Top Headlines

Carnival Corporation to partner with INTERPOL for enhanced security screening

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 11 November 2016 11 November 2016

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest leisure travel company, has announced it will be the first maritime company to partner with INTERPOL for advanced security screening across its global operations, including its 10 brands and fleet of 101 ships that annually carry nearly 11 million passengers, or about half the global cruise market, to more than 700 ports around the world.

Carnival Corporation received approval on November 8 to integrate its global passenger check-in process with INTERPOL'S I-Checkit system, a secure method for screening travel document information against INTERPOL's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database, containing over 69 million records from 175 countries.

The approval resulted from a resolution vote held in Bali, Indonesia, at INTERPOL'S General Assembly, the annual meeting of 190 member countries that comprise the world's largest international police organization.

The news follows a three-month I-Checkit pilot program on four of Carnival Corporation's Princess Cruises brand ships. The trial included 34,000 travel documents that were successfully checked against the SLTD database to demonstrate the system's ability to enhance security for the global cruise industry.

The full results of the pilot program were presented to INTERPOL's General Assembly today prior to its member countries passing an official resolution that enables Carnival Corporation to expand its I-Checkit deployment among its 10 cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Its brands include Carnival Cruise Line, Fathom, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).

Carnival Corporation and INTERPOL can now work together on an expanded partnership agreement to cover a phased rollout of the I-Checkit system across its brands. By partnering with INTERPOL on a global integration of I-Checkit technology, Carnival Corporation will further strengthen its leading safety and security protocols by creating a single global standard for security screening used throughout its ports of call.

"One of our top priorities at Carnival Corporation is the safety and security of our guests, our crew and our ships," said Bill Burke, chief maritime officer for Carnival Corporation and retired Vice Admiral of the U.S. Navy. "As the world's largest cruise company carrying hundreds of thousands of daily passengers, having a highly effective and efficient security screening process is a crucial part of how we serve our guests every day. Partnering with INTERPOL enables us to seamlessly enhance security across our global fleet while also maintaining our commitment to providing our guests with a great vacation experience. This is another important step for our company and industry as we continue taking proactive measures to enhance the safety and security of our passengers and crew members."

As Carnival Corporation expands I-Checkit globally, the company's brands will be able to automatically query the SLTD database before and during the boarding process to see if any passenger travel documents have been reported lost or stolen. To ensure privacy and security, no personal data is accessed or transmitted in this process.

"With its real-time secure global alert system, criminal intelligence potential and compliance framework, I-Checkit provides an invaluable preventative and investigative capability for global policing," said Michael O'Connell, director of INTERPOL's operational support and analysis directorate and head of the I-Checkit program. "I-Checkit's initiative with Carnival Corporation offers an additional layer of safety in the travel sector by creating an international standard for security screening."

Working capital needs drive Fincantieri debt higher

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 11 November 2016 11 November 2016

A significant increase in the order backlog of Fincantieri, the Italian loisted shipbuilding group, has resulted in a marked increase in the debt of the company, it said in a statement.

Fincantieri’s orderbook stood at €21.8 billion at the end of September, up from €11.56 billion a year earlier. Several large cruise ship orders have contributed to the increase.

Net debt stood at €625 million on 30 September, compared to €438 million at the close of 2015.

“Most of the Group's debt is used to finance current assets associated with cruise ships construction and thus directly connected with the financing of net working capital. By contrast, net fixed assets are financed by equity and other sources of long-term funding,” Fincantieri said.

“The change in Net financial position is mainly due to financial flows typical of the cruise ship business whose volumes have grown significantly compared to last year, with a further ship due for delivery in the last quarter of this year and three more due for delivery in the first three months of 2017. This trend is in line with the Business Plan 2016-2020 targets and with the guidance for the current year end,” the company said.

Fincantieri reported a nine month to 30 September net profit of €30 million, a marked improvement from a loss of €169 million in the same period last year.

