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Virgin Voyages becomes carbon-neutral from the first day of commercial operation

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 16 February 2020 16 February 2020

Virgin Voyages, the new lifestyle and travel brand delivering vacations in cruising, announced on February 14 that the Scarlet Lady has officially reached completion. Nearly three years in the making, Virgin Voyages formally welcomes its first ‘Lady Ship,’ Scarlet Lady, in its fleet of four to the open waters, departing the shipyard in Genoa, Italy. In just 46 days, Sailors will embark on the Maiden Voyage, departing from her home port in Miami.

On the heels of this celebratory occasion, Virgin Voyages welcomes Scarlet Lady with an industry-leading approach that takes immediate action to address climate change. Not only has the brand designed its fleet of ships to the latest energy-efficiency standards with state-of-the art equipment, Virgin Voyages is offsetting its direct climate change emissions through the purchase of carbon offsets. This commitment makes the brand the first cruise line to become carbon-neutral for its direct emissions footprint from its first day of commercial operation. The projects that will be supported by Scarlet Lady will meet high-quality, internationally-recognized verification standards, including The Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard.

“It’s wonderful to welcome Scarlet Lady today,” says Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson. “I’m so proud that as we start this exciting journey, we also bring to life Virgin Voyages’ commitment to preserving the ocean and the first of many steps towards a net zero carbon future.”

The brand has recognized that climate change is an urgent, global issue for every industry and business. Like others, Virgin Voyages’ long-term ambition is a net-zero carbon future. This will require significant advancements in technology and infrastructure, and access to solutions that remain in development. And, Virgin Voyages is committed to working with the industry to support the necessary research and development to advance carbon-free fuels and to scale commercially viable solutions.

“The ocean is our home, and we are on a mission to protect it. The single-biggest threat facing our ocean is climate change, and we want to be part of the solution,” said Tom McAlpin, CEO and President of Virgin Voyages. “We are committed to pioneering new technologies onboard and working with our industry peers to advance research and development for zero-carbon fuels.”

Virgin Voyages is one of first cruise lines to use Climeon, a technology that utilizes heat generated from the ship’s engines to generate electricity, thereby decreasing the demand for fuel. While the industry continues to improve on the journey for readily available and commercially viable solutions, purchasing high-quality carbon offsets allows us to take immediate action, while also supporting a long-term strategy that secures a net-zero future for the cruise industry.

Senior management changes in Global Ports Holding

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 15 February 2020 15 February 2020

Global Ports Holding PLC, the world's largest cruise port operator, has announced a number of changes to its senior management team.

Having introduced port and destination services across its portfolio and having been part of the development of its guest services and retail operations, Mark Robinson is moving to head up business development efforts in EMEA and Asia Pacific.

As a result, Mert Basar has joined the company to take on the role of Chief Commercial Officer. Mert has spent his recent years as Chief Commercial Officer at IGA- Istanbul Airport. In this role Mert designed and executed the commercial strategy, overseeing both aeronautical and non-aeronautical services at one of the world's largest airport projects. Before this, he has held a number of senior executive roles at Turkey's leading telecommunications companies such as Turk Telecom and Turkcell and for one of the world's leading technology companies, HP.

Commenting on the changes, Emre Sayin, Chief Executive Officer, said: " I look forward to Mark's input from his new and exciting role. I expect Mark's wealth of cruise industry experience will prove to be invaluable to our business development aspirations in both EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

I am also delighted to welcome Mert to our team. His experience and knowledge of commercial operations at such an important aviation hub will be invaluable in helping us deliver on our short and medium-term objectives for ancillary services across the business."

TUI’s cruise revenue soars but profitability growth lags behind in first quarter

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 13 February 2020 13 February 2020

TUI AG, the German tour operator that is listed in London, has reported a strong rise in the revenues of its cruise operations for three months to 31 December 2019, but profitability of the operations did keep pace with the volume growth.

Turnover rose by 25% to €238.4 million year on, but underlying operating result (EBIT) only grew by 3.8% to €48.8 million, the company said in a statement.

