga, Turkey for scrapping at the end of January, after 37 years of service on North Sea and Mediterranean routes. When completed at the Govan shipyard in Glasgow in 1987, she was the largest passenger ship to be built on the River Clyde since the ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth 2. Norsea was purpose-built by the P&O and Royal Nedlloyd-owned company for the overnight service between Hull and Rotterdam. The Anglo-Dutch venture merged into P&O North Sea Ferries in 1996 and again into P&O Ferries, in 2003. Displaced by a newbuild, Norsea switched routes to Zeebrugge and was renamed Pride of York. Following a sharp decline in traffic due to the pandemic the route was axed in 2021. She was…

BALTIC Viking XPRS (35,918gt) has resumed service on the popular Helsinki-Tallinn route after three weeks at the Øresund Dry Docks shipyard in Landskrona. Viking Line’s busiest ferry returned following the extensive refurbishment of her tax-free shop and the addition of new dining options. The work included a new Bistro Coffee shop and a private dining room for groups of up to 34 people. The 2008-built cruise ferry’s interiors were also refreshed, reupholstered and recarpeted in a modern, fresh style throughout. However, most of the cost of the refit was spent on technical maintenance, with bottom vertical sections being sandblasted and painted, along with work to update the vessel’s technology. The Finnish engineering company Elomatic has installed new flow-control mechanisms to help reduce hull resistance in the water. This is expected…

RAN The Australian Department of Defence has accepted NUSHIP Arafura, the first-of-class Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessel, for further tests and evaluation, ahead of delivery to the Royal Australian Navy later this year. The milestone comes three years later than planned, with the SEA 1180 project delayed by issues with the integration of its main weapon system. The ensuing cancellation of the intended 40mm gun has resulted in a lightly armed vessel that has fallen foul of the government’s new policy of fielding a fleet of more lethal surface combatants. The original order for 12 OPVs was subsequently reduced to six, with the first pair constructed at Osborne and the remainder at Henderson, near Perth. All are to be based at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, from where they will…

TANKERS The French shipping and logistics company CMA CGM has acquired four container ships from Chartworld. The vessels, each with a capacity of 3,700TEU, have been on long-term charter to the French operator and have now been fully integrated into their fleet. The acquisition of CMA CGM Africa One, CMA CGM Africa Two, CMA CGM Africa Three and CMA CGM Africa Four forms part of the Marseille-headquartered operator’s ongoing strategy to expand and optimise its fleet. Built in 2010 by HHIC Phil at Subic Bay, the ships are equipped with four cargo-handling cranes, making them versatile for operation in the West African trades. With this purchase, CMA CGM continues to solidify its position as one of the leading global shipping companies, approaching the four million TEU mark in fleet capacity.…

DREDGER The dredger David Church (671gt) has embarked on a new chapter in her life. Built in 1995 by Appledore Shipbuilders for the Dover Harbour Board, she replaced the 1971-built dredger Admiral Day as the Port of Dover’s dredger. She has recently been sold to Hoj Marine Contractors in Horsens, Denmark, who will operate her as Charlotte Hoj. The vessel left Dover in tow of the tug Thor in mid-February for Denmark. David Church is a steel single-screw trailing suction/grab hopper dredger, with an overall length of 51m and a hold capacity of 623m3. She is known for her versatility and capability to operate in the tight confines of ports and harbours. KA…

The Port of Mistley in Essex is a historic and strategically important facility with a rich maritime heritage. Known for its picturesque setting and long-standing role in regional trade, Mistley has transitioned over the centuries from a bustling trade hub to a specialised port, while retaining the charm of a coastal town and the functionality of a commercial port. The origins of the Port of Mistley go back to medieval times, when it served as a local trading post for goods such as wool, grain and agricultural produce. In the 18th century the port became associated with the innovative landscape designer Richard Rigby, who sought to transform Mistley into a spa town. Although these plans were never fully realised, the development left a lasting architectural legacy, including the iconic Mistley…

In 1950 the photo journalist Ruby Bell took this series of photos showing the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth off Cherbourg. She recalls her travels: ‘My sister and I booked a passage on Queen Elizabeth to Cherbourg and, after some days in France, rejoined the liner on her return from New York. I recall the ticket worked out at 30/-(£1.50) an hour for the crossing of 36 hours. ‘But the fortunate surprise came when a strike occurred as the ship sailed near to the Isle of Wight, resulting in our spending an extra three days on board! ‘Another incident that remains with me came when we were ushered into the Molotov suite, which was very luxurious, and panelled with highly polished wood. Our surprise was short-liveed, however, as our cabin was…

