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Fincantieri floats out Viking Venus

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 11 June 2020 11 June 2020

Viking Venus, the seventh ocean cruise ship which Fincantieri is building for the shipowner Viking, was floated out today at the shipyard in Ancona. Interior fittings will now begin, leading the vessel to its delivery, scheduled in 2021.

The unit will be placed in the small cruise ship segment. As its sister ships, she will have a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons, 465 cabins with accommodation for 930 passengers.

The Viking units are all built according to the latest navigation regulations and equipped with the most modern safety systems, including the “Safe return to port”. They also feature energy-efficient engines, optimized hydrodynamics and hull thereby reducing consumption, as well as systems which minimize pollution produced by exhaust gases, meeting the strictest environmental regulations.

Fincantieri started its partnership with Viking in 2012, trusting the shipowner who was entering the ocean cruise market as a start-up. Today, the cooperation which first began with an order for two ships, has reached a total of 20 units, including the order awarded to Vard for two expedition cruise ships and the options. This is an all-time record, the largest number of units built by a shipbuilder for one sole shipowner.

The first of the series, Viking Star, has been built at the shipyard in Marghera and delivered in 2015. The other units, Viking Sea, Viking Sky, Viking Sun, and Viking Orion, handed over in 2016, 2017 and 2018, were all built at the Ancona yard, as well as Viking Jupiter, which joined the shipowner’s fleet in February 2019. Other 10 units, options included, will take to the sea from the Group’s Italian yards between 2021 and 2027.

RCCL closes two note offerings

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 10 June 2020 10 June 2020

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping group, said it has closed its concurrent private offerings of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 9.125% Senior Guaranteed Notes due 2023 and $1.15 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.250% of Convertible Senior Notes due 2023.

The Senior Notes will mature on June 15, 2023 unless earlier redeemed or repurchased and the Convertible Notes will mature on June 15, 2023, unless earlier converted, redeemed pursuant to a tax redemption or repurchased.

The Senior Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by RCI Holdings LLC, a limited liability company formed and existing under the laws of Liberia and a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of the company that owns 100% of the equity interest of certain of the company's wholly-owned vessel-owning subsidiaries.

The convertible notes will not be guaranteed by any of the Company's subsidiaries. RCCL expects to use the combined net proceeds from the offerings of the notes for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of indebtedness.

Cunard Line extends operations pause to November

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 09 June 2020 09 June 2020

Cunard Line, which is part of the Carnival Corporation & plc group, said as a result of the continued impact of Covid-19, it will be extending the pause in operations.

“For its ships Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, Cunard is cancelling all sailings that were due to depart up to and including 1 November, 2020 and for Queen Elizabeth, departures up to and including the 23 November, 2020,” the company said in a statement

Simon Palethorpe, president of the line said: “With many differing restrictions across countries, people’s ability to move freely and safely across borders remains seemingly someway in the distance. For Cunard, where we celebrate having a truly international mix of guests and sail all over the world, this becomes particularly impactful.”

“We also need to better understand the implications Covid-19 will have on board our ships. We are therefore working, at the highest level possible, with government bodies, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - the CDC - and Public Health England, as well as the industry collective body – CLIA - and other expert medical professionals to review every aspect of a holiday with us.”

He added: “Whilst we have always taken pride in having the highest levels of health and safety we are looking at enhanced protocols across all aspects of ship life and experiences on shore. We will only return to service when we have a comprehensive restart protocol with the stamps of approval and accreditation from the most trusted and informed sources. Cunard will be communicating with all guests, and their travel advisors, who are booked on affected voyages.”

As Cunard has done previously during this pause period, guests who are booked on cancelled voyages will automatically be given a 125% Future Cruise Credit. This can be redeemed against any new booking, the company said.

New British company to manage and operate Brodosplit square rigger

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 08 June 2020 08 June 2020

A new British company will manage and operate the large square rigger cruise ship that originally had been intended to join the fleet of Star Clippers as Flying Clipper.

“We are delighted to announce that the World’s largest Square-rigged Sailing Vessel, built as Brodosplit 483, will be re-named, rebranded, and operated by the British cruise company Tradewind Voyages UK Ltd. The ownership of Brodosplit 483 remains with the wholly owned subsidiary of the DIV Group,” the Croatian shipbuilder said in a statement.

The 162 metre long vessel has a gross tonnage of 8,770 and it currently flies the flag of Croatia, information on vesselfinder.com shows.

Tradewind Voyages UK Ltd was incorporated in February his year as a private limited liability company and its registered office is in London, according to Companies House, which is the registrar of companies in England and Wales.

Carnival plc to exit London’s FTSE100 leading share index

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 June 2020 04 June 2020

Carnival plc was one of the companies to exit the FTSE100 index of leading shares traded on the London Stock Exchange in the latest revision of the index that was announced on 02 June and which will take place later this month.

Travel shares have been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and this has led shares in the Carnival plc sharply lower. They currently trade in the region of £11.50 after hitting a low of £5.81 earlier this year. Carnival plc traded at about 42 before the crisis. The FTSE100 index is based on market capitalisation of the companies listed on the London market.

TUI AG, the cruise and package holiday operator, exited the index in March and EasyJet, the budget airline, was another travel stock to be removed from the index in its latest revision, UK media reports said.

Carnival plc is the UK domiciled and listed holding company in the Carnival Corporation & plc group.