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Viking hires Raquel C. Bono, M.D. as Chief Health Officer

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 November 2020 25 November 2020

Viking announced today that it has hired Raquel C. Bono, M.D. as the company’s Chief Health Officer. A board-certified trauma surgeon and retired Vice Admiral of the United States Navy Medical Corps, Dr. Bono most recently led Washington State’s medical and healthcare systems response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As Principal at RCB Consulting, she partnered with Viking earlier this year to help develop and define new protocol enhancements; as Chief Health Officer, Dr. Bono will be instrumental in Viking’s restart of operations, with a focus on public health.

“Dr. Bono brings valuable perspective informed by an extraordinary career that has included decorated military service, trauma surgery and health care administration. Additionally, her work as the head of Washington state’s Covid-19 health care response team makes her uniquely qualified to be our Chief Health Officer as we finalize plans for operating cruises safely,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “We are proud to officially welcome Dr. Bono to the Viking family, and we will soon be sharing more details about the Viking Health & Safety Program, which we believe is one of the most well-researched and comprehensive Covid-19 prevention and mitigation plans in the travel industry.”

“I am delighted to join the Viking family and am proud of the significant work we have already done together. I look forward to continuing to create the safest environment possible for Viking’s guests and crew members, while also contributing to the collective public health efforts to address Covid-19,” added Dr. Bono.

Commissioned in June 1979, Dr. Bono received her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin and M.D. from the School of Medicine at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She completed a surgical internship and General Surgery residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, and a Trauma and Critical Care fellowship at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia. She saw duty in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and is the first female Navy medical officer to have achieved three-star rank. As Chief Executive Officer and Director for the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Dr. Bono led a joint, integrated combat support agency that enables all branches of the U.S. military medical services to provide health care services to combatant commands in times of both peace and war. Dr. Bono integrated an unprecedented $50 billion worldwide health care enterprise for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, composed of 50 hospitals and 300 clinics that provide care to 9.5 million military personnel, oversaw the Department of Defense deployment of the electronic health record, and facilitated the collaboration between the largest federated health systems of the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Dr. Bono holds an MBA from the Carson College of Business from Washington State University, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Senior Fellow with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Her personal decorations include a Defense Distinguished Service Medal, three Defense Superior Service Medals, three Legion of Merit Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, and two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals.

Today’s announcement follows news that Viking has become the first cruise line to complete the installation of a full-scale polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing laboratory at sea. The laboratory on board Viking Star has enough capacity for up to daily testing of every crew member and guest, which provides flexibility to respond to Covid-19 prevalence levels around the world. In the coming months, Viking will complete the installation of PCR laboratories on the remainder of its ocean ships – and will also have a strong network of shoreside laboratories for its river ships.

Fincantieri to operate new repair yard in Mexico

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 November 2020 24 November 2020

Today, Fincantieri signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the Ministry of Economic Development and Labour of the Yucatán State (Mexico) to participate in the design and construction of a new ship repair, conversions and maintenance yard. The facility will be located within the expansion and modernization of the Port of Progreso, the main port of the State, approx. 35 kilometers from the capital Merida. Here, a new area will be entirely dedicated to industrial activities. Fincantieri will be granted a 40-year concession for the exclusive management of the new yard.

The agreement was signed remotely by the Minister of Economic Development and Labour of Yucatán, Ernesto Herrero Novelo, and by the Director of the Fincantieri Services Division, Giorgio Rizzo, respectively in the presence of the Governor of Yucatán, Mauricio Vila Dosal and the General Manager of Fincantieri, Fabio Gallia.

The project envisages two dry docks, the largest in the Americas, able to accommodate ships up to 400 meters in length, particularly cruise ships, large cargos and Oil & Gas vessels, which need complex operations. The yard will also have a lifting platform for units up to 150 meters in length, about 1,000 meters docks, cranes, workshops, special equipment, offices, and warehouses.

Initially, the creation of the yard will be carried out by the Government of the State of Yucatán, and it will start by the first half of 2021, and end, after various steps, by 2027. Indeed, the Government will directly manage initial works through a special purpose company, that will handle the dredging, and the construction of the infrastructures and main plants. Fincantieri is to provide advice from the very beginning, to carry out the later stage, also involving other partners, building the advanced facilities, notably workshops and lifting equipment, and installing the equipment and finally starting activities. These will also include the necessary training of the staff, preemptively carried out both locally and in Italy at higher education institutes and at Fincantieri Academy.

Once the shipyard reaches full operational capacity, it will be able to support an estimated 700 full-time resources, and supply a downstream network involving up to 2,500 workers during peak times.

Mexico exports close to 400 billion dollars of goods every year, importing around 350 billion dollars. A considerable volume of this import/export is made through shipments by sea. Not to mention, the significant cruise traffic along the coasts of the United States, in the Caribbean and in the Gulf of Mexico, where there are the renowned settlements of the Maya civilization.

