Tag Archives: China

Former FTI Berlin Sets Sail to Malaysia

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Former FTI Berlin Sets Sail to Malaysia

The former FTI Berlin recently set sail for its new home in Malaysia after spending several months in Ningde, China.

Acquired by the Berlin Capital Group in late 2024, the 1980-built vessel is being prepared to offer short casino cruises out of Penang.

The company’s plans initially called for a March 2025 startup, which was later postponed due to delays in the ship’s refit.

Renamed the Berlin Oceanis, the 9,570-ton vessel departed from the port of Ningde on May 24, 2025.

Sailing under the flag of Comoros, the ship is now expected to arrive at its new homeport on June 2, 2025.

According to a series of updates shared by the new owner, most of the public areas onboard the vessel were renovated during refurbishment in China.

In a video shared in early March, the company marked the demolition of venues on deck five, which made room for new spaces.

“This phase has been one of the most time-consuming parts of the transformation, but now that it’s done, everything will start moving much faster,” the Berlin Capital Group said.

“With this major milestone behind us, we’re looking forward to smoother progress,” the company added.

Additional details about the ship’s first voyages and commissioning were still to be announced at press time.

Originally built for Germany-based Peter Deilmann, the Berlin Oceanis was last operated by FTI Cruises.

With its owners shutting down cruise operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the vessel was sold to Dreamliner Cruises in late 2020.

Renamed Dream Goddess, the ship was to undergo a major refurbishment and be converted into a mega yacht.

However, the project did not proceed, and the former Berlin remained docked at a Greek port for nearly five years.

In addition to Peter Deilmann and FTI Cruises, the vessel also sailed for Saga Cruises and other brands.

First Panamax Containership Sprints Across Arctic Reaching China In Just Three Weeks

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Container ship Flying Fish 1 is close to fully loaded. (Source: Courtesy of Peter Faas)

(gCaptain) – The first Arctic transit of a large container ship has gone off without a hitch. The 294 meter-long Panamax vessel Flying Fish 1, traveled from St. Petersburg in the Baltic Sea to China in just over three weeks, shaving around two weeks off a standard voyage via the Suez Canal. 

It is set to arrive at its destination in Shanghai early on September 26. The vessel is operated by EZ Safetrans Logistics out of Hong Kong. 

The proposition of regular summer season box shipping across Russia’s Northern Sea Route seemed impossible to most just a decade ago. This year the Arctic Ocean will see close to 20 transit voyages, all connecting Russian and Chinese ports via the Arctic shortcut.

Capable of carrying 4,890 twenty-foot equivalent containers it sets a new standard for Arctic container shipping. Prior to this summer only smaller box carriers holding around 1,500-2,000 gave the Arctic shortcut a try. Over the past three months, several larger feeder vessels have established a seasonal liner service between ports and China and Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg.

Flying Fish 1 departed from St. Petersburg on September 3 and entered the Northern Sea Route at the top of Novaya Zemlya a week later. Shortly thereafter it crossed paths with another Chinese container ship, the first encounter of two large box carriers high in the Arctic. The nighttime rendezvous occurred just 850 nautical miles from the North Pole, with no sea ice in sight.

The vessel was able to maintain a speed of 16 knots across the entire length of the route, indicative of how Arctic ice conditions have dramatically changed over just the last two decades. Flying Fish 1 continued through the Laptev and East Siberian Sea, avoiding some late-summer ice near Wrangel Island. 

It exited from the route and passed through the Bering Strait near Alaska on September 17, without requiring any icebreaker assistance, just six days after entering the Russian Arctic.

Once complete, its journey from the Baltic Sea to Shanghai will measure approximately 8,000 nautical miles, around 4,000 nautical miles shorter than the traditional route via the Suez Canal. The current detour for most vessels around South Africa due to instability in the Red Sea adds another 4,000 miles to the standard route to Asia. 

For now, shipping services between Europe and Asia via the North remain limited to a 3-4 months summer window, but as sea ice retreats earlier in summer and returns later in winter, more operators will surely look to the Arctic for new opportunities.

Thank you to g-Captain for this article for more visit https://gcaptain.com/

HX Pushes Marketing Efforts to Source Chinese Guests

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HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions) is pushing its marketing efforts in China with a new roadshow that will visit three cities in the country.

According to a statement,, experts from HX’s global headquarters will join the series of events, along with the presidents of the Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO).

The roadshow is scheduled to take place from Sept. 9 to 13, 2024, with events in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai.

“We hope to attract up to 500 travel partners, tourism bureaus, consulates and media guests to our afternoon events in three cities, so we want to ensure that the guests can get a lot of valuable information from the expedition cruise experts from our global headquarters,” said Joe Zou, HX sales director for Mainland China and Southeast Asia.

Zou also highlighted HX’s investment in China, noting that Antarctica expeditions are currently a “hot-selling product” in China.

Each event will include a presentation of HX’s ships and onboard experience, followed by in-depth discussions on topics such as the new company’s destinations for the 2025-26 season and sustainable initiatives.

“The international cruises we have been promoting have been a great success. In the past seasons, we found that Chinese tourists really like this international atmosphere. We have made this unique experience even better by continuously upgrading our ‘China Ready’ program with the headquarters operations department and the expedition team,” Zou added.

As part of the initiative, HX offers Chinese news and movies in its cabins, as well as Chinese dining options.

The company also hired Chinese nationals for its expedition teams, front desks and restaurants, Zou explained.

HX opened a regional sales office in Shanghai and further expanded its APAC division with the appointment of new executives in mid-2023.