TUI’s cruise operations comprised of fully owned Hapag-Lloyd Cruises in Germany and Marella Cruises in the UK plus a 50% share in TUI Cruises in Germany at the time. However, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has since been sold to TUI Cruises.

The company said the underlying EBIT result had increased by €2 million in the quarter, with annualisation benefits from three new ships launched during the course of the financial year to 30 September 2019.

However, these were mostly offset by higher cost base principally from the impact of IMO2020 fuel regulations and adverse foreign exchange effects, which could not be fully recovered through pricing.

“TUI Cruises’ earnings increased due to the annualisation benefit of the new Mein Schiff 2 launched in February 2019, although average daily rates decreased in the quarter as a result of route mix,” the company said in a statement..

“Marella Cruises’ overall earnings, as expected, decreased due to a higher cost base not fully recovered, combined with lower occupancies from slower winter rates of sale and itinerary disruption.

The average daily rate increased due to higher pricing of our newer fleet in the quarter. Itinerary disruption in the Middle East and operational disruption in Asia cost €2 million in the quarter.

Marella Discovery, one of the company’s ships, reportedly suffered from technical problems while operating in Asia in the quarter.

Hapag Lloyd Cruises had benefitted from good trading of two new expedition ships, but the cost of dry docking of luxury segment vessel Europa and the introduction of an expedition ship had exceeded the effects of the positive developments.

Meyer Turku starts hull assembly of Costa Toscana

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 11 February 2020 11 February 2020

Assembling the hull of Costa Toscana, the second of two 185 000 gross ton LNG powered cruise ship for Costa Crociere, began today at Meyer Turku shipyard with traditional lucky coins being placed on the keel blocks, the shipbuilder said in a statement.

Costa Toscana will enter service in late summer of 2021 and it wll follow Costa Smeralda that the Finnish yard handed over to Costa Crociere, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc, in December 2019.

“This symbolic moment in the construction of Costa Toscana marks a further step forward in the use of LNG in the cruise sector. We were the first in the world to believe in this innovation five years ago, when we ordered these new ships, starting a transformation process toward make tourism increasingly sustainable,” said Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises.

"LNG is currently the solution that allows the best and most immediate results to be achieved in terms of reducing the environmental impact of ships,” he noted.

Meyer Turku CEO Jan Meyer reminds that every ship is an evolution from the previous one: “We are always building on the learnings of previous ships, but Costa Toscana will also have totally new designs in many features to inspire her passengers.”

Updated: Westerdam to sail to Cambodia instead of Thailand

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 10 February 2020 10 February 2020

Westerdam is now sailing for Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where the current cruise will end. We will arrive at 7:00 a.m. local time on Thursday, Feb. 13 and will remain in port for several days for disembarkation. Guests will be able to go ashore. All approvals have been received and we are extremely grateful to the Cambodian authorities for their support.

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Westerdam is sailing for Laem Chabang, Bangkok, Thailand, where the current cruise that departed February 1 from Hong Kong will end on Thursday, February 13. All guests will be disembarking in Bangkok for their forward flights home. This new schedule has been communicated to guests on board. Due to the coronavirus epidemic in China, many countries denied the entry of Westerdam to their ports.

All guests will receive a 100% refund for the 14-day sailing, as well as a 100% Future Cruise Credit. Complimentary internet and phone access is available for guests and crew to stay in contact with loved ones.

The ship is not in quarantine and we have no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus on board despite media reports.

"We have also received a letter from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment affirming that they have full confidence in all our medical reporting and the quality of our medical staff and services on Westerdam. This assessment was done in concert with the Ministry of Health of the Netherlands," Holland America said in a statement.

"We sincerely thank our guests and crew on Westerdam — and their loved ones — for their patience during this extraordinary time."

The Feb. 15 cruise currently scheduled to embark in Yokohama has been cancelled. Booked guests and their travel advisors have been notified.

No cancellations for cruises with departure dates beyond February 15 have been announced at this time. However, we are assessing the impact of current port restrictions in Asia on cruises departing Feb. 29 or later. We will communicate details as they become finalized in the next few days.