Vard and Ponant finalise contract for four expedition ships

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 12 August 2016 12 August 2016

Vard Holdings Limited, the Norway headquartered shipbuilder 55.6% controlled by Fincantieri, says it has finalised contracts for four luxury expedition cruise vessels with French cruise company Ponant, which is part of the Artemis group in France.

“A Letter of Intent (“LoI”) with respect to the contracts had been announced on 16 March 2016, subject to several conditions being met, including satisfactory financing. At the end of June, Vard and Ponant had entered into shipbuilding contracts. All conditions have now been fulfilled and the contracts have become effective,” Vard said in a statement.

The ice-class expedition cruise vessels will be approximately 10,000 gross tons, about 131 metres long, 18 metres wide and will have a cruise speed of 15 knots. Each vessel can accommodate 180 passengers (92 cabins) and a crew of 110. The vessels will be arranged with high class of luxury facilities on board, fulfilling the highest demands for environmentally friendly and safe operations.

The hulls will be built at Vard Tulcea in Romania. Delivery is scheduled from Vard Søviknes in Norway in the period summer 2018 to summer 2019.

India extends permit for foreign cruise ships to operate along its coast until 2024

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 12 August 2016 12 August 2016

Alan Lam reports

In an effort to encourage cruise tourism, the Indian government has extended the permit to allow foreign registered seaborne cruise vessels to operate along its coast by a further five years, till 2024.

The local cabotage law - which meant that only commercial vessels registered in India were allowed to ply on its costal routes for carrying cargo and passengers - was initially eased in February 2009 for a period of ten years to encourage cruise liners around the world to operate ships in India without a licence from the country’s maritime regulator, the director general of shipping.

In an attempt “to send good signal to the cruise community”, the tourism secretary, who led a task force on cruise tourism, recently recommended an extension of this cruise-specific cabotage relaxation beyond February 2019.

Upon this recommendation, according to a statement from the shipping ministry, the government has decided to relax cabotage restrictions for foreign-flagged cruise vessels by a further five years beyond 5 February 2019.

 The decision comes in the backdrop of an announcement by Costa Crociere to base its 1,300-pax Costa NeoClassica in Mumbai from 16 December this year. This strategic move by Costa has been widely interpreted as a major kick-start for cruise tourism in India.

Tallink’s second quarter profit dives on lower charter income

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 11 August 2016 11 August 2016

Tallink Grupp AS, the Estonian cruise ferry group, has reported a sharply lower second quarter profit and a first half loss as reductions in charter income offset a slight rise in volumes and rise in on board sales.

Group net profit fell to €9.8 million in the second quarter from €28.5 million in the same period last year, while revenues decreased to €245.2 million from €253.9 million.

In the first half, the listed Tallinn based company bookeda net loss of €2.2 million compared to a profit of €15.2 million in the first six months of last year. Revenues decreased to €438.0 million from €444.0 million.

In the second quarter, the group’s vessels carried 2.4 million passengers which is 2.8% more compared to the second quarter last year. The number of cargo units transported increased by 7.3% and the number of passenger vehicles transported increased by 3.8% compared to same period as last year, the company said in a statement.

"Despite the increase in passenger number the average ticket price per passenger was lower and the total revenue from the ticket sale is on level with the second quarter last year,” Tallink noted.

Restaurant and shop sales increased by €3.6 million or 2.7% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

“The sales growth is supported mainly by the higher number of passengers travelling with the Group’s operated ships. Throughout the second quarter there was a price pressure from competition on all routes," the company said. 

“The second quarter total revenue and operating result were lower compared to the same period last year mainly due to less revenue from chartering related to the sale of vessels Regina Baltica and Silja Festival and termination of cruise ferry Silja Europa charter,” the company said

Royal Caribbean announces longest-ever Singapore season on three of Asia's largest ships from October

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 10 August 2016 10 August 2016

Asia’s largest cruise ships Ovation of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas will be back in Singapore from this October to next May to offer Royal Caribbean International’s longest-ever homeporting season here, which will run for eight months totalling 55 cruises and expected to bring an estimated 200,000 guests to ports in Southeast Asia.

The deployment of these three ships will increase Royal Caribbean’s capacity in 2017 in Southeast Asia by 30% over 2016.

To kick start the season is Mariner of the Seas from this October with 39 sailings until next March, ranging from three to seven nights to popular destinations such as Penang, Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Phuket, Bangkok (Laem Chabang) and Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My). The new itineraries for the season are the 3-night Penang Weekend Cruise which will feature night touring and the 4-night Phuket Cruise.

Other highlights of Mariner of the Seas are the festive cruises for Christmas and New Year in December and Chinese New Year in January 2017 which come with special entertainment, decorations and feasts onboard. Theme cruises are also being lined up such as the Salsa Cruise this December featuring renowned international salsa dancers and the second Cosfest Sea Cruise next February where guests can look forward to a cosplay themed parade, anime party and treasure hunt.

Asia’s largest and newest ship Ovation of the Seas which was in Singapore in June, will be back in March to April 2017 with a total of 10 new sailings, comprising three to five nights to Penang, Phuket, Bangkok (Laem Chabang) and a 12-night one-way cruise to Tianjin with calls at Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) for an overnight, Hue/Danang (Chan May), Hong Kong and Seoul (Incheon). Ovation of the Seas alone is expected to add some 42,000 additional guests to the Singapore cruising scene, and delivering millions through in-port spend.

Following this will be Voyager of the Seas returning in May 2017 to offer six sailings of three to five night Southeast Asian itineraries to Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Penang, Phuket and an 8-night one-way cruise to Hong Kong, with stopovers at Bangkok (Laem Chabang) for an overnight, Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) and Nha Trang.