TUI says crisis will drive digitalisation, non-profitable activities could be sold

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: More News More News

Published: 13 May 2020 13 May 2020

TUI AG, the German tour operator that also has three cruise brands in its portfolio, says the current crisis will drive further digitalisation of its business.

“We will be less capital intensive, and we will continue our asset-right strategy in our Hotels & Cruise business, which we launched in 2019. We will right-size our airlines and order book, alongside restructuring. We will divest and address non-profitable activities within our business,” the Hannover based company said in its first half financial year 2020 interim report.

“Driving digitalisation - we will accelerate our Group transformation into a digital platform busi-ness. We will expand accommodation only and seat only products as well as increase dynamic packaging options,” TUI AG said.

The group’s cruise operations that comprise the fully owned Marella Cruises unit in the UK and 50% stake in TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd, reported a sharp weakening of  results in the three months to 31 March.  

Revenues grew slightly, to €243.2 million from €234.2 million in the same period last year, but underlying EBIT became negative by €22.4 million from positive by €59.4 million, year on.

In the six months to 31 march, revenues rose to €481.6 million from €424.6 million, while underlying EBIT narrowed to €24.2 million from €106.4 million.

“As the first half came to a close, many of our cruise fleet had curtailed their itineraries and docked as a result of global COVID-19 measures. A small handful of our ships continued with their planned sailings returning all passengers to home countries by early April,” TUI said.

TUI Cruises and Marella Cruises were more notably impacted by lost contribution, compensation costs from cancelled itineraries and rerouting costs throughout March. BY contrast, the luxury and expedition cruise brand Hapag-Lloyd saw less operational disruption due to itinerary type and saw earnings break even in the first half.

Norwegian Cruise Line to call over 20 new destinations with itineraries into 2023

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 12 May 2020 12 May 2020

Norwegian Cruise Line yesterday announced that is has opened more than a year of wish-list worthy sailings for 2021 through 2023, with voyages to over 20 new destinations across all seven continents.

Among the notable itineraries are:

– Norwegian Star’s first voyage to Antarctica beginning in 2021 when she sails from Buenos Aires, Argentina for a season of 14-day Extraordinary Journeys, visiting five ports of call across Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and the Falkland Islands, including a majestic sailing by Deception Island and Elephant Island/Cape Lookout.

– Norwegian Star’s March 2022 South America sailing when she will become the first in the fleet to visit Fortaleza and Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, during a 15-day itinerary departing from Rio de Janeiro.

– Norwegian Star’s July 14 and July 25, 2022 Northern European sailings, when she will make the brand’s debut in Greenland with calls to Nuuk, Qaqortoq and Nanortalik during two back-to-back 10-and -11-day sailings from Reykjavik, Iceland.

– Norwegian Jade’s 12-day Extraordinary Journey sailings from December 2021 through January 2022, when she will make Norwegian Cruise Line history as the first ship to offer roundtrip cruises from Cape Town, South Africa. The voyages will include visits to Luderitz and Walvis Bay, Namibia; Durban, and will feature overnight calls in Cape Town and Richard’s Bay, South Africa.

– Norwegian Sun’s November 2021 sailing, when she will make her Asia debut and will become the first in the fleet to visit the exotic destinations of Nagoya, Beppu and Himeji Japan; Manila and Coron, Philippines; Kota Kinabalu and Melaka, Malaysia; Muara, Brunei and Kampot, Cambodia.

“The just-announced itineraries for 2021 through 2023 are designed to provide guests with vacations of a lifetime,” said Harry Sommer, Norwegian Cruise Line president and chief executive officer. “At this moment, we are in our respective corners of the world destination daydreaming. We wanted to use this time to provide our loyal guests with the best-of-the-best itineraries. We’ll set sail to more than 20 new incredible destinations including Antarctica, Greenland and South Africa while also sailing to the over 300 destinations our guests have come to love. This time around, we’re giving our guests more time to plan their long-awaited vacations as well as additional extraordinary ports-of-call. We can’t wait for them to experience these vacations of a lifetime.”

Among the new destinations featured in the itineraries are:

– Elephant Island, Antarctica (No disembarkation) – January 2021 (Norwegian Star)
– Deception Island, Antarctica (No disembarkation) – January 2021 (Norwegian Star)
– Nagoya, Japan – November 2021 (Norwegian Sun)
– Beppu, Japan – November 2021 (Norwegian Sun)
– Durban, South Africa – December 2021 (Norwegian Jade)
– Luderitz, Namibia – December 2021 (Norwegian Jade)
– Walvis Bay, Namibia – December 2021 (Norwegian Jade)
– Timaru, New Zealand – December 2021 (Norwegian Spirit)
– Manila, Philippines – February 2022 (Norwegian Sun)
– Coron, Philippines – February 2022 (Norwegian Sun)
– Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia – February 2022 (Norwegian Sun)
– Muara, Brunei Darussalam – February 2022 (Norwegian Sun)
– Melaka, Malaysia – February 2022 (Norwegian Sun)
– Miyakojima (Okinawa), Japan – March 2022 (Norwegian Sun)
– Himeji, Japan – March 2022 (Norwegian Sun)
– Fortaleza, Brazil – March 2022 (Norwegian Star)
– Salvador de Bahia, Brazil – March 2022 (Norwegian Star)
– Nuuk, Greenland – July 2022 (Norwegian Star)
– Qaqortoq, Greenland – July 2022 (Norwegian Star)
– Nanortalik, Greenland – July 2022 (Norwegian Star)
– Yangon, Myanmar – November 2022 (Norwegian Spirit)
– Maputo, Mozambique – January 2023 (Norwegian Jade)
– Kampot, Cambodia – January 2023 (Norwegian Sun)

Hurtigruten reveals plans for step-by-step restart

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 12 May 2020 12 May 2020

In Norway – where Hurtigruten is headquartered and which is one of the most popular destination for Arctic cruises – schools, kindergartens, restaurants, cinemas and hairdressers are already open and travel restrictions are gradually lifted.

