Back in December I reported that the Libyan Government ordered the 139,000grt ship, m/v Phoenicia. It was shocking at the time but given how much $$$$ the Libyan government had from its oil exports {the state run shipping line sails only tankers}, the venture into passenger ships didn’t seem that far stretched. Hapag-Lloyd and MSC [...]

Yes, that’s right. Libya just ordered a cruise ship. The Libyan National Company for Maritime Transport, GNMTC, just signed a letter of intent to build one ship at STX France in Saint Nazaire. The ship, to be completed by December 2012, will come in at around 140,000 grt. That puts it at around a class [...]