Viking endows new Chair of polar marine geoscience at University of Cambridge

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 15 April 2022 15 April 2022

Viking yesterday announced it has partnered with the University of Cambridge to establish a new Professorship aimed at advancing research in the field of polar environmental science. The Viking Polar Marine Geoscience Fund will endow the University’s Scott Polar Research Institute with its first-ever fully funded professorship – the Viking Chair of Polar Marine Geoscience. This new post will enhance the scientific leadership at the Institute and will enable the development of new lines of research into the behavior of polar environments, including polar ice sheets, sea ice and ocean circulation. The research fund builds on Viking’s existing partnership with Cambridge University’s Scott Polar Research Institute, which played a significant role in developing the scientific enrichment program for the company’s new expedition vessels that launched earlier this year.

Viking’s first expedition vessel, the Viking Octantis, debuted in January 2022 and spent the Austral summer in Antarctica. She is currently sailing toward the Great Lakes region, where she will be based for voyages throughout the Boreal summer. Scientists from the Scott Polar Research Institute – as well as other renowned academic institutions – have been undertaking fieldwork on board Viking Octantis and have joined voyages to share their expertise with guests. A second, identical sister ship, the Viking Polaris, will join the fleet later in 2022.

“Our intention in creating ‘the thinking person’s expedition’ is that every voyage should provide opportunities for scientific discovery – for our guests and for our partners,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “In addition to offering our guests the ability to explore some of the world’s most pristine destinations in comfort and in the most responsible way possible, we are proud that our expedition vessels can also be utilized as ships of opportunity for important research that might not be possible otherwise. By establishing the Viking Polar Marine Geoscience Fund, we are also ensuring that the Scott Polar Research Institute is able to continue critical work in perpetuity—some of which will be conducted on board.”

Viking & University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI)

Viking has created the world’s leading scientific enrichment environment in an expedition setting with the help of partnerships with esteemed scientific and academic institutions. Scientists from SPRI are part of the onboard 36-person Viking Expedition Team, a diverse group of experts that lead guests on shore excursions and provide world-class lectures on each sailing. University of Cambridge specialists were also consulted in the development of The Science Lab on Viking’s expedition vessels; the 380-square-foot lab is comprehensively appointed with wet and dry laboratory facilities and supports a broad range of research. Julian Dowdeswell, Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Cambridge and former director of SPRI, serves as the Chair of the Viking Research Advisory Group, a consortium of scientific leaders from Viking’s partner institutions who have been actively involved in overseeing the field research being undertaken on board.

"We are delighted with the support offered by Viking through both the endowment of a new Professorship at the Institute and the opportunity to use their expedition ships as well-equipped platforms for our scientific investigations of the icy world," said Professor Dowdeswell.

Established in 1920, the Scott Polar Research Institute’s mission is to enhance the understanding of the polar regions through scholarly research and publication, educate new generations of polar researchers and communicate the history and environmental significance of the polar regions to the wider community.

Additional Viking cultural & scientific partners

In addition to SPRI, Viking’s other scientific partners include:
– The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Ornithologists are regularly on board Viking’s expedition vessels, undertaking post-doctoral research on new observation methods and providing guest advice and interaction.
– National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL): Conducts innovative research on the dynamic environments and ecosystems of the Great Lakes and coastal regions to provide information for resource use and management decisions that lead to safe and sustainable ecosystems, ecosystem services, and human communities. Viking’s expedition ships have been designated official NOAA / US National Weather Service weather balloon stations, from which regular launches are undertaken.
– Norwegian Institute of Water Research, NIVA: Scientists from NIVA are engaged in cross-disciplinary research programs on water-related issues. On Viking’s expedition ships, NIVA FerryBoxes are installed to sample sea and lake water to provide continuous information about chlorophyll, oxygen, temperature, salinity, microplastics and related meteorological data.
– Norwegian Polar Institute: The permitting authority for our Norwegian flagged expedition vessels, who review and approve all of Viking’s expedition and science activities in Antarctica.
– Oceanites: Viking has partnered with Oceanites, an American Not-for-Profit field research entity that has led on Antarctic penguin monitoring for the past thirty years.
– The Polar Citizen Science Collective: Creates opportunities for research and public education through citizen science, leveraging the reach of polar travelers to enhance understanding and protection of the polar regions.
– The IUCN Species Survival Commission Species Monitoring Specialist Group: Viking has partnered with the group to develop marine biodiversity monitoring systems that will enable expedition vessels to collect data of value to scientists and conservationists.

All in a days work for Asia's leading cruise ship agent

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 15 April 2022 15 April 2022

Dickson Chin (pictured above), Managing Director at Wallem Ship Agency, offers unique insight into the company’s role in supporting Asian cruising and explains how operators and local port authorities are preparing for relaunch.

As Asia’s leading cruise ship agent, Wallem has contracts with 33 cruise lines, ranging from global corporations to the smallest niche players. The company’s work covers world cruises calling at Asian ports as they circumnavigate the globe, regional itineraries sailing exclusively in local waters and expedition cruises repositioning in Asia, as well as cruise-to-nowhere as a new addition due to COVID-19. With such an array of operators and itineraries to support, Wallem Ship Agency handles a wide variety of challenging and high-profile cases.