"Gradually restarting operations within Norwegian waters are natural first steps towards a normalization for us. The size and scale of our step-by-step restart is dependent on national and international travel restrictions, government support and other external factors outside of our control. But we are eager to welcome guests on board our ships again, CEO Daniel Skjeldam says.

Hurtigruten also plans to gradually restart Arctic expedition cruises this summer, according to Skjeldam “in areas where restrictions are lifted – where and when we believe it is safe."

"Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our crew and guests. We are working closely with all relevant authorities, experts and agencies to ensure a safe and sensible restart of our expedition cruises," Skjeldam says.

Strict measures

Even before the global outbreak, Hurtigruten imposed strict measures and protocols to combat the spread of the virus. Hurtigruten have not had any confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 on any ships. The lessons learned is the basis of our new, strict procedures that will be imposed before the restart of our operations.

"In total, we will implement hundreds of small and larger measures to keep our guests and crew safe and healthy. Some of them are transitory, some will be permanent. But from even stricter hygiene protocols to reduced guest capacity to allow social distancing, this will give you a safer voyage without impacting the experience," Skjeldam says.
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Flexible rebooking policy 

As there still is a lot of uncertainty surrounding international travel restrictions in the following weeks and months, Hurtigruten has introduced a flexible rebooking policy.

To give explorers the confidence needed for their travel plans during these extraordinary times, Hurtigruten offers free rebooking for all guests on all voyages departing before 30 September. The guests are offered rebooking and a future discount of 10%, to any future Hurtigruten cruise - Expedition or Norwegian Coastal – in 2020 or 2021.  

For full policy and rebooking options, please click here to visit Hurtigruten’s dedicated information page. 

Operations update May 11 2020

Following the latest developments of the pandemic, including local and global travel restrictions and advisories, government support, Hurtigruten have decided to extend the temporary suspension of operations.

Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Voyages:  

– Operations on the scheduled Bergen - Kirkenes – Bergen voyages will be suspended until June 15 2020.
– The company is planning for a gradual restart of operations on the Norwegian coast. The first planned departure will be Finnmarken from Bergen on June 16.
– Following June 16, the company will make decisions for each and every voyage individually. It will update all booked guests on any changes that will affect their voyage as soon as possible, and no later than three weeks (21 days) before the scheduled ship’s departure.
– In agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Transport, Hurtigruten has deployed two ships in an amended domestic schedule. The newly upgraded MS Richard With and MS Vesterålen is bringing critical supplies and goods to local Norwegian communities. This service will continue through Jun 15.

Hurtigruten Expedition Cruises:

– All Hurtigruten expedition cruises are temporarily suspended, with a number of voyages affected - including voyages with battery hybrid powered Fridtjof Nansen to Norway and Roald Amundsen to Alaska and the Northwest Passage, as well as some cruises to Svalbard and Iceland. A full an updated list of cancelled voyages can be found here.
– Hurtigruten plans to gradually restart expedition cruises in areas where restrictions are lifted – where and when we believe it is safe. We will make decisions on each individual voyage, and update all booked guests on any changes that will affect their voyage as soon as possible, and no later than three weeks (21 days) before the scheduled departure.

(Photo credit: Vidar Trellevik)

Europa 2 switches to cold ironing in Hamburg

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: More News More News

Published: 11 May 2020 11 May 2020

Europa 2, a luxury segment vessel of the German cruise operator Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, is now using cold ironing at the Cruise Center Altona in Hamburg, Germany, the company said in a statement.

The process provides shoreside electrical power to a ship at berth while its main and auxiliary engines are turned off. In this test phase, the undisrupted use and compatibility had been comprehensively tested and prepared when the Europa 2was moored in its berth in Altona. This down time – due to the current travel restrictions – offered the opportunity to complete successfully the test phase.

All newly built ships in the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ fleet are equipped for the use of cold ironing. Another important component of the environmental strategy, is the extension of the use of low-pollutant marine gas oil, with a sulphur content of 0.1% to the entire fleet.

The small luxury ship the Europa 2, with a capacity of 500 guests, requires only 2.2 MW (megawatt) of power per hour during port time and is able to reduce its emissions to almost zero. The electricity used is being supplied by ‘Hamburg Energie’ and comes from 100% renewable resources, which means that the operation of the ship in the port is practically climate-neutral.

Europa 2 was the first cruise ship in the world to be fitted with SCR catalytic converters. The catalytic converters reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by almost 95%. It is also the first cruise ship to have EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) certification, and its CO2 emissions are 31% below the target value. The other new ships in the expedition fleet are continuing this strategy and are also equipped with these catalytic converters.

“With our years of expertise in the luxury and expedition segment we set the highest standards in the industry with our ships, and are committed to adhering to strict environmental protection standards. We have already made significant progress in this field and never stop working to improve it further,” says Karl J. Pojer, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. He continues: “We use marine gas oil with a low 0.1% sulphur content in the whole fleet, all over the world, thereby going beyond the legal requirements. Successful use of cold ironing is another important part of our environmental strategy.”

 

By transitioning to the low-pollutant fuel voluntarily, the sulphur emissions of the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises fleet will be cut by 80%. The switch to marine gas oil also means a reduction in soot and particulates of up to 30%. In addition to this, all routes are carefully planned with an eco-efficient average speed, not pushing vessels to go as fast as possible reduces consumption by 30% and thus also lowers the emissions.