Industry Insider

 

Orient Lines Start Up
With its re-introduction imminent, Orient Lines has announced the appointment of Bruce Nierenberg as executive vice president. The new company expects to announce its first ship soon and its first cruise to sail in April 2009, according to CEO Wayne Heller.

Regent Seven Seas closes Paris office

The activities of Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ French subsidiary have been incorporated into the company’s expanded UK office following the creation of Southampton-based Regent Seven Seas Cruises Europe.
The UK office assumed reservations, marketing and financial services for the French market.

However, the company aims to further develop in France using Véronique Ryon, the former manager of Regent’s national office who retains a position in Paris as commercial manager for France, and a French reservation agent, Christian Benoit.

A toll-free number is also dedicated to French agencies and tour operators.

Revised SOLAS regulations for damage stability
All new vessels built from January 1, 2009, will be governed by new technical design regulations drawn up by the IMO to ensure a higher level of stability in a damaged state.
In the recently revised SOLAS regulations, the previous concept of risk assessment has been extended, applying not only to cargo vessels but also to passenger vessels.

The new regulations stipulate that these vessels must have a double bottom that extends over their entire breadth. Vessel designs without a double bottom are only permitted if a comparable level of safety in the event of grounding is proven by means of additional calculations.

The decisive factor in implementing the new stricter SOLAS regulations that come into effect on January 1 is the date of laying down the keel. All vessels laying down after this date must comply with these requirements.

For cargo and passenger ships now in planning, an extensive recalculation of the damage stability is now necessary, reports Germanischer Lloyd. In addition, special ‘on-board’ information for damage control is being called for, which will be documented in a damage-control plan for the crew.

The rules of SOLAS 2009 are being augmented with Explanatory Notes containing technical explanations which were finalised by IMO last month; a formal decision on the Explanatory Notes will be taken at the meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee in November. The technical explanations of the new SOLAS regulations are available for inspection by design offices, shipyards, ship owners and the supplier industry on the Germanischer Lloyd website. The leaflet for damage stability calculations SOLAS 2009 is available at www.gl-group.com.