Norwegian expects double digit 2016 and 2017 EPS growth despite “headwinds”

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 09 November 2016 09 November 2016

Norwegian Cruise Line Holding, Ltd (NCLH), the world’s third largest cruise shipping group, expects double digit earnings per share (EPS) growth in this year and in 2017 despite events that are dampening the outlook to some degree

"We are on track to deliver robust double-digit growth in Adjusted EPS in 2016, despite headwinds from geopolitical events earlier in the year which dampened demand for Mediterranean sailings," said Wendy Beck, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

"Looking to the first half of 2017, where deployment is weighted to Caribbean sailings, advanced bookings are ahead of prior year's record levels at higher prices, while an early look at the full year shows occupancy commensurate with prior year at this same time at slightly lower prices,” she said in a statement.

“Recent significant weakening of certain foreign currencies, primarily the British Pound, against the U.S. dollar, combined with an increase in fuel prices have placed pressure on expectations for the coming year. Despite these headwinds, we still anticipate delivering double-digit growth in Adjusted EPS in 2017."

NCLH reports record quarterly profit of $342.2 million

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 09 November 2016 09 November 2016

Norwegian Cruise Line Holding, Ltd (NCLH), the world’s third largest cruise shipping group that traces its origins to 1966, has reported a record quarterly profit in the third quarter of this year.

Net profit rose to $342.2 million from $251.8 million in the same period last year, while revenues increased to $1.48 billion from $1.28 billion.

In the first nine months of the year, the profit reached $560.8 million from $388.8 million a year earlier and revenues rose to $3.75 billion from $3.31 billion.

"Fast forward fifty years, where we have reached yet another milestone, reporting the highest single quarter revenue and earnings in our history, bolstered by the addition of Norwegian Escape, Oceania Cruises' Sirena and Seven Seas Explorer to our fleet," said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

Gross Cruise Cost increased 10.5% in 2016 compared to 2015 due to an increase in total cruise operating expense as a result of an increase in Capacity Days along with an increase in marketing expense. Gross Cruise Costs per Capacity Day decreased 3.0%. Adjusted Net Cruise Cost Excluding Fuel per Capacity Day increased 1.7% on both a Constant Currency and as reported basis primarily due an increase in marketing expenses.

Fuel price per metric ton, net of hedges decreased 11.5% to $500 from $565 in 2015. The Company reported fuel expense of $86.3 million in the period. In addition, a loss of $2.5 million was recorded in other expense in 2016 related to the ineffective portion of the Company's fuel hedge portfolio due to market volatility.

Interest expense, net increased to $60.7 million in 2016 from $49.8 million in 2015 primarily due to an increase in average debt balances outstanding primarily associated with the delivery of Norwegian Escape in October 2015 and Seven Seas Explorer in June 2016 as well as slightly higher interest rates due to an increase in LIBOR rates, the company said in a statement.

Lindblad third quarter net profit trebles to $7.6 million

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 07 November 2016 07 November 2016

Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. , the US based global provider of expedition cruises and adventure travel experiences, said its third quarter net profit almost trebled to $7.6 million on the same period last year.

Group net profit reached $7.6 million from $2.9 million while revenues rose to $70.7 million from $58.6 million.

In the first nine months of the year, the profit fell to $10.3 million from $20.5 million, when a $5 million extraordinary income item had klifed the bottom line. Revenues rose to $186.2 million from $163.5 million.

Sven-Olof Lindblad, President and Chief Executive Officer, said "Lindblad's ability to expand our Net Yield and maintain occupancy despite current headwinds speaks to the strength of our operating model and the appeal of our differentiated brand.”

“ While quarterly results can fluctuate depending on a variety of planned and unplanned factors, we remain confident in the long-term growth opportunity we have in front of us as we introduce new vessels and expand our itineraries to further capitalize on the growing demand for high quality, immersive expedition travel," h continued

Lindblad segment Net Yield increased 8% in the third quarter to $1,008 as compared to the same period a year ago, primarily as a result of increased pricing. The decline in Available Guest Nights was mainly due to the planned repositioning of certain vessels, as well as from the cancellation of a voyage on the National Geographic Orion for unplanned maintenance. Occupancy increased to 90.8% compared with 90.5% in the third quarter of 2015, the company said in a statement.