Top Headlines

Stena RoRo places order for four large ropaxes with AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 05 April 2016 05 April 2016

Stena RoRo, the ferry tonnage provider in the Gothenburg based Stena sphere of companies, says it has placed an order for four large ropax ferries with the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China, with an option for another four units.

They will have a lane metre capacity of 3,000 and they will be able to carry 1,000 passengers. Deliveries are scheduled to take place in 2019 and 2020 and they will be employed on Stena Line’s services in northern Europe. Stena Line is also part of the privately owned Stena sphere of companies.

”During the course of the past 24 months our engineering staff has managed to develop a design that is not only 50% larger than today’s standard RoPax vessels, but more importantly, incorporates the emission reduction and efficiency initiatives that have been developed throughout the Stena Group during the past years,” said Carl-Johan Hagman, Managing Director of Stena Line, in a statement.

“These ships will be the most fuel efficient ferries in the world and will set a new industry standard when it comes to operational performance, emissions and cost competitiveness, positioning Stena Line to support its customers in the next decades,” he continued, adding that the new ships would be 50% larger than comparable existing tonnage.

Deltamarin, the Finnish consultant naval architects that are part of the AVIC group, said they would work in the project not only as a designer but also as a provider of comprehensive project management services to support AVIC SHIP and AVIC Weihai Shipyard in the vessel construction.

“Deltamarin’s engineering package includes approval design, support in procurement handling and detail design. Deltamarin Floating Construction will carry out the construction management in close co-operation with AVIC, and supplement the construction team with long passenger ship building experience,” the company said in a statement.

“The project management services also include master planning, procurement of the project materials and material management, project information management and site supervision. Deltamarin developed the concept of the vessel at an earlier stage in close collaboration with the owner Stena,” Deltamarin continued.

The Guangzhou shipyard in China is currently building two large ropax ferries without overnight capacity for Rederi AB Gotland, another Swedish ferry company, which already operates two such vessels built at the same shipyard.

Otherwise, Chinese yards have not built major passenger vessels to western owners and the Stena order can be viewed as a step towards higher value added business, such as passenger tonnage, at a time when dry bulk and container vessel owners, two major customer groups of Chinese yards, are struggling with unprecedented overcapacity and consequent deep losses.

Carnival and Fincantieri finalise contract to build five ships

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 02 April 2016 02 April 2016

Following the historical agreement of March 2015 and the memorandum of agreement of last December, Fincantieri, leader in cruise ship design and construction, and Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, have finalized the contracts for the construction of five next-generation passenger ships.

The historical contracts finalized today envisage one further unit compared to the memorandum of agreement of December and mark the most important goal reached by the two Groups in the last years, having a total value which exceeds 3 billion euros.

Crucial, once more, for the finalization of the agreement, the supporting of the export credit system lead by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Cdp). This support represents for Fincantieri, like for every Italian exporter, an essential element for the efficiency of the “Italian system”.

Two of the new ships will be built for the Costa Crociere brand Costa Asia, other two for Princess Cruises and one for P&O Cruises Australia. They will all be built at the shipyards in Monfalcone and Marghera between 2019-2020, and will operate on the emerging cruise markets, among which China, Australia and others, once entered in their respective fleets.

The announcement was made on board of Koningsdam, the new ship of Holland America Line’s fleet, other brand of the Carnival Group, delivered to the shipowner on March 31, and presented today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Marghera.

The contracts were signed by Micky Arison, Chairman of Carnival Corporation, and Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, in the presence of Graziano Delrio, Minister of Infrastructures and Transport, personally delegated by the Prime Minister’s Office, to represent the Italian Government.

Also attending the ceremony were several authorities and, among others, Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, Stein Kruse, CEO of Holland America Group, which comprises the Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia and Seabourn brands, Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group, which includes AIDA Cruises and Costa Crociere, and Orlando Ashford, President of Holland America Line.

The new units will be specifically designed and developed for each brand and the guests they will serve. The ships for Costa Asia and P&O Australia will be 135,500-ton vessels with the capacity to carry 4,200 passengers on board.

The ships for Princess Cruises will be 143,700-ton and 3,560-passenger ships and will be the brand’s fourth and fifth vessel of the Royal Princess class, after Royal, Regal and Majestic, all built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, the last of which due to delivery in 2017.

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, stated: “This result, which is by far one of the most important ever achieved by an Italian industry, makes us proud of the strong commitment made over all these years, which helped to make Fincantieri an excellence acknowledged worldwide for product diversification and quality, with an unparalleled workload in terms of time, which ensures full development and a long-term strategic perspective. Today - concluded Bono – we further strengthen the relationship with our friends in Carnival, a partnership that has enabled both groups to grow over the years and which is further reinforced by an unprecedented strategic agreement. Thanks to it we look at the future in order to develop new projects together and meet the new challenges that the market will present us”.

Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, commented: “Today has been especially exciting for our company, our partners and our guests, as we celebrated the arrival of our amazing ms Koningsdam ship and officially signed agreements with Fincantieri to build five new cruise ships for the future. Supporting our goal to exceed guest expectations on every cruise – continued Donald - these new ships will create a whole new level of excitement and opportunity to deliver experiences that our guests will not only remember for the rest of their lives, but will also share with others. Using our strategic fleet enhancement plan to delight our guests is an important part of our measured growth strategy, which includes replacing less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels over a very specific period of time.”

