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The municipality of Druten has again extended the charter of the 'Monarch Duchess', which is berthed at the Waalhaven. Since May 2022, the river cruise ship has been moored in the Waalhaven on the Veerdam in Druten, where around 130 Ukrainian refugees are temporarily accommodated. Initially, the municipality had chartered the ship for six months. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the charter has been extended until the end of this year. Once again, the municipality has decided to extend the charter until March 15, 2024. The costs will be reimbursed by the government. The municipality realizes that the ship is not an ideal reception location. But because of the urgency, it is important that the Ukrainian refugees can stay here for longer. The atmosphere on the ship is still good and friendly. Most Ukrainian refugees are now well established in the municipality and the region. The majority have found work or are going to school.

The Scottish government has chartered the 'Ambition' to accomodate Ukrainian refugees on board. The ship is due to arrive in Glasgow start of September 2022. Already in January the Tallink ferry 'Victoria' I' has been chartered for this purpose until October. On board were between 1.600 and 1.700 people who fled from the Russian war. The 'Ambition' can offer space for 1.750 refugees. The ship has sailed from Bar on Aug 13, where it had been laid up since April. In March 2023 the ship will return to cruise business for the Ambassador Cruise Line following a refurbishment.

The "Ocean Majesty" is to be converted into a refugee home. The contracts of the 220 crew members from the charterer "Hansa Touristik" have already been terminated. The ship will then serve as asylum accommodation in Amsterdam, where it could bring in more money for the operator. Most recently, the "Ocean Majesty" was on a 21-day cruise to Greenland before returning to Hamburg on Aug 7, 2023. The 'Ocean Majesty' was detained in June 2022 due to serious safety deficiencies by the Swedish authorities. The current cruise had to be canceled at that time. The problems were presumably related to the long layup period from March 2020 to April 2022.

The Ministry of the Interior has chartered the 'Pietro Novelli', which will shuttle, three times a week, to transfer migrants from Lampedusa in order to lighten the presence of migrants in the reception centers. The 'Pietro Novelli' will remain in service for the entire month of August and September. It should embark, on each trip, about 500 people. The first trip involves the transfer of 200 migrants who, escorted by the police, left the hotspot in the Imbriacola district to arrive in Mazara del Vallo on July 28, 2022. In addition to the 'Pietro Novelli', the 'Diciotti' of the Coast Guard is also in Lampedusa to embark 600 migrants. The Prefecture of Agrigento is working on the urgent transfer plan, in agreement with the Interior Ministry.

Balearia has chartered the "Honfleur" and is pending adaptation of the side ramps and painting it with the corporate image of the shipping company chaired by Adolfo Utor. The ship has been moored since Feb 2022, at the Nauta Gdynia in the port of Gdynia. Balearia has inspection personnel in Gydnia, and the intention is to have it in service next March. Chartered on time charter initially for six months, the ship built at the request of Brittany Ferries now has the Cyprus flag. Most likely, it will be used on the Huelva-Canary Islands rpute next summer, due to its high number of cabins and services on board, although Malaga-Melilla-Almería is also being considered. In any case, it is possible that Balearia will use it also on other lines, such as Barcelona-Palma, Barcelona-Ibiza-Valencia-Palma or Valencia-Ibiza. Built on behalf of Brittany Ferries at the Flensburger Schiffau shipyard and launched in Dec2018, the final assembly was not completed on time due to financial problems at the shipyard, which ended up declaring bankruptcy. There was even talk of the possible scrapping of her, although she was later finished at the Fosen shipyard in Rissa, where she arrived under tow in Oct 2020. Report with photo: https://www.puentedemando.com/huelva-canarias-probable-estreno-del-ferry-honfleur/