Oldest ship leaves fleet of Phoenix Seereisen

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 12 October 2020 12 October 2020

The German cruise operator Phoenix Seereisen has decided to axe the oldest ship in its fleet and cancelled all cruises scheduled for the vessel.

Albatros, which built in 1973 as Royal Viking Sea, has been sold to be used as a floating resort in the Red Sea by Pick Albatros Group, the Bonn based cruise company said on its website. Some media reports say the buyer company is based in Egypt.

Albatros is the last unit of the now defunct Royal Viking Line’s original trio to leave the ownership of a cruise company. Boudicca and Black Watch, the other two vessels, left the fleet of Fred. Olsen Cruise Line in the UK earlier this autumn. The company said they would be used as accommodation ships in Turkey.

When new, the trio were regarded as among the finest cruise liners in service. They have large cabins, which may have contributed to their longevity. All three were later lengthened and re-engined.

Phoenix Seereisen has three second hand ocean cruise ships after the exit of Albatros in its fleet on full time employment. Amadea was built in 1991, Amera in 1988 and Artania in 1984. It also uses the 1998 built Deutschland for part of each year.

Costa Smeralda to restart service on October 10

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 08 October 2020 08 October 2020

After the Costa Deliziosa and the Costa Diadema, from October 10th, Costa Smeralda will also return to sail on a cruise. For the restart of its flagship, the first LNG-powered of its fleet, Costa Crociere has designed a new one-week itinerary dedicated to the rediscovery, with enhanced safety protocols, the best of Italy. A total of five cruises scheduled, from October 10th to November 7th, will allow guests to visit beautiful Italian cities of art, but also to enjoy areas and natural parks of rare beauty, as well as taste traditional local cusine and products of the local gastronomic tradition.

The first call on the itinerary is Savona, from where guests can visit other nearby destinations, such as Genoa or Finalborgo. The second is La Spezia, with excursions to the Cinque Terre, Lerici, Florence or Pisa. The next call is Cagliari, followed by Naples, with the possibility to visit Sorrento, Pompei and the Royal Palace of Caserta. The last two destinations of the itinerary are Messina, with excursions to Etna volcano and Taormina, and Civitavecchia, that offers the discover of Rome and Tarquinia.

As for the other two Costa ships already returned to service, on board Costa Smeralda the Costa Safety Protocol will be applied. The protocol, developed by the company together with a panel of scientific experts, includes new operational measures tailored to the needs of the COVID-19 situation, fully compliant with the relevant provisions defined by the Italian and European authorities. The Costa Safety Protocol considers every aspect of the cruise experience, from booking to returning home. The key measures include antigen swab test for all guests and crew before embarkation, temperature check while disembarking and returning to the ship, visits to destinations only with protected excursions, physical distancing onboard and at the terminals, also thanks to the reduction in the number of passengers, new ways of using the on-board services, improved sanitization and medical services, use of protective facial-masks when necessary.

Costa Smeralda, which was christened in Savona on last February 22nd, is a tribute to Italy, the result of an extraordinary creative project designed to exalt and bring the best of Italy to life into a single location. Italian design is also the main feature of the CoDe - Costa Design Museum, the first museum built on a cruise ship. The onboard offer fits perfectly into this extraordinary context: from the Solemio Spa to the areas dedicated to entertainment; from thematic bars, in collaboration with major Italian brands, to the 16 restaurants and areas dedicated to the "food experience", including the new restaurant dedicated to families with children.

Costa Smeralda is also a real travelling "smart city", where sustainable technologies and circular economy concepts are applied to reduce the environmental impact. Thanks to the use of LNG, currently the most advanced propulsion technology used to reduce emissions, the Costa Smeralda is able to almost completely eliminate emissions of sulfur oxides (zero emissions) and particulate matter (reduction of 95-100%), significantly reducing nitrogen oxide emissions (direct reduction of 85%) and CO2 (reduction of up to 20%). The ship's entire daily water requirement are met by the direct transformation of sea water through the use of desalinations plants; energy consumption is also reduced to the minimum thanks to an intelligent energy efficiency system; 100% separate waste collection and recycling of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and aluminum is carried out on board.

Starting from November 14th 2020, Costa Smeralda is scheduled to resume her one-week itinerary in Italy, France and Spain, again departing from Savona. Costa is working with the national and local authorities of the countries included in this itinerary, with the aim of offering its guests a safe and enjoyable holiday experience, through the implementation of the Costa Safety Protocol in all destinations included in the new 2021 program.

Chinese yards may build cruise ships from scratch in 10-15 years’ time

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 08 October 2020 08 October 2020

Shipyards in China may build cruise ships from scratch in 10 to 15 years’ time, said Dr. Zian Liu, Chairman of Royal Caribbean International Asia.

Before this, they will rely on cooperation with external partners that will build blocks that will ten be assembled at a yard in China, he said.

Mario Zanetti, CCO of Costa Crociere, said that a joint venture between China State Shipbuilding Corporation and the Carnival group that was unveiled in 2015 remains in place and is making progress to build ships.

Sabrina Bratton, Chair of Ponant in Asia-Pacific, pointed out that SunStone Ships in Miami has built cruise ships in China.

These are expedition type vessels and are being built with the support and to the design of Ulstein, the Norwegian shipbuilding group. A Finnish company is is charge of the fitting out.

Genting Cruise Line expects three ships to sail before year end

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 08 October 2020 08 October 2020

Genting Cruise Line expects three ships to operate before the end of the year, Kent Zhu, President of Genting Cruise Line, told Seatrade Cruise Virtual event.

One ship has already been operating from Taiwan and Zhu said another one is likely to start operations from Singapore and a third one from Hong Kong or another port in Asia, he said.

Singapore is expected to unveil green light for cruises to nowhere for local residents in the immediate future.