On the of February 1922 halted afternoon of Thursday 3 September 1925 a ceremony was held at Armstrong Whitworth, Walker-on-Tyne to mark the launch of the new Royal Navy battleship HMS Nelson. A bottle of ‘Empire Wine’ was broken over the vessel’s bow by Dame Caroline Bridgeman, wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the ship began her inaugural journey down the slipway and into the waters of the River Tyne. Along with her sister Rodney, launched later that year from Cammell Laird’s shipyard at Birkenhead, Nelson was to become a linchpin of the inter-war Royal Navy. The twin sisters were arguably the most powerful battleships ever to serve under the White Ensign. CUT DOWN TO SIZE Nelson and Rodney almost never came to be. A naval…

WINDFARM North Star named and handed over its latest service operations vessel (SOV), Grampian Tweed, completing the company’s fleet of dedicated ships serving the Dogger Bank Wind Farm on long-term charter. North Star has an ongoing commitment to the delivery of high-quality offshore support tonnage for the renewables sector. Grampian Tweed is the fourth SOV introduced ahead of schedule to support the Dogger Bank Wind Farm. As with earlier sister vessel Grampian Tyne, which was delivered in 2023, Grampian Tweed measures 79.9m by 19m and has a loaded draught of 5.6m and a depth of 7.4m. She has accommodation for 21 crew members and 39 technicians and other windfarm maintenance personnel.…

MSC CRUISES The next ship to join the ever-growing MSC Cruises’ fleet, MSC World America, completed her sea trials in February. She will be the second of the Chantiers de l’Atlantique-built MSC World class, and is due to be delivered on 27 March, ahead of a christening in Miami on 9 April. The first ship in the class, MSC World Europa, was delivered in October 2022. Construction started on the second ship in October 2022, and the 215,000gt vessel has a passenger capacity of 6,762, in 2,626 cabins. She has a crew of 2,138. Once in service, she will be based at MSC’s new terminal in Miami, sailing on Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries.…

BALTIC The Tallink Group has revamped services between Estonia and Sweden with the deployment of Star 1 to the Paldiski-Kapellskär route. The former Star brings greater freight capacity and better amenities for car passengers than the ro-ro ships Regal Star and Sailor that she has replaced. The 2007-built vessel is fresh from a 20-month stint with Irish Ferries, for whom she mostly operated between Rosslare and Pembroke Dock, under the names Oscar Wilde and James Joyce. Following completion of the charter, the ship was repainted at Dunkerque prior to taking up her new route on 9 February. Star 1 will operate on an intensified schedule, alternating in the opposite direction to the cruise ferry Baltic Queen, which sails between Tallinn and Stockholm, providing an almost daily ferry service between Estonia…

NEW FERRY Brittany Ferries bade farewell to the long-serving and immensely popular Bretagne in November 2024. She was always going to be a hard act to follow, having built up a loyal fan base of passengers over 35 years. Her replacement, Saint-Malo, has been some two and a half years in the making. The keel of the new ship was laid at China Merchants Jinling shipyard in September 2022 as the eleventh vessel in Stena RoRo’s highly successful E-Flexer series built for the charter market. A year later she was floated out, and by September 2024 her internal outfitting was almost complete and she was ready for sea trials. She was delivered to Stena RoRo on 17 October 2024 and embarked on her epic delivery voyage to Northern Europe. She…

SWEDISH NAVY Saab has relaunched HSwMS Halland after the completion of a mid-life upgrade. The Gotland class (Type A19) submarine is the last of the three boats of the class to be retrofitted with the latest state-of-the-art technologies and systems, which will also feature in the next generation Blekinge class (Type A26) submarines. As part of the comprehensive overhaul, more than 20 onboard systems have been replaced or updated, most notably by the latest iteration of the Stirling Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, new sensors, such as optronic masts, and modern command and control systems. The MLU also involved the cutting open of the hull for the addition of a new two-metre section to house multiple water cooling units. This will allow better climate adaptation for operations in both hot…

GERMAN NAVY The German Navy’s upcoming Type 212CD is set to become the first submarine class to be equipped with the Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines (IDAS). The IDAS concept, enabling a submerged submarine to actively defend against detection and attack by ASW aircraft, has been mooted for decades. It has finally been given the go-ahead with the award of a contract to ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Diehl Defence for the completion of development and qualification by 2029. IDAS is a containerised missile with folding winglets that is launched via a torpedo tube. Upon breaking the surface, the fibre-optic wire-guided missile, with an infrared seeker, is controlled by an operator. The system has a range of around 15km, so it could also be used to engage surface targets…

