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A federal judge dismissed lawsuits by Grand Princess cruise ship passengers who sued for emotional distress caused by their fear of exposure to COVID-19, saying that allowing their cases to proceed would “lead to a flood of trivial suits.”Judge Gary Klausner in Los Angeles said in Tuesday’s ruling that allowing passengers to collect damages based on potential COVID-19 exposure without suffering symptoms raised concerns of unlimited liability for restaurants, bars and other places people gather.Debi Chalik, a lawyer for Ronald and Eva Weissberger of Florida, who filed the first lawsuit against Princess, said she was disappointed with the ruling and was considering an appeal.

Carnival Corp is planning to raise about $1.26 billion in a bond offering, the beleaguered cruise operator said Wednesday as it struggles to stay afloat after the COVID-19 pandemic impacted its business.The bond offering is split into a $775 million tranche paying an annual coupon of 10.5%, and 425 million euro-tranche ($484.93 million) paying 10.125%.The senior secured notes are due 2026, with the offering expected to close on July 20, Carnival said.Carnival said the notes will be secured by a second-priority lien, a lower priority of repayment in case of bankruptcy or liquidation of assets.

China's first domestically built polar icebreaker Xue Long 2 has set sail on its first mission to the Arctic, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reports.Xuez Long 2 (Snow Dragon 2) departed Shanghai Wednesday with a team of Chinese scientists on board to conduct investigations in areas including the Chukchi Rise, Canada Basin and the central Arctic Ocean, Xinhua reports. The voyage is expected to cover some 12,000 nautical miles and conclude in late September.The expedition is said to be organized by China's Ministry of Natural Resources to study biodiversity and ecosystems, ocean acidification and chemical environment and new pollutants

Singapore-based shipowner BW LPG announced Wednesday it has concluded the sale and delivery of the 78,489 cbm capacity liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier Berge Summit to an unnamed buyer for continued trading.The sale is expected to generate approximately $9 million in liquidity and an expected net book gain of $4 million, BW LPG said.BW LPG acquired the 1990-built vessel for $8 million in 2015, and for the last five years it has been used as LPG floating storage for Vitol's gas-to-power project in the U.S. Virgin Islands.Anders Onarheim, CEO of BW LPG, said, “The successful completion of this transaction is in line with our asset management strategy.

The Damen Shipyards Group reports it has sold a full option Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) 500 to the Argentinian dredging contractor Servimagnus. The modular dredger is currently under construction at the Damen Dredging yard in Nijkerk, The Netherlands, and will be shipped to South America later this year to join the Servimagnus fleet working on a waterways program in the province of Buenos Aires.“One of the major rivers in the outstretched plains in the Argentinian Province of Buenos Aires, the Salado River, is undergoing major maintenance dredging,” says Ezequiel Najmias, Damen Shipyards Group sales manager Americas.