Updated: Engine room fire on Insignia brought under control - report

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 11 December 2014 11 December 2014

One crew member and two contractors were killed after an engine room fire onboard Oceania Cruises' Insignia, the line has confirmed to Cruise Critic. 

"Three crew members and two contractors who were working onboard were transferred to a local medical facility. We are deeply saddened to learn that two contractors and one crew member did not survive. We extend our deepest condolences to their families during this very difficult time," the company was quoted as saying.

Also according to Oceania, the fire was contained to the engine room and all passengers are safe and have disembarked.

"Arrangements are being made for guests and crew to be accommodated at local hotels until transportation to Miami is arranged," the line said. A Guest and Crew Support team, along with a technical team, is en route from Miami to St. Lucia.

Insignia was on a 10-night cruise, which departed San Juan on December 7 and was scheduled to arrive in Miami on December 17, the report said.

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A fire that broke out in the engine room of Oceania Cruises' 30,000 gross ton Insignia at about 0930am local time, when the ship was docked at Castries in St Lucia, has been brought under control, a report on Cruise Critic said.

"According to St. Lucia News Online, fire officials in Port Castries received a call at 9:25 a.m. that a fire had broken out in the ship's engine room. The St. Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority and the St. Lucia Fire Service told the news site the situation is under control, and confirmed that three people have been hospitalized, one for smoke inhalation and mild respiratory distress. Fire officials said the incident was contained within Berth 5 at Port Castries," the report said.

A member of Cruise Critic said that all passengers had been called to muster stations and disembarked from the vessel.

Oceania Cruises is part of Prestige Cruise Holdings, which was acquired earlier this year by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Insignia was built in France in 1998 as R One for the now defunct Renaissance Cruises. Oceania acquired the ship in 2004.

Tallink and Meyer Turku signs letter of intent for new generation LNG powered fast ferry

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 11 December 2014 11 December 2014

AS Tallink Grupp and Meyer Turku Oy signed a Letter of Intent for the construction of an environmentally friendly car-passenger ferry for Tallinn-Helsinki route shuttle operations. The ship will cost around 230 million euros and will be built at Turku shipyard for delivery in the beginning of 2017. The project will provide approximately 2000 man-years employment for the shipyard.

The new ferry will be about 212 metres in length with a gross tonnage of 49 000. The ship will operate on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn and she is planned to carry 2800 passengers.

The ship will bring significant improvement in energy efficiency which is achieved by applying numerous innovations and new technical solutions. Green values, reduction of all emissions, minimizing the amount of waste and increasing recycling utilization, have been very carefully taken into account in the design of the ferry. The ship uses LNG as fuel and she complies with the new and stricter emission regulations for the ECA areas including the Baltic Sea.

Management Board Member of AS Tallink Grupp, Janek Stalmeister said that with the new ferry Tallink aims for an upgrade of the Tallinn-Helsinki route ferry service. “As the market leader and a long time operator on the route we have a good understanding of customer expectations and know what needs improvement. I am confident that the world-class experience of Meyer Turku will be once again a valuable asset for us to deliver a high quality new ferry, which will strengthen our competitive advantages," he added.

“A series of six ferries between years 2002-2009 has been delivered to Tallink and this ship will be the 7th newbuilding for the same shipowner. I ́m very happy that Meyer Turku will continue the excellent and trusting cooperation with Tallink. This new ferry prototype gives us an excellent opportunity to apply improved design & building methods. For all these reasons this Letter of Intent signed today is very important to Meyer Turku and to the entire Finnish shipbuilding cluster," says Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku Oy.

Over the next few months Tallink Grupp and Meyer Turku will work on the final shipbuilding contract and financing.