SALES Golar LNG has finalised the sale of its last remaining LNG carrier, Golar Arctic, marking its complete exit from the LNG shipping segment. Golar Arctic, a 2003-built steam turbine LNG carrier with a capacity of 140,000m3, was sold for a reported $24 million. Completed by Daewoo Shipbuilding, she spent five years on charter to Shell, operating as Granatina. She offloaded her final cargo in Taichung, Taiwan in early February, before proceeding to the Malacca Straits to await orders. The sale signifies the end of Golar’s legacy shipping business, which began in 1975 with the delivery of its first LNG carrier, Hilli. Golar has since focussed on becoming an FLNG (floating liquefied natural gas) infrastructure company, and has been redirecting its efforts towards FLNG projects, with the Fuji LNG, another…

INDUSTRY NEWS South Korean owner HMM has entered due diligence to acquire compatriot SK Shipping. The acquisition process is being overseen by Morgan Stanley, with HMM emerging as the preferred bidder for the sale of a majority stake currently held by private equity firm Hahn & Co. The company acquired SK Shipping in 2018 and holds an over 70 per cent stake in the company. SK Shipping operates a diverse fleet of ships, including LNG carriers, LPG carriers, crude tankers, product tankers and bulk carriers. The acquisition is valued at approximately KRW 2 trillion (USD 1.4 billion). HMM, then trading as Hyundai Merchant Marine, sold its LNG division to a private equity firm in 2014, with the deal including a 15-year non-competition clause. Therefore, it is understood HMM may exclude…

CASUALTY The Grimaldi Group ro-ro container ship Grande Brasile suffered two deck fires while she was transiting the southern North Sea. The fires broke out on 18 February, when the ship was approximately 15 miles off the Kent coast. The first was discovered in the morning and was contained using the vessel’s fire-suppression systems. However, a second fire erupted later in the day, prompting the evacuation of the 28-member crew. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, together with lifeboats and tugboats, responded to the incident. The crew was safely evacuated to Ramsgate, with no injuries reported. The French coastguard tug Abeille Normandie (7,535gt) initially responded, with additional support from vessels in the Multratug and Boskalis fleets. Smit Salvage was nominated as the salvors. On 23 February, with the fire extinguished,…

The search for oil off Scotland’s east coast began in the late 1960s and, over the following ten years, hundreds of wells were drilled and dozens of huge steel and concrete oil production platforms were installed. But getting the oil ashore was a major challenge. There are few deep-water ports on Scotland’s east coast, and laying pipelines cost up to £1 million per mile, even at 1970s prices. The quickest and cheapest solution was therefore to load tankers offshore and deliver oil directly to refineries. Alongside the oil giants, the North Sea drilling boom attracted many small American oil companies, including the Hamilton Brothers, who discovered the Argyll oilfield in 1971. It was a small field needing a ‘cheap and cheerful’ solution. A drilling semi-submersible, Transworld 58, was converted for…

Built in 1939, Queen Elizabeth was a leviathan from an earlier age. She was operated by Cunard Line in tandem with Queen Mary to provide a weekly luxury liner service between Southampton and New York, via Cherbourg in France, during the golden age of liner travel. When I was on board as a youngster, the scale and power of this giant left vivid memories in a young ship enthusiast. FIRST IMPRESSIONS We arrived at Southampton by boat train from Waterloo, and immediately the liner towered like a huge wall when seen from the gallery of Ocean Terminal. Boarding low through the black plates, one entered a maze of wood-panelled art deco atria and corridors, all yellow-lit with tungsten bulbs. In contrast to modern cruise ships, the long corridors were not…

CHANNEL ISLANDS FERRIES WHAT NEXT? Overview of the recent controversial process of awarding ferry contracts linking the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey with the UK, and a look back at the history of ferry services to the Islands. PLUS US NAVY MARKS 250 YEARS • On 13 October 2025 the US Navy will be 250 years old; this article looks back over two and a half centuries of the world’s most technologically advanced naval fleet. BRISTOL IN THE 1930s • Historic images showing ships visiting Bristol in the 1930s, all classic cargo vessels from a bygone era. POLARSTERN • Profile of the icebreaker Polarstern, which has travelled 1.9 million nautical miles over the course of 40 years, operating as Germany’s Arctic and Antarctic explorer. MONARCH OF THE SEAS •…

