The order calls for one ship to be delivered in the Fall of 2014 with an option for a second ship for Spring 2015.  The 158,000 Gross Registered Tons (GRT) new build will carry just over 4,100 guests based on double occupancy.  The estimated all-in cost per berth is about 170,000.  This all-in cost includes the yard s base contract price plus everything needed to design, operate and build the vessel, from architect fees to supervision costs and all loose inventories from computers to art and bed linens.

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Downstream voyages have been blocked for some time and will remain so for the time being, Florian Krekel from the authority added.

It is still too early to say when the blockage will be over as examinations on the stranded tanker are ongoing, he said.

Some trains in the area, close to the famous Loreley cliff tourist attraction, have been replaced with bus services until at least 1600 GMT, according to a press release from the waterways authority.

The tanker, carrying 2,400 tons of sulphuric acid, remains in the Rhine but the authorities intend to extract the acid before removing the ship from the river, the press release said.

Until now, upstream voyages had been permitted in limited capacity while downstream voyages were blocked shortly after the incident.

By Natascha Divac and Harriet Torry, Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Each new ship is 143,500 GT (gross tonnage) and will be able to carry more than 4,000 passengers, which makes them the biggest cruise liners ever built in Germany.

The order includes power generation and distribution systems, thruster motors, and two 17.5 megawatt (MW) propulsion systems including transformers, drives and Azipod^® XO propulsion units. ABB’s energy efficient Azipod propulsion uses less fuel than traditional systems, and provides better maneuverability in all operating conditions.

The ships are scheduled for delivery and commissioning in the spring of 2013 and 2014.

The Magdeburg Canal Bridge

This could be the worlds strangest bridge but here at gCaptain we think it is pretty cool. Germany’s water bridge known as the Magdeburge Canal Bridge took six years to build (completed in October of 2003) at a cost of 500 million Euros. The Magdeburg Water Bridge is 918 meters long. It bridges over the Elbe River in Germany and joins the Elbe-Havel canal to the Mittelland canal which is close to the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The water bridge joined the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project.

You can find out more about the German water bridge at dw-world.de

The Local Reports:

Some 300 firemen battled the flames all night, as the authorities brought around 500 residents near the North-Baltic Sea Canal to safety. Only two people suffered light injuries in the incident.

Michael Krohn, a spokesman for the Kiel fire brigade, said they received a call just before midnight regarding a burning trashcan. But by the time the first truck arrived, a nearby tank filled with paraffin had caught fire. The heat caused several tanks to explode.

“Then large amounts of burning paraffin quickly flowed into the canal,” Krohn said.

The highly flammable material, which is often used to make candles and creams, fuelled flames up to 15 metres high. Several hundred onlookers hampered efforts to contain the blaze, which threatened to spread to tanks of heating oil. Read More…

Port Kiel Fire Video

Click here to view the embedded video.