Cruise News

PICTURE: Orion Expedition Cruises A French yachtsman who spent three days adrift in a liferaft in the Southern Ocean has been rescued by the cruise ship Orion. Alain Delord was attempting a solo round-the-world voyage when his mast broke during a storm on Friday. He abandoned the vessel 500 nautical miles from Tasmania and activated his emergency beacon. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was able to drop food, water and a survival suit, but the location was too remote for a rescue helicopter. The Orion, returning from a cruise to Antarctica with 100 passengers and 80 crew on board, [...]

A deal will be signed today taking the liner QE2 to the Far East, where the ship will finally be converted into a luxury hotel. The move brings to an end a sorry saga of failure in Dubai, and will break hearts in London among investors who had hoped to bring the ship to the Thames. The Financial Times reports that the Oceanic Group has entered into a joint venture agreement with Dubai World - who bought the ship from Cunard for £64 million - and who have kept the vessel at Port Rashid since she sailed from Southampton on [...]

The luxury expedition ship Silver Explorer has been damaged by high seas in Antarctica. Its next voyage, scheduled to depart from Ushuaia on January 21, has been cancelled so that repairs can be made. The vessel (seen above in the Antarctic and below on a visit to Dartmouth, Devon, last year) was carrying 133 passengers and 113 crew on a cruise to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. A statement from Silversea released today said the ship had "encountered heavy weather and sustained damage at approximately 1725 hours local time on January 12. "The vessel has full power and control, [...]

The release of David Bowie's haunting new single - which I am catching up on now I'm back from the Caribbean - brought back a number of poignant memories. The video returned me briefly to Potzdamer Platz, Nurnburgerstrasse, Haupstrasse, and the KaDeWe in Berlin, where Bowie recorded three albums in the 1970s. It also brought back memories of the night in June 1973 when I interviewed him after the last of four sold-out performances as Ziggy Stardust on stage at Birmingham Town Hall. Bouncing around in a blue boiler suit, with crooked teeth which had not yet benefitted from cosmetic [...]

EXPANDED VERSION OF MY COLUMN FROM THE DAILY MIRROR, JANUARY 5 As fears grow once again for the future of the fabled liner Queen Elizabeth 2, a group of investors has made a New Year resolution to bring the ship back to the UK. A team called QE2London wants to moor the ship in the Thames and claims to have raised £20m to convert it for use as a hotel and conference centre. The Clyde-built former former Cunard liner was retired in 2008 and sold to Dubai for £64 million; the new owners' plans to turn it into a hotel [...]