Capt. Håvard, are you satisfied with the restarting of cruising operations? Our expectations have been exceeded in many ways. When we started to offer short domestic getaways around the islands in Taiwan and Singapore with Explorer Dream and World Dream last year, we immediately saw there is demand. Despite the pandemic, people still want to travel. Of course, we had to focus on the domestic markets first, because it wasn’t possible to go from country to country back then. This is changing now due to high vaccination rates, particularly in ...

The Swedish tech company Candela has racked up more than 60 orders for its revolutionary, 290 000-euro electric boat, the Candela C-8. That makes the flying C-8 one of the fastest-selling 28-foot boats on the market. The Candela C-8 is the next-generation electric boat from the Swedish tech firm Candela. Using a new version of the company’s patented hydrofoil system, C-8 flies above the waves with greater range than any other electric boat, powered by a new, silent pod thruster – the Candela C-POD. Compared to the company’s first model, ...

The largest cruise ship to be built in Italy has been delivered with a COMPAC seawater lubricated propeller shaft system from Canada’s Thordon Bearings. The 170,400gt MSC Seashore, delivered from Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard last week, joins the smaller 154,000gt Seaside-class vessels MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview, both of which were delivered with a COMPAC bearing system in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Anna Galoni, CEO, Thordon Bearings, said: “As the sector resumes service after a tumultuous 18 months, we congratulate MSC Cruises and Fincantieri on the successful and timely delivery of ...

COLUMBIA Cruise Services (CCS) is proud to announce it is heading into British waters by launching CCS UK, a Southampton-based ship management and recruiting operation. The cruise vessel management business will continue running fleets for its existing UK shipping operators while aiming to attract new clients. CCS recently purchased premises in Southampton, England, which will serve as the company’s UK office. “We’ve set up a fully accredited UK subsidiary to better serve our existing clients and to prepare for future expansion,” said Olaf Groeger, who as Managing Director of CCS ...

Holland America Line took delivery of Rotterdam today, July 30, 2021, officially making it the 11th ship in the fleet. A handover ceremony took place at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Italy the evening of July 29. The ceremony was attended by the ship’s master, Captain Werner Timmers, and Cyril Tatar, Holland America Group’s vice president of newbuilding services. Giuseppe Bono, CEO, Fincantieri, and several other executives also attended. Video congratulations were extended by Jan Swartz, president of Holland America Group, and Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. “Rotterdam looks ...

Australia, a country with one of the highest penetration of any cruise market globally outside the US, has seen its bunker fuel consumption plummet due to restrictions on entry and sailings of cruise ships, pressuring the country’s refiners further as they grapple with demand constraints for other oil products due to the global coronavirus pandemic. VLSFO sales have dropped between 30% and 50% since the global coronavirus pandemic forced cruises to cease operations there from March last year, market sources told S&P Global Platts. The demand for HSFO bunker fuel ...

Piraeus, Greece’s largest port and one of the biggest in the Mediterranean, is looking to a promising cruise tourism season, Piraeus Port Authority S.A. (PPA) Deputy CEO Captain Weng Lin told an industry conference in Athens on Tuesday, citing “very positive” trend in berth bookings. Addressing the biennial Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum, held online this year, Weng said that as of Tuesday, over 400 cruise arrivals have been planned for this year. “The trend in berth bookings from what we have in hand for this year is very positive, even ...

Europe’s biggest cruise companies have already deployed 18 vessels in the East Med and other European destinations and plan to ramp up their operations with 28 ships in June and 50 in July, before reaching this summer’s maximum target of 60 operational cruise ships in August. More than half of these vessels will be deployed in Greek waters according to Ioannis Plakiotakis, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy whose speech marked the official opening of this year’s digital Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum. “Forty cruise ships are expected to operate ...

Recently updated cruise guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a more concrete path to potentially resuming some US cruises in July, which would help stabilize cruise port financial performance and ratings, Fitch Ratings says. Port revenues from cruise operations declined sharply over the last year in the US, with cruise ports recovery at a standstill. Cruise ports have not been collecting revenues from normally stable cruise operations for over a year now. While other leisure and travel sectors started to recover from coronavirus-driven slumps, the ...

Bureau Veritas (BV), a world leader in testing, inspection, and certification (TIC), has been contracted by Carnival Corporation & PLC the world’s largest leisure travel company with a fleet of 87 ships visiting over 700 ports around the world, to provide health and safety services to facilitate the return to cruising, protecting passengers and crew. The support provided, including verification of safety and hygiene measures, will be based upon the expertise and extensive experience built by Bureau Veritas in 2020 to address health protection and hygiene requirements on-board passenger ships. ...

Singapore currently accounts for a third of the world’s cruises its tourism body said on Wednesday, owing to the roaring success of its “cruises to nowhere” at a time of crisis in the industry globally. Cruises have yet to restart in many parts of the world after taking a beating from the coronavirus pandemic, with some of the earliest big outbreaks found on cruise ships. The city-state launched what it called “round trips” on luxury liners in November, which have no port of call and last only a few days. ...

Cruise industry was expected to reach 32 million passengers in 2020 globally, comparatively with 30 million passengers on the previous year. More passengers, bigger cruise lines. But then the forecasts have been negatively overtaken by Covid-19 pandemic, following the social distancing measures and travel restrictions. Cruise industry was the travel sector, which has been particularly badly hit and nearly devastated. Most of the Cruise Lines have decided to lay their ships at anchor, selling or scraping the older ones. Their revenues were nearly zero for months, so they have adopted ...

Debut contract with Dutch luxury yacht builder Oceanco on Azipod® technology installation project paves the way for broader cooperation on sustainable electric propulsion in a market expected to exceed $10 billion by 2025. Specified for a superyacht built to the highest sustainability standards, ABB’s integrated project scope covers the supply of two 2.5 MW Azipod® units, together with propulsion drives and controls. The Azipod® system is well-known for superior fuel efficiency and maneuverability over conventional setups across a broad variety of vessel types from cruise ships to tankers and ferries. ...

Confidence in the safety of cruise shipping and the economic impact of Coronavirus on potential demand will challenge the industry’s attempts at a full 2021 recovery, according to leading research and forecasting consultancy Maritime Strategies International. In its latest biannual report*, MSI notes that even with leading industry players keen to publicise advance ticket sales and enquiries as evidence of pent-up demand and with vaccines becoming available, it will take some time to rebuild confidence in the sector despite enhanced safety protocols and fewer passengers onboard. Of greater concern, however, ...

Today, the Schulte Group has announced the acquisition of Rescompany Systems Ltd. (Resco), a leading provider of advanced hospitality software solutions to the cruise industry. With its integrated ship to shore software systems, Resco is a perfect match and ideal addition to the services offered by Schulte Group member and digital technology company MariApps Marine Solutions (MariApps). Together, the two companies will be able to offer a comprehensive range of maritime solutions and state-of-the-art shipboard and office-based management systems on CLOUD and data analytics to the growing cruise sector. “Despite ...