Lots in store for this month's passenger vessel week, with a very diverse set of boats primarily from Europe and Asia.
China continues to expand into seemingly every maritime niche, with a pair of river tourism vessels, comprising a medium-sized boutique cruise ship for the Yangtze and a restaurant cruiser taking design cues from historical junks.
Environmental friendliness remains a focus, with a pair of innovative, battery-powered ferries entering service in India and Germany, both acting as standard bearers for developing technologies in their respective areas of operation.
Viking pushes the boundaries of luxury, remote cruising, with Vard's biggest newbuild so far hitting the water. Along with Chantiers de l'Atlantique's latest, the delivery of large cruise ships shows no signs of slowing with new deliveries every month and full order books for years to come.
Finally, we present a trio of vastly different combination freight/passenger ferries, built in China, Lithuania and the Philippines, each tailored for a specific niche and handily showing off the vast variety of design and build capabilities of this fascinating and dynamic sector.
– "Beyond the vessel's attractive aesthetics, comfort, safety and robustness were integrated into the design for the well-being and enjoyment of passengers."
– "She is the world's first vessel to be realised with a liquid hydrogen containment system, and probably the first hydrogen-powered vessel to enter commercial operations."
Remember to come back every day to see the latest news, opinion and vessel reviews!
Any news or views about the global maritime tourism, ferry and cruise industries? Send it through to editor@bairdmaritime.com ASAP (between now and May 13), so we can add it to this current edition of Passenger Vessel Week!
We are after:
Sign up here to be notified in advance about future Passenger Vessel Weeks.