Port

This is what I can tell you about Funchal. Not far from the narrow streets of the city center, where old men with soft faces sip espresso, the orbs of a gondola lift above harbor, traffic, and modest homes terraced with patios where laundry is hung by people who probably wish a gondola did not pass overhead. After exiting the gondola at the top of a mountain that plunges to the ocean, you can pay 10 euros (about $12, unless the dollar keeps falling) for the opportunity to sit in a wicker sled.

She smiles, answers questions and can guide you to the nearest restroom or to your connecting flight. But don't try to shake her hand. That's because "she" is an avatar, the latest high-tech venture at the three major airports in the New York City area. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey unveiled the device Monday at Newark and La Guardia airports. Those two, along with JFK, will be the first airports in North America to get an avatar this summer. The Port Authority is renting them for about $180,000 for six months.

PROVIDENCE -- The Coast Guard reopened the Port of Providence to marine traffic yesterday with a safety zone around the site of a massive fire that erupted where a tanker was unloading gasoline. It was still not clear whether the fire was caused by lightning . Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Pinneo said authorities were investigating other factors that may have contributed to the blaze late Tuesday, although he would not say what they were. No injuries were reported. Coast Guard officials said the 600-foot Nordeuropa , a Danish ship, safely pulled away from the dock after the explosion...

Sporting crumpled catwalks and smashed lifeboats, the U.S. Navy vessel USS Essex managed to glide into San Diego Bay on Thursday, 24 hours after colliding with a tanker when the aging warship's steering apparently failed. Families of the crew aboard the "Iron Gator" waved homemade flags in celebration as the 21-year-old amphibious assault ship — which officials say needs to be overhauled — came into view through the morning's thick marine layer. Wednesday's midmorning crash 120 miles off the coast of Southern California resulted in no injuries or fuel spills.

Occupy Wall Street protesters outside the Port of Oakland are pledging to stay until at least 10 p.m. PDT Wednesday. Demonstrators had marched to the port earlier with the intention of closing the facility down during an evening shift change. Port spokesman Isaac Kos-Read acknowledged Wednesday evening that "maritime operations at the port are effectively shut down. " Oakland police had estimated that the number of demonstrators gathered at the port was around 3,000 people, though some in the crowd began leaving as the night progressed.

Officials say two ferries collided in a Baltic Sea port in Germany. No passengers or crew members have been injured. Police officials in Travemuende said the 190-meter (625-foot) German ferry Nils Holgersson returning with 63 passengers aboard from Sweden crashed into another ship upon its arrival in the port Thursday. They say it tore a whole into the side of the 171-meter (560-foot)Danish ferry Urd while it was being loaded, leading water to pour into the vessel, German news agency dapd reported.

NEW YORK -- For nearly a century, great ocean liners ended their trans-Atlantic crossings with a grand finale: a nautical promenade past the Statue of Liberty and skyscrapers of Manhattan. That will change beginning today, when the world's biggest passenger ship edges into a remote Brooklyn pier once known for coffee, corruption, and crime. What happens when the nearly 2,200 passengers step off the 1,132-foot Queen Mary 2 will also be different. Instead of being in midtown Manhattan, where hotels are a quick cab ride away, they will be in Red Hook, facing...

Officials in Marseille have evacuated an area around the French Mediterranean city's port so they can remove a 1-ton German bomb that dates to World War II. Around 1,000 people were asked to clear out Sunday. Boat traffic has been halted and access to several coastal roads blocked. The bomb will be taken to a military base to be detonated. It was discovered a week ago by construction workers who accidentally pierced the explosive with their back hoe. The regional government says the bomb's ignition system no longer works but the sheer amount...

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent State officials are about to put a serious obstacle in the path of skateboarders lured each off-season to the empty 12-foot deep end at the Francis J. McCrehan Memorial Swimming Pool in Cambridge. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation is preparing to fill in the deep end at the pool on Rindge Avenue, reducing its depth to six feet, before the pool reopens next year. DCR officials are hoping the move will help deter frequent use by skateboarders, who scale a fence at the pool in the off season when the...

Producer/songwriter Clinton Sparks dropped by Port 305 in Marina Bay for dinner this week. Sparks, in town making a video, joined owner Kristie Henrikson and her daughter Sydney. . . . Former Sox ace Pedro Martinez was spied doing a little shopping at Copley Place yesterday before his benefit for the Jimmy Fund at the Liberty hotel. . . . Sox manager Bobby Valentine, meanwhile, was spotted in the lobby at the Four Seasons yesterday.