COMPANY NEWS During February Altera Shuttle Tankers officially changed its name to Maran Shuttle Tankers following its acquisition by Maistros Shiptrade in January. This rebranding aligns the shuttle tanker division with the naming conventions of the Angelicoussis Group, which operates under the Maran name across various sectors and has a varied fleet consisting of oil tankers, dry bulk carriers, and gas carriers. The acquisition and subsequent renaming reflect the Angelicoussis Group’s strategy to integrate Altera’s fleet into its broader operations, enhancing its presence in the shuttle tanker market. The fleet, now under Maran Shuttle Tankers, will continue to serve key regions such as the North Sea, Brazil and the east coast of Canada. The sale has resulted in the transferring of 18 tankers into Maran’s fleet, which now includes three…

STENA LINE Stena Line reached the next milestone in its NewMax fleet investment programme in February with a ceremony for the launch of Stena Connecta at the China Merchants Jinling Shipyard, Weihai, China. Stena Connecta is one of two new ships due to serve the Heysham-Belfast route. Now that Stena Connecta has entered the water, the shipyard will continue with the installation of the interior. Sistership Stena Futura is currently being fitted out and is due to enter service in late August 2025. Stena Connecta will follow in early 2026. Once operational, Stena Connecta and Stena Futura will enhance freight capacity by 40 per cent on the Heysham-Belfast route in response to an increase in customer demand for services between Northern Ireland and Britain. The two hybrid vessels are equipped…

SANTORINI The Greek Island of Santorini, often overrun with thousands of cruise passengers on a daily basis, has been dropped from several cruise lines’ schedules due to the impending imposition of a per-passenger tax on the ships which call there. Both Mykonos and Santorini are set to levy a charge of €20 per passenger, while some other Greek ports on the islands of Corfu, Crete and Rhodes will apply a lower rate of €5. Princess Cruises has removed Santorini from the schedules of Sun Princess for 2025, as has Costa Cruises with Costa Fascinosa. Aida Cruises’ 71,304gt AidaBlu will visit other Greek ports instead. Santorini is a destination at which almost all ships have to use tenders, and it is compulsory to use the local tenders operated by the Santorini…

TUI CRUISES The German fleet, currently serving the second largest cruise market after the USA, added a new ship to its fleet on 7 February, when Mein Schiff Relax was delivered to TUI Cruises by Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard. With a gross tonnage of 157,651, a capacity of 3,984 passengers and a length of 333m, she becomes TUI Cruises’ largest ship to date, and the first to be built in Italy. She is based in Palma, Majorca for the first part of 2025, and her maiden voyage began on 2 March. Her naming will take place in the Spanish port of Malaga on 9 April, with TUI’s spa and sport manager Giuliana Rizzo presiding as godmother. Mein Schiff 5 and 7 are also scheduled to be in port that day. WATERFRONT…

ISLE OF WIGHT The poor performance of Isle of Wight ferry services is to come under closer government scrutiny after the Prime Minister admitted that they have ‘simply not been good enough’. The remark came in response to a question put to him by the Isle of Wight East MP, who complained that island residents are ‘entirely reliant on foreign-owned, debt-laden, unregulated ferry companies for essential travel’, whereas comparable lifeline Scottish ferries are both subsidised and regulated. The complaints are targeted at Red Funnel and Wightlink services on the main commuter routes to Southampton and Portsmouth. There is widespread dissatisfaction at excessive fares, poor reliability or cancellations, frequent technical issues, and crew shortages. Most recently, Wightlink’s Fishbourne-Portsmouth route was reduced to one vessel following a double engine failure on St…

GOTLANDSBOLAGET Swedish operator Gotlandsbolaget has awarded a A$270 million contract to Austal Australasia for the design and construction of a 130m ‘hydrogen-ready’ vehicle passenger ferry. With the capacity to transport up to 1,500 passengers and 400 vehicles, the high-speed craft will be the largest ever constructed by Austal. Part of Gotlandsbolaget’s ‘Horizon X’ programme to reduce the climate impact of its ferry operations, the new HSC will be equipped with a unique combined cycle propulsion system which includes both gas and steam turbines, the first of its kind for any high-speed craft. It will be built at the Austal Philippines shipyard commencing in the first half of CY2026 using ‘green aluminium’, which has been produced using energy-efficient processes and technologies that use less carbon. In October 2024 the project gained…

