Tagged: Freighter Cruises

Our latest update from CMA CGM brings some good news for those looking for a single voyage round the world, something that has not been available since Rickmers stopped carrying passengers through the Suez Canal.

The only direct cargo-passenger service between Europe and Australia in recent months has been a single-ship service by the 10-passenger CMA CGM Bellini, but we now have good news for travellers to and from Australia.

While a regular direct service between Australia and Europe has not been available recently through either Panama or Suez, we now have good news for cargo ship passengers wanting to travel through Suez.

Grimaldi Lines last year announced a new cargo-passenger service between Civitavecchia (for Rome) and Baltimore, which will eventually also serve Halifax and Antwerp.

Now that direct cargo-passenger service is no longer available between Europe and Australia, and Singapore has become a base port for P&O Cruises Australia, we will be using P&O Australia to offer connecting services between Singapore and Australian ports.

The passenger-carrying container ship MSC Flaminia will change service, leaving Northern Europe for the East Coast of South America in late January for a single voyage before phasing into the US East Coast – South America East Coast route with sister ship MSC Geneva.

The NSB container ships MSC Cordoba and MSC Monterey are phasing in to MSC’s “USA West Coast Express” service with immediate effect. The full round voyage is 56 days, and while other ports can also be booked, as examples the voyage from Felixstowe to Long Beach is 26 days while that from Oakland to Felixstowe is 28 days.

Travelers who want to travel the world by sea have a new option: voyage by cargo ship. There’s even a cargo ship that goes to Tahiti. (abcnews.go.com)

Back in January, Grimaldi Lines, one of the world’s largest ro-ro operators with a fleet of more than 100 ships, launched a direct service from Civitavecchia, near Rome, to Baltimore and Halifax, the first direct car carrier connection between the Mediterranean and North America.

NSB’s MSC Monterey, one of several container ships it has on charter to MSC, is to join the new Australia Express Service, sailing from Europe to Australia via Suez and the Indian Ocean, with calls at Mauritius and Réunion on the southbound leg and Singapore and Colombo on the return.

A single last-minute round voyage has been announced by NSB for its 68,800-ton m.v. Buxcoast, a vessel equipped with an Owners Cabin, Double Cabin and Single Cabin.

The CMA CGM Marseille, second vessel of CMA CGM’s three-ship Guyanamax series, has recently been delivered in South Korea. This 2100 TEU capacity vessel (including 530 reefer containers) was built by the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and will fly the UK flag.

This year, experience both a passenger-carrying container ship and a cruise ship on your voyage from Europe to Australia and spend six days in between (November 16-22) in Malaysia or Singapore under your own arrangements.

After years of very little happening as far as cargo-passenger service goes in the Port of Halifax, it turns out that the port is turning into a bit of a mecca for container ship travel.

The addition this month of Halifax to CMA CGM’s Columbus Loop service to and from Asia via Suez and across the Pacific to Vancouver presents a new cargo-passenger service that will be of interest particularly to Canadians.

NSB’s m.v. Lisbon sails next Friday on her first Singapore to Australia run, calling en route at Port Kelang. Australian ports of call include Fremantle (10 days from Singapore), Sydney (16 days) and Melbourne (19 days).

With CMA CGM’s French Asia Line 1 dropping its calls in Hong Kong, there will no longer be any direct route betwen Southampton and Hong Kong.

Tomorrow sees the first voyage from New York of a new four-weekly cargo-passenger service connecting Savannah and New York with Antwerp, Rotterdam and Bremerhaven. Known as ATL4, the new rotation has been opened by Maersk and MSC to supplement the two lines’ existing services.

Monday sees the first voyage from New York of a new four-weekly cargo-passenger service connecting Savannah and New York with Rotterdam, Bremerhaven and Le Havre.

This summer, why not spend seven or eight days away (voyage times can vary slightly) on a modern (2006/08-built) 8-passenger cargo ship from Antwerp.

NSB Freighter Cruises have just advised us that they still have the following cabins available from Europe to US East Coast for June.

In 1993, Taiwan-based Evergreen Line acquired the company Italia Marittima, which up until fairly recently had been know as Lloyd Triestino, and had been famous for running an attractive fleet of ocean liners from the Adriatic to Australia and New Zealand and the Far East. (more…)