The new Progreso shipyard will be strategically placed to serve the merchant operators of this area, benefiting from the near Yucatán navigation channel, a natural outlet to the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf is also a region with a strong concentration of Oil & Gas related operations, with offshore exploration, production and storage of oil and natural gas.

MSC Cruises on track for April 2021 restart in Japan

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 November 2020 24 November 2020

MSC Cruises has become the first international cruise line that operates in Japan to receive a health and safety certification from the country’s official maritime classification society ClassNK, a major step forward towards MSC Cruises’ operational restart in the country scheduled for April 2021.

The certification of MSC Cruises’ industry-leading health and safety protocol for Biosafety Management System (COVID-19) now paves the way for the line to open sales in December to local residents for cruises homeporting in Japan and start to work with ports in the country to prepare for the upcoming season.

Gianni Onorato, MSC Cruises’ CEO, said, “We are extremely pleased to have received this certification and are now confident that we will be able to restart our Japan operation serving the local market by April 2021.”

Junichi Hirata, ClassNK’s General Manager of Innovation and Sustainability Department, said, “This is the first important step of a longer-term plan for MSC Cruises to resume Japanese cruise operations in the first half of 2021, and we will now work closely with the line towards that goal.”

Hiroya Nakano, Director-General of City of Yokohama’s Port and Harbor Bureau, agreed, “It is great news that MSC Cruises has received this certificate of approval from ClassNK for its health and safety guidelines. The Port of Yokohama is committed to cooperate accordingly for the re-starting of international cruises in spring 2021.”

Health and safety operating protocols of port authorities in Japan and MSC Cruises will also follow guidelines established by JOPA, the Japan Oceangoing Passenger Ship Association.

MSC Bellissima, which was launched in 2019, will be deployed to Japan, homeport in Yokohama to sail 6 to 9-night cruises in April, May and June 2021. She is also scheduled to operate in the country during October and November 2021.

Onorato added: “To be the first international cruise line in Japan to be awarded this key certification of compliance is a further testament to our robust and rigorous health and safety protocol which led the way for the entire global industry in August when we became the first major line to resume cruise operation in the Mediterranean.

“We have now safely and responsibly carried more than 30,000 customers in the Mediterranean and can now look forward to offering the same for our guests who live in Japan.

“Our industry-leading protocol, as well as the unique sets of data gathered through the operation of our two ships calling Italy, Greece and Malta during the past few months, is currently being reviewed by authorities in other regions where the Company’ other ships are scheduled to restart.

“We believe, therefore, that this certification — in a country where the industry was at the center of much attention very early in the pandemic — and the confirmation by authorities in Italy through their latest ministerial decree that cruising can continue, will go a long way to demonstrate the trust that we have been able to build with the protocol’s effective measures and their rigorous application for the benefit of guests, crew and the communities we serve.”

European classification society RINA last month awarded MSC Cruises with its biosafe ship additional class notation for the line’s flagship MSC Grandiosa which is currently operating in the Mediterranean Sea.

RINA had previously verified that the MSC Cruises health and safety protocol met and went beyond the high standards of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Joint Guidance, which incorporates additional health standards including those from the EU Healthy Gateways Joint Action.

The verification that the protocol was aligned with the guidance of the two key European authorities was a crucial part of the process to enable the August restart of MSC Cruises’ operations in the Mediterranean.

Carnival redeems notes in exchange for shares

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 November 2020 24 November 2020

Carnival Corporation & plc, the Anglo-American cruise shipping group, said that Carnival Corporation, its Panama domiciled and US listed holding company, has closed its previously announced registered direct offering of 10.4 million shares of its common stock at a price of $17.59 per share to a holder of its 5.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023.

“The Corporation used the proceeds from this closing to repurchase $90.8 million principal amount of its Convertible Notes in a privately negotiated transaction,” the company said in a statement.

Following the repurchase, an aggregate of $536.7 million principal amount of the convertible notes will remain outstanding.

Photo: New York Stock Exchange

P&O Cruises extends pause in operations into April 2021

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 November 2020 24 November 2020

P&O Cruises, the UK focused contemporary market unit in Carnival Corporation & plc group, said it has decided to extended the pause in its operations into April 2021 in response to the current uncertainty around European ports of call.

On 17 September, the company said that all its Caribbean cruises would be cancelled until the end of January 2021 and all cruises from and to Southampton are cancelled through February as well as Arcadia and Aurora, which have already been cancelled through to the end of their spring world cruises.

P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said in a statement: “With hopeful news headlines clearly we do not want to extend our pause in operations any further than absolutely necessary, but given the ever changing guidance around international travel and the varying regulations in many European ports of call we felt it prudent to cancel these additional dates.”

“In addition, as the final payments are due for these cruises very soon we felt it was the right thing to do for our guests. We are so sorry to disappoint those who were due to travel but really hope they will re-book for later in the year or for our new programme of 2022 holidays which went on sale earlier this month with strong demand, showing great confidence in cruising in the future.”

Photo: P&O Cruises took delivery of Iona from Meyer Werft in Germany earlier this autumn.