IRANIAN NAVY The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy has showcased its first ever drone carrier as Iran seeks to widen its maritime presence and operational capabilities. Shahid Bahman Bagheri (C110-4) is a converted container ship with a 180m-long angled flight deck and ski-jump for the operation of fixed-wing drones and helicopters. Images from the commissioning event at Bandar Abbas showed a range of reconnaissance and strike drones on deck, including Qaher-313 jets. The curious remote-controlled aircraft resemble a scaled-down copy of the F-35. The carrier can accommodate up to 60 drones, as well as Mil mi-17, Bell-412 and domestically produced Shahed 278 helicopters. Weapon systems include Noor long-range cruise missiles, short-range air defence systems and two Asefeh 20mm guns. The IRCG claims the ship can also deploy up to…

US NAVY USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) arrived at US Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece on 16 February to conduct an Emergent Repair Availability on the ship’s starboard quarter following a collision with the merchant ship Besiktas-M, near Port Said, Egypt. Fortunately, the impact narrowly missed a vulnerable aircraft elevator, with minor damage limited to a line handling space, the fantail and a platform above one of the storage spaces. There were no injuries or flooding and the nuclear power plant remained unaffected. The bulk carrier had just exited northbound through the Suez Canal, en route to the Black Sea, with the aircraft carrier thought to be heading south for transit to the Red Sea. Although not a requirement under US law, the aircraft carrier was reportedly not…

HISTORIC LINER After 55 years of lay-up, unfulfilled plans and long-term deterioration, the famous liner SS United States, one-time flagship of the American merchant fleet, finally left Philadelphia under tow on 19 February, bound for Mobile, Alabama, where she will undergo a full decontamination before being sunk as an artificial reef off the Florida Panhandle, in the Gulf of Mexico, in about 55m of water. The historic liner, which holds the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing, left Philadelphia after a series of delays. The final journey was initially scheduled for 8 February, but weather conditions forced several postponements. However, once she had left her long-time berth under tow on 19 February, she headed downriver, watched by thousands of people. Despite frigid temperatures, onlookers crowded waterfronts for miles along the…

A new generation of exceptionally large and technologically advanced ferries has entered service on routes across the Baltic over the past few years, all incorporating various energy-saving technologies, aimed at reducing their impact on the environment. The number of new ferries entering service over such a relatively short period is unprecedented. The Chinese-built ro-pax vessels Visborg and Thjelvar (2019, renamed Visby and Gotland in 2020-2021), of Rederi AB Gotland have multi-fuel engines capable of burning either marine gas oil (MGO), liquefied natural gas or, in future, biogas. They operate at high speed on subsidised Swedish domestic routes, linking the island of Gotland with the mainland ports of Nynäshamn and Oskarshamn. The ro-pax Aurora Botnia (2021) of Wasaline was built in Rauma, Finland to run on the world’s most northerly regular ferry…

Operation Anadyr, named after a river in Far Eastern Russia, was the Soviet Union’s code name for a daring plan to deploy a number of ballistic missiles, medium-range bombers and a division of mechanised infantry in Cuba to address the imbalance of strategic weapons, and create an army group that could prevent an invasion of the island by United States forces. However, the operation was foiled when the United States discovered the plan, leading to what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Anadyr task force comprised up to 200 trips, which were disguised as normal commercial voyages, by a total of 85 ships from nine ports during the summer of 1962. The ships’ ultimate destinations were kept secret, even from their captains, as they sailed west under severe…

On 25 October 2010 Queen Elizabeth was delivered from the Fincantieri shipyard at Monfalcone, Italy, two years after the iconic Queen Elizabeth 2 was retired following 39 years of service, becoming a hotel at Port Rashid, Dubai. This delivery also came 61 years after the 1939-built two-funnelled liner namesake, RMS Queen Elizabeth, was sold, only to meet a tragic demise as Seawise University in Hong Kong Harbour (see previous articles). The current Queen Elizabeth (fondly known as QE) is of 90,901 gross tons and measures 293m in length. The £359 million ship was ordered from Fincantieri in 2007 and laid down on 2 July 2009. She was formally named on 11 October 2010 by the late HM Queen Elizabeth II during a quayside ceremony at the QE2 Terminal in Southampton. The…

IS LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS THE FUTURE FOR SHIPPING? letter of the month Although they are essentially floating incendiary bombs, liquefied gas tankers have a remarkably good safety record over the years, probably due to that part of the industry developing slowly, allowing ships’ staff to be trained and gain experience. Now we are seeing cargo ships entering service with large LNG fuel tanks mounted above the main deck. These ships will inevitably have a higher inherent risk than those using fossil fuels, but, with the correct design and management, the risks will be safely managed if the training standards of the liquefied gas tankers can be maintained. Now we have passenger ships, and others, entering service with LNG storage fitted underdeck, and it occurs to me that no matter how…