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Louis Group and banks to work out restructuring plan

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 February 2016 03 February 2016

Louis Group plc, the Cypriot hotel and cruise ship company, said it has entered in talks with its lenders to restructure the borrowings of the company.

“At the extraordinary general meeting of 17 December 2015, the main parameters of the proposed agreement were presented and explained and the shareholders of Louis plc unanimously approved the framework of the restructuring plan relating to the borrowings of Louis Cruises Ltd with DVB Bank and other Banks,” the company said in a statement.

“Furthermore, they authorised the Board of Directors to finalise the relevant negotiations. Once the negotiations are complete and the final agreement is signed, the Company will make a relevant announcement,” the company said.

At the end of September, the group that owns five elderly cruise ships, had non-current liabilities of €274.5 million and a balance sheet that totalled €677.9 million. It made a net profit of €9.0 million in the first nine months of last year, sharply lower from a €15.9 million profit in the same period in 2014. Revenues, however, rose to €198.5 million from €192.6 million.

Princess Cruises appoints Majestic Princess master and his relief master

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 February 2016 03 February 2016

Princess Cruises says it has appointed Dino Sagani as master of its next new ship, Majestic Princess. He will lead a senior officer team with more than 100 years of seagoing experience among them.

The relief Captain appointed to Majestic Princess is Princess Cruises’ veteran, Craig Street.

“We’re thrilled to appoint such experienced captains to our new cruise ship destined for China,” Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, said in a statement. “These skilled officers bring considerable seagoing and management skills and we know they will deliver an exceptional and memorable cruise vacation experience to all Majestic Princess guests.”

Meyer Turku to invest €30 million in 1,200 ton gantry crane

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 February 2016 03 February 2016

Meyer Turku, the Finnish cruise ship builder, will invest €30 million in a 1,200 ton capacity gantry crane, the company said in a statement.

The company is in the process of the design of the crane and inviting bids from various suppliers. The new crane is expected to come online in 2018.

The yard currently has a 600 ton capacity gantry crane, which will remain in place in the future. Tapani Pulli, Deputy Managing Director, said the investment will treble the daily lifting capacity at the yard and enable it to use ever larger sections, which would also be fitted out to a higher degree than what is the case today.

In 2015, Meyer Turku reported a profit for the first time in seven years and the management plans to almost double its production capacity by 2020, said Jan Meyer, Managing Director of the yard.

Genting Hong Kong says Crystal Cruises lifts performance of its cruise operations in 2015

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 February 2016 03 February 2016

Genting Hong Kong, which acquired the luxury cruise operator Crystal Cruises last year, said the acquisition has improved the performance of its cruise operations, while its net profit for 2015 should exceed $2.0 billion in the wake of gains of asset disposals disclosed earlier.

"The improvement in segment results of our “cruise and cruise-related activities” was mainly due to the acquisition of and additional profit contribution from Crystal Cruises as well as absence of certain non- recurrent promotional spending," the company said. It did not disclose fresh financial figures regarding the performance of the operations that comprise the Asia focused contemporary market company Star Cruises and Los Angeles based Crystal Cruises. It did not disclose its 2015 figures, which will due released in March.

In its interim report for the first half of 2015 which the company published on 22 September, Genting Hong Kong reported net profit of $2.16 billion, sharply higher than the $216.7 million figure in the same period in 2014. The 2015 figure was lifted by $2.17 billion worth of asset sale gains, mostly consisting of shares in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

The cruise operations generated total revenues of $265.1 million compared to $258.7 million in the same period in 2014 and a profit of $0.3 million compared to a loss of $13.5 million. These figures do not yet include Crystal Cruises.

"The board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) wishes to inform the shareholders, investors and potential investors of the Company that, based on the preliminary assessment of the latest unaudited financial information, excluding the share of results of Travellers, the Group is expected to record a net profit of not less than US$2 billion for the year ended 31 December 2015, as compared with a net profit, excluding the share of results of Travellers, of approximately US$331.7 million for the year ended 31 December 2014," Genting Hong Kong said in a statement today.

SS United States Conservancy to unveil option agreement with major partner

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 02 February 2016 02 February 2016

The SS United States Conservancy will host a press conference to announce that it has signed an option agreement with a major redevelopment partner on Thursday 4, February at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal in New York.

“At the announcement, an exciting future for the ship will be revealed that envisions the SS United States again as an iconic symbol of America the world over. An artist rendering of the redeveloped ocean liner will also be unveiled. Conservancy Executive Director Susan Gibbs will join the CEO from the development partner to provide details on the agreement and plans for the ship's future. A brief question and answer session will be held immediately after the announcement,” the Conservancy said in a statement.

The ship was built in 1952 and it operated a liner service on the North Atlantic and some cruises for the now dfuncy United States Lines up to 1969. It was then laid up and various attempts to reactivate the vessel have failed over the years. The conservancy, however, does not plan to reintroduce the ship a sea.