The cooperation between Fincantieri and Carnival Corporation has a remarkable strategic value not only for the shipbuilding industry but for the entire national economy. The contracts announced today, indeed, outline long-term activities from one of the major foreign investors in Italy: the American group, thanks to the partnership with Fincantieri, invested in our country – also counting today’s announcement – almost 30 billion euros. In fact, Fincantieri has built 72 cruise ships since 1990, 60 of which for Carnival’s different brands, while other 24 ships are currently being designed or built in the Group’s yards, 11 of which for the shipowners of the American group.

Fincantieri made 2015 loss despite all time high activity level

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 01 April 2016 01 April 2016

Fincantieri, the listed shipbuilder in which the Italian government I the biggest shareholder, made a loss last year despite reporting an all time high order intake and record order backlog.

The group net loss amounted to €175 million last year compared to a profit of €67 million in 2014. Vard, the Norway domiciled builder of offshore services vessels in which Fincantieri has about half of the shares, accounted for €37 million for the 2015 loss. Unrealised foreign exchange losses amounted to €41 million last year. Revenues fell to €4.18 billion from €4.40 billion

However, Fincantieri’s operations also plunged to a loss as the group EBITDA was negative by €26 million last yea`r compared to a figure positive by €297 million in the previous year. The shipbuilding segment accounted for €23 million of the weakening, while the offshore segment’s share was €3.0 million and that of equipment systems and services of €31 million.

Fincantieri won new orders worth €10.1 billion last year, almost double the €5.64 billion figure of 2014 and an all time high figure. Its order backlog of €15.7 billion was also at an all time high level of €9.81 billion in the end of 2014.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings orders newbuild for Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 31 March 2016 31 March 2016

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. today announced that it has reached an agreement with Fincantieri of Italy to construct a sister ship to Seven Seas Explorer for its Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand for delivery in 2020. Seven Seas Explorer is currently under construction and is scheduled to make its debut in July 2016.

The new Explorer-class vessel will build on the runaway success of Seven Seas Explorer, the first newbuild for Regent Seven Seas Cruises in 14 years. Scheduled for delivery in 2020, the new ship will retain many of the high-end features and amenities that have led to Seven Seas Explorer being hailed as the most luxurious ship ever built. Guests can anticipate exquisite gourmet dining, plush lounges and spacious accommodations, including a rendition of the Regent Suite, a new class of ultra-luxurious suite that will debut on Seven Seas Explorer. Expanded details for the new ship will be announced at a later date.

“When we began conceptualizing Seven Seas Explorer a little over four years ago, we knew from the onset that she would be something special and make an immediate and lasting impression in the marketplace,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. “We expect that the positive impact on earnings and impressive return on investment from Seven Seas Explorer will be significant and that her sister vessel will make a similar contribution.”

“We knew immediately from the overwhelmingly positive response we received from travel partners and past guests that Seven Seas Explorer was going to resonate with guests searching for the ultimate in luxury travel," said Jason Montague, president and chief operating officer of Regent Seven Seas Cruises. “The extraordinary demand generated by Seven Seas Explorer, including record-breaking booking volumes, reinforced our decision to expand our fleet with an additional ship that mirrors the same incredibly high standards of luxury."

The contract price for the vessel is euro 422 million and the Company has committed financing in place from a syndicate of banks for export credit financing in connection with this order.

French America Line to debut in August

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 30 March 2016 30 March 2016

M.T. Schwartzman reports

French America Line, a new company based in Avondale, Louisiana, will make its Mississippi River System debut in August with the 150-passenger Louisiane. The vessel, formerly known as the Columbia Queen, was built in 2000 for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company. The new company is headed by a team of travel industry veterans including Chairman Christopher Kyte, who was a co-founder, owner and first president of the American Queen Steamboat Company when it brought the American Queen back into service in April 2012.

French America Line promises “deluxe voyages through America’s waterways” along five different itineraries: Deep South, Heart of America, River Crossroads, Gulf Waterways and Wilderness Rivers. Programs will originate in eight homeports including Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pensacola, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Missouri; and St. Paul, Minnesota. Each voyage will begin with a one-night pre-cruise hotel stay in the city of embarkation and transfers to the ship.

Signature elements aboard the Louisiane, which will offer a “distinctive French flair,” will include open-seating meals; a casual alternative restaurant; 24-hour room service; complimentary house-brand wines and spirits, selected beers, soft drinks and bottled water; iPads in every cabin; free WiFi; destination-based enrichment programs; plus shore excursions included in the fare. Other amenities of note will be the placement of Hermes bath amenities in all suites and L'Occitane en Provence products in all staterooms. Spa services including salon stylings, manicures and pedicures, plus an additional range of beauty treatments will also be available. Healthy spa menu selections will be served in the dining room as well.

More information on the Louisiane’s refit and inaugural sailings will be announced soon on the company’s website at www.frenchamericaline.com.