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Viking Sea launched at Fincantieri's Ancona shipyard

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 26 June 2015 26 June 2015

Viking Sea, the second of three ships which Fincantieri is currently building for the company Viking Ocean Cruises, was launched yesterday at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona. Interior fittings will now begin, leading the ship to its delivery scheduled in spring 2016.

Viking Star, the first sister ship, has been delivered in March: Fincantieri is already working on Viking Sky, the third unit of the agreement, that will be delivered as well in the shipyard in Ancona at the beginning of 2017.

The ceremony was attended by Karine Hagen, godmother of the launching and daughter of Torstein Hagen, founder and CEO of Viking Cruises, while Fincantieri was represented among others by Giovanni Stecconi, Director of the shipyard in Ancona.

Viking Sea, like its two sister ships, will be placed in the small cruise ship segment. In fact, with a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons, it will have 465 cabins with accommodation for 930 passengers. The ship has been designed by experienced nautical architects and engineers, including an interior design team of London-based SMC Design, and Los Angeles-based Rottet Studios.

The building of this series of ships states the solid commercial partnership between Viking and Fincantieri.

Fincantieri has built 70 cruise ships since 1990 (of which 47 from 2002) and other 14 ships are currently being designed or built in the Group’s yards.

KfW IPEX-Bank to finance Star Clippers newbuild

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 June 2015 25 June 2015

KfW IPEX-Bank is providing a syndicated loan together with a renowned commercial bank to finance the world's largest square rigger. The corresponding agreements with the internationally operating shipping company Star Clippers, which has ordered the construction of the ship, were signed on Tuesday. Both banks are contributing to the financing in equal measure. The tranche provided by KfW IPEX-Bank is covered by an export credit guarantee from the Croatian export credit agency HBOR.

The five-masted barque will be built by the Croatian shipyard Brodosplit near Split, which has a long history, and it is slated for completion during the course of 2017. With a sail area of 60,000 square feet (5.574 square metres) the vessel will be 162 m long and accommodate about 300 passengers.

With its faithful reproductions of classic tall ships the shipping company Star Clippers caters to both the European and the US markets. With this new ship the company will expand its fleet, which comprises three vessels so far - Royal Clipper, Star Clipper and Star Flyer - in order to meet the growing demand for cruises across the globe, which is also apparent in the cruise sailing segment.

The ship will be modelled on the legendary France II, which upon its completion in 1911 replaced the famous Preussen as the world's largest square rigger at the time. In order to meet contemporary stability criteria its beam will be somewhat larger at 18.5 m, yet its rigging and sails will be exact copies of those on the France II.
a very large square rigger Future world's largest square rigger (image)

Financings in the maritime industry, especially for ultra-modern cruise ships, are part of the core business of KfW IPEX-Bank.

As the shipping company's vessels do not emit any pollutants for large sections of their journeys while under sail, the financing contributes to the sustainability concept of the KfW Group.

DFDS makes an offer for part of SCOP Seafrance

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 June 2015 25 June 2015

After taking the necessary time to consider the interests of all stakeholders, DFDS confirms that it filed an offer yesterday to the administrators of SCOP Seafrance. If accepted, this offer is expected to result in 202 jobs for SCOP Seafrance employees.

It would also mean that DFDS would operate three vessels between Calais and Dover: One of the current ships on the route plus the newly chartered vessels Rodin and Berlioz.

DFDS would thereafter employ 1000 French staff, hereof 650 in Calais, and operate nine ships, including five under the French flag, on four routes from France.

Niels Smedegaard, CEO of DFDS, commented: "Given the overcapacity in the market, DFDS had originally planned to operate two ships on the route in order to adapt the capacity to the market situation. However, following our dialogue with various stakeholders, we have decided to make an offer for part of SCOP Seafrance, and thus attempt to save more than 200 jobs by operating three ships instead. DFDS has been in the French ferry market for 15 years, and in recent years with ships under the French flag and with French crews. We are very pleased with the loyalty, skills and commitment of our crews, including the many former employees of Seafrance, and we are committed to continue developing a sustainable and long-term business in France that can benefit all of our employees, customers, and partners in the Calais region."

West Indies Cruise Line – a new cruise brand has emerged in the Caribbean

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 June 2015 25 June 2015

West Indies Cruise Line, a niche player, will enter the cruise market tussle in the coming Caribbean season. Alan Lam reports.

Perhaps as a sign of the continuing buoyancy of the Caribbean cruise market, starting 31 July 2015, the newly formed cruise line will offer weekly voyages from Port of Spain on 2- & 5-night voyages to Barbados, Grenada, Isla Margarita, and Tobago, using the 1972-built small cruise vessel Adriana, which only has a capacity of 264 lower berths.

Managed by the London-based Pacific Naval Register, the predominantly Ukrainian-crewed ship flies the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is currently owned by Sergei Ponyatovsky, a Russian businessman who is the president of Inflot Worldwide.

Adriana has been deployed in the Black Sea in the last five years. Owing to the continuing tense geopolitical situation in the region, its operator has been forced to transfer the vessel to the Caribbean.

Interestingly, despite being the ultimate home of ocean cruising, this is the first time a cruise line will be based on a Caribbean island.

According to Henry Yaniz, the president of West Indies Cruise Line, the product will intintially be sold locally in Trinidad, Barbados and Granada. He believes that the demand will be strong, as it operates under the "Caribbean without visa" scheme. By operating exclusively within the Caribbean territories, its customers will not need to apply for US visas in order to start their cruises from Florida.

First South Pacific Cruise Forum to take place in Tahiti

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 June 2015 24 June 2015

PRESS RELEASE – SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE FORUM

Only just 5 years ago, the South Pacific insular countries decided to gather into a regional organisation: the South Pacific Cruise Alliance, to create and promote a cruising area with a strong and remarkable identity.

This ‘maritime continent’ is located in a large triangle connecting Fiji, New Zealand and Tahiti.

In 2015, it will welcome more than 50 cruise ships, 454 different cruises, 486 000 passengers, 2 668 calls for more than a hundred possible ports of calls. The region is at the beginning of a new growth with new itineraries and new cruise ships calling, while preserving its own innate qualities; protected and secluded areas, a safe and secure navigation, a warm and friendly welcome, genuine shore experiences, true, authentic and strong cultures, easy lifestyles, with a traceability and environment concern always prevailing.

Less than 2 hours from Australia, 6 from Hawaii, 8 from Los Angeles, 10 from China and Japan, the South Pacific is ideally placed in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, served by direct flights from the most important source markets.

On October 16th & 17th 2015, in Tahiti, will be organised the very first South Pacific Cruise Forum, intended to bring the Tourism Ministers of the region, the destination managers (NTOs), the Ports and Airports Authorities, the cruise shipping companies, airlines, tour operators, suppliers and other private actors of each destination together. These 2 days of high-level meetings, discussions and conferences (in English) will help highlight the main development, structuring, and consistency or coherence strategies of the cruise sector in the whole South Pacific region.

The aim is to strengthen and extend the visibility of the region and help the cruise ship-owners to include the destinations in their commercial and operational plans for the next decade.