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Andy Stuart joins Global Ports Holding board

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 27 February 2020 27 February 2020

Global Ports Holding Plc (GPH), the world's largest independent cruise port operator, said that Andy Stuart has been appointed as an independent non-executive director of the company with immediate effect.

GPH has its headquarters in Istanbul and it is listed in London.

Stuart was until recently President and Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, the largest cruise line of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd group.

“Board members Thierry Edmond Déau and Thomas Josef Maier will step down as independent non-executive directors of the company, effective from the meeting of the board on 24 February 2020,’ GPH continued.

Both having decided not to stand for re-election at the next AGM, agreed to step down early to allow new board members to join as soon as practically possible.

“The process of appointing an additional Non-Executive Director, with experience in a UK Plc context is underway,” GPH stated. Plc is short for Public Limited company

Stuart worked for Norwegian Cruise Line for more than 30 years and prior to becoming President and Chief Executive Officer, he fulfilled a number of senior executive roles including Chief Operator Officer and Executive Vice President, a role in which he oversaw global sales and passenger services.

Mehmet Kutman, Chairman and Co-Founder of Global Ports Holding, said: "I am delighted to welcome Andy Stuart to the Board. His vast experience of the cruise industry over a period of more than 30 years, makes him a valuable addition to the team. We look forward to benefiting from his insights as we continue the expansion of our cruise port business.

TT-Line transfers two-ship ropax contract to Rauma due to FSG problems

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 27 February 2020 27 February 2020

TT-Line, the Australian ferry company, said it has switched a contract to build two 50,600 gross ton ropax ferries to Rauma Marine Constructions in Finland from the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard in Germany due to the problems at the last named builder.

TT-Line chairman Michael Grainger said the decision was mutually agreed by TT-Line and FSG. “While we respect there has been significant Tasmanian community interest, it was imperative the company followed its legal advice to protect the interests of the state of Tasmania at all times,” he said in a statement.

“The firm advice was that neither TT-Line nor the Government could make public comment regarding the contract details or the status of ongoing conversations with FSG until now. It was critical that we protected the interests of the State of Tasmania at all times. No payments to FSG have been made, and no payments will be made.”

Grainger said TT-Line had been in contact with another shipbuilder, the Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC). “RMC was one of the yards originally short-listed through the extensive procurement process undertaken. Since the cancellation of the contracts with FSG, TT-Line has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the RMC and will commence contract negotiations and agree final design specifications. This will include finalising a new delivery date, which at the moment is late 2022 for hull 1 and late 2023 for hull 2. Both delivery dates are well within the expected replacement date of 2028,”Grainer continued.

“Importantly, the current Spirit of Tasmania vessels are already emissions compliant as was required by 2020 and can continue to operate safely and efficiently well past 2021.”

Grainger added that the majority of the work undertaken to date on the new vessels by TT-Line and their expert consultants was transferrable and would be utilised in the detailed design phase and contract negotiations with the new shipbuilder.

Cruise shares extend deep losses in early London trade

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 February 2020 26 February 2020

Shares in cruise related businesses, together wit the wider travel sector, extended deep losses of the past few days in early London trade on Wednesday, exceeding the losses of the wider market, on coronavirus fears.

At around 1030am, after two hours of trading, Carnival plc had lost 2.0% to £25.85, TUI AG that is involved in the cruise and package holiday businesses was 3.9% down at £7.0.

Cruise, travel and financial services group Saga plc had dropped a massive 13.5% to £0.36 and Global Ports Holding plc that is the world’s largest cruise port operator had dived 6.0% to trade at £2.0.

The FTSE100 index of leading shares was 0.8% down at the same time.

RCCL increases coronavirus effect to $0.90 per share – report

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 February 2020 26 February 2020

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping company, has increased its estimate for the effect of the coronavirus to $0.90 per share, Reuters reports.

On 14 February, the company estimated the effect would be a $0.60 reduction in earnings per share. n its 2019 earnings release that it published earlier this month, RCCL estimated its full year 2020 earnings per share to reach the range of $10.40 to $10.60

RCCL has canceled 30 cruises in southeast Asia following the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported.

Royal Caribbean increases port calls to St. Maarten in 2020

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 25 February 2020 25 February 2020

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., working in partnership with St. Maarten port representatives, has taken a significant step in advancing its relationship with the highly rated cruise destination of St. Maarten. As an initial effort, RCL has modified its itineraries by adding 15 port visits to the island in 2020 that will increase the number of cruise arrivals there to more than 68,000 guests.

Traditionally, the St. Maarten vacation destination experiences its peak in visitor arrivals between December and March. Between May and December, there is a reduction in those visitor arrival numbers that impact the island’s tourism-based economy. Additional RCL guest arrivals during the May to December period help moderate the highs and lows of St. Maarten’s tourism season fluctuations.

“In order to grow our partnership, we are taking the proactive step of enhancing our Eastern Caribbean itineraries by replacing a day at sea and adding a coveted visit to St. Maarten,” said Vice President of Port Development, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Joshua Carroll. “It’s part of our culture at Royal Caribbean to focus on continuous improvement and this extends to our relationships with destination partners. It makes perfect sense for us to embrace the win-win opportunities with the additional port calls by Freedom of the Seas that brings not only economic benefit to a great partner like Port St. Maarten, but also offer our guests an amazing travel destination.”

“For an innovative ship like Freedom of the Seas to expand its calls here translates into a significant investment in economic development and tourism jobs,” said Senior Port St. Maarten Manager, Roger Lawrence. “We look forward to working with Royal Caribbean as we continue to improve the port infrastructure to benefit all of our key tourism stakeholders to sustainably build on the numbers of visitors who appreciate our leisure travel offerings.”

Beginning in May 2020 and running through December 2020, St. Maarten tourism officials anticipate that Royal Caribbean vacationers on the newly amplified Freedom of the Seas will have a front row seat to take advantage of its beaches, snorkel and adventure experiences.

“With many of our first-time visitors, the cruise experience to St. Maarten is the window through which they are introduced to the wonders of our island with its dynamic Dutch/French Caribbean culture, its idyllic beaches and engaging tour options,” said Lawrence. “Since Hurricane Irma, we have made tremendous progress with our tourism infrastructure and we welcome Royal Caribbean’s renewed focus and commitment to increase the number of visits to our port. With the thousands of additional Royal Caribbean guests now projected to visit, the potential is there for them to become St. Maarten’s greatest vacation champions.”