Two NASA ships are waiting in a New Hampshire port before heading out into the North Atlantic to monitor the launch of the first commercial spacecraft to carry cargo to the International Space Station. The vessels Freedom Star and Liberty Star are in Portsmouth Harbor waiting for the launch of the SpaceX. The launch has been delayed and no launch date is currently scheduled. The New Hampshire port was chosen as a staging point because of its proximity to the location in the North Atlantic where equipment on the vessels will monitor the launch.

Officials say two ferries collided in a Baltic Sea port in Germany. No passengers or crew members have been injured. Police officials in Travemuende said the 190-meter (625-foot) German ferry Nils Holgersson returning with 63 passengers aboard from Sweden crashed into another ship upon its arrival in the port Thursday. They say it tore a whole into the side of the 171-meter (560-foot)Danish ferry Urd while it was being loaded, leading water to pour into the vessel, German news agency dapd reported.

The German owner of a cargo ship suspected of delivering weapons to Syria says Turkish customs officials found the vessel to have no unlawful cargo aboard. Shipping company W. Bockstiegel Reederei said Wednesday custom officers in Turkey's eastern Mediterranean port of Iskenderun finished to unload and search the Atlantic Cruiser, finding only civilian goods. A customs official in Iskenderun, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, confirmed that "nothing illegal" was found on the ship.

The tortured and bound bodies of seven men were dumped in a Pacific port city along with messages signed by a drug gang, authorities said Thursday. The Michoacan state prosecutors' office said each victim's head was covered with a black plastic bag and had a bullet wound in the back of the neck. Police found posters with threatening messages from the New Generation gang, an ally of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa Cartel. The killings in the port of Lazaro Cardenas came only two days after nine bodies were found in other Michoacan towns, also with...

SANDAKAN, Malaysia - A luxury cruise ship stranded at sea for 24 hours by a fire limped to a Malaysian port Sunday as emergency services and embassy officials prepared to help the 1,000 people on board. The Azamara Quest was adrift in waters off the southern Philippines for a full day after flames engulfed one of its engine rooms Friday night, injuring five crew members. Propulsion was restored the next night and the ship reached the harbor of Sandakan on Borneo island late Sunday.

DP World, the Dubai-based port operator, said Thursday its profit rose 18 percent last year as cargo volumes increased through its network. The cargo handler said it earned $532 million in 2011, up from $450 million the previous year. Adjusted earnings, which included gains from the partial sale of the company's Australian business, were up 67 percent to $751 million. DP World agreed to sell 75 percent of its Australian operations to an investment fund led by Citigroup Inc. for $1.5 billion in late 2010.

Rhode Island is looking to grow its fishing industry at the Port of Galilee. A state task force is examining ways the state and local governments can help businesses at the port on the state's southern coast. The 11-member Port of Galilee Task Force is set to meet for the first time Tuesday at the Statehouse. Rep. Teresa Tanzi wrote the legislation that created the panel. She says she wants to highlight the importance of the state's fishing industry and look for ways to capitalize on the growing popularity of locally produced food.

American Safari Cruises 888-862-8881 www.amsafari.com The company offers multiple departures from Juneau, Sitka, and Prince Rupert from May through August. The seven-night cruise starts at $3,900 from the port of call.

Officials in Marseille have evacuated an area around the French Mediterranean city's port so they can remove a 1-ton German bomb that dates to World War II. Around 1,000 people were asked to clear out Sunday. Boat traffic has been halted and access to several coastal roads blocked. The bomb will be taken to a military base to be detonated. It was discovered a week ago by construction workers who accidentally pierced the explosive with their back hoe. The regional government says the bomb's ignition system no longer works but the sheer amount of explosives — 1,400...

Greek authorities say a fire has broken out on a US-flagged vehicle carrier ship carrying 28 people off the country's main port of Piraeus. A coast guard statement says firefighting ships are trying to extinguish the blaze on the Alliance Norfolk. There are 23 crew members and five passengers on board. The cause of Monday's blaze was not immediately clear. The 57,000-ton, 200-meter (yard) vessel was en route from the United States to Saudi Arabia with a consignment of cars and had moored for an inspection just off Piraeus, the port of Athens.