Twelve passengers on Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas suffered minor injuries when a fuel tank exploded on a pier in Gibraltar near the ship on Tuesday, May 31. “Immediately after the explosion, the ship retracted the gangway and moved a safe distance from the dock,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said in a statement. The Gibraltar Chronicle reported that the explosion occurred in a fuel tank on the pier.

Azamara Club Cruises is promoting extended voyages that combine two, three, four or more consecutive cruises. Guests can create a cruise of 11 to 78 nights on Azamara Quest or Azamara Journey in the Far East, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe or South America without repeating a port of call.

For the first time, Carnival Cruise Lines will operate an extended schedule of voyages from Boston with a series of roundtrip four- and five-day Eastern Canada cruises aboard the 2,974-passenger Carnival Glory beginning in June 2012. Carnival will be the only cruise line offering short cruises from Boston to the Canadian Maritimes.

Costa Cruises’ Costa Favolosa, which is scheduled to enter service July 2, has successfully completed its official sea trials. The 15th ship in Costa’s fleet, Favolosa is being built by Fincantieri shipyard at Marghera, Italy. During sea trials, tests were conducted on various systems, including navigation, safety, equipment and engines.

Norwegian Cruise Line has announced the addition of 15 nine-day Canary Island sailings on the 2,402-passenger Norwegian Jade, departing Barcelona, beginning Dec. 8. The cruise will call on Funchal, Madeira; Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands; Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands; and Granada (Malaga), Spain.

The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau is reporting a rise in cruise arrivals as well hotel and timeshare occupancy for 2010 in comparison to 2009.  The increase in tourism stems in large part, from the island's new commercial cruise port and continued overall development to the island.