In my 14 years at Wallem, nothing has put our abilities to the test quite like the turnaround of RMS Queen Mary 2 at the Port of Hong Kong. Before the US$1billion investment in the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, Hong Kong lacked the infrastructure to accommodate such a large vessel beyond a 12-hour port stay, meaning that Queen Mary 2’s turnaround day needed to take place at anchorage. With 900 guests and their belongings to see safely ashore, the time pressure was significant. To further complicate proceedings, luggage was also transferred on a passenger ferry, due to lack of equipment. The baggage was taken ashore and stored in a rented terminal, and we repeated the process in reverse for the embarking guests. After 16 hours’ work in trying circumstances, we had ensured the safe and successful turnaround of Cunard Line’s famous flagship.

Not every case is as demanding as the Queen Mary 2 assignment, but there is always an emphasis on the human element. When Wallem provides agency services to a cruise ship, it is catering to the needs not of 20 to 30 crew members as with a container vessel, but of hundreds of personnel along with hundreds if not thousands of guests. Understandably, human-related problems arise far more frequently, and Wallem deals with everything from lost luggage and late arrivals to medical issues. As well as handling logistics in these situations, Wallem offers linguistic and moral support: the affected individual may be thousands of miles from home in a region where their language is not widely spoken. Our approach is to consider what level of service we would hope to receive were we in a similar predicament – and do everything in our power to meet those expectations.

While the human element will remain a key factor in cruise ship agency, digitalisation has the potential to make our jobs easier by standardising processes across local governments. For example, each port authority in Asia has its own way of filing documentation, and even something as apparently trivial as a passenger’s or crew member’s date of birth on a manifest can cause problems when date formats vary between countries. With a consistent, digital template for all governments in the region, we could eliminate room for error. Although we have seen progress in this area recently, there is a long way to go.

Asian port authorities’ current priority is the relaunch of the local cruise market. Wallem has been in discussions with several regional governments, advising them on how to prepare ports for reopening and bring passenger ships back to the area. Leading the way are Singapore, which is positioning itself as a driving force behind the reactivation of cruising in Asia; and Japan, which continues to host cruise conferences by prefecture governments, and the recent online meeting held by Sakai Port included participation of South Korea and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Wallem’s talks with operators have revealed a growing appetite for new destinations. Driven by Covid-related safety imperatives, cruise lines are seeking less crowded ports that nonetheless have much to offer to tourists. A compelling example is Yeosu, South Korea, a port city that has dominated the domestic travel scene for five years but has been largely overlooked by international cruise itineraries. Yeosu represents an attractive alternative to the Port of Incheon, which serves Seoul without being particularly close to the capital’s centre. Expectations are high that the relatively small coastal city will feature heavily in future itinerary planning for Asian cruises.

Advising both governments seeking to attract cruise lines to their ports and cruise lines looking for new destinations to include in their itineraries, Wallem Ship Agency acts as an intermediary between the two parties. As such, we anticipate some busy years ahead. Whether supporting the port authority and operator as they prepare for departure or the passenger whose luggage has not arrived on board the ship – it’s all in a day’s work for Asia’s leading cruise ship agent.

P&O Cruises cancels seven Arcadia voyages on crew shortage

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 11 April 2022 11 April 2022

P&O Cruises, the UK focused contemporary market unit in Carnival Corporation & plc group, said it had been forced to cancel seven cruises on Arcadia due to problems with crewing.

“The current and extraordinary impact of Covid-19 in the UK, in the wider hospitality, service and airline industry as a whole has resulted in a temporary disruption to crew members available to join our ships."

"As a result, P&O Cruises will be re-deploying crew from Arcadia to other ships in the fleet. This is being done in order to maintain the company’s high standards of service of which we are very proud, across the other five ships in the fleet”, the company said in a statement.

The seven cruises that have been cancelled are J205, J206, J207, J208, J209, J210 plus J211. The ship is scheduled to resume service in early July.

“Guests who are booked on these cruises will receive a full refund of all monies paid and a future cruise credit and on board spending money to use on a new P&O Cruises holiday to be booked beforeDecember 31, 2023,” the company said

Construction of sixth Oasis-class ship begins in France

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 09 April 2022 09 April 2022

Construction on the sixth ship in Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis-class is now underway in Saint-Nazaire, France. The cruise line revealed the name of the upcoming ship, Utopia of the Seas, at the steel-cutting ceremony that took place in the Chantiers de l‘Atlantique shipyard. Come spring 2024, the first Oasis-class ship powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas) will be a bold evolution of the class of ships that changed the industry more than a decade ago.

“We are excited to begin construction on Utopia of the Seas,” said Michael Bayley, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “On the sixth Oasis-class ship, vacationers can look forward to the signature combination of Royal Caribbean experiences and many brand-new adventures that has and will continue to make the Oasis class of ships the ultimate vacation for guests of all ages.”

At the ceremony, Utopia’s first piece of steel was cut to mark the start of the 30-month journey that is the construction process. Representatives from Royal Caribbean and Chantiers de l’Atlantique attended the milestone event, including Jason Liberty, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group; and Laurent Castaing, General Manager, Chantiers de l’Atlantique.

Royal Caribbean’s game-changing Oasis-class redefined cruising with the introduction of Oasis of the Seas in 2009. Today, these ships are known as the ultimate vacations for families and travelers of all ages. With the recent debut of Wonder of the Seas, the renowned class continues to push what is possible with innovations across every aspect of the cruise experience – from unparalleled thrills to original entertainment, and now a transition to cleaner energy.

By introducing the first LNG-powered Oasis-class ship, the cruise line will take yet another step toward a clean-energy future after its first LNG ship, Icon of the Seas, debuts in fall 2023. The use of the cleanest fossil fuel available to cruise ships today and additional environmentally friendly applications on board Utopia will boost energy efficiencies and further reduce emissions overall.