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STX Finland and Fjord Line in €30 million ropax refit deal

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 05 June 2013 05 June 2013

STX Finland, the Finnish unit of STX Europe that again is part of the STX Business Group of South Korea, has signed an agreement with Fjord Line, the Norwegian ferry company, regarding extensive refurbishment and alterations to the ropax ferry Bergensfjord, STX Finland said in a statement.

Areas currently occupied by cabins will be converted into public areas, the duty free shop will be expanded and the ship’s café and restaurant areas will be enhanced and expanded. Falkum Hansen Design, the Norwegian interior designers, are responsible for the new interiors.

The work will be carried out at the Rauma yard of STX Finland and final agreement is subject to the approval of the boars of the two companies. Once the work that will take four months have been completed, the ship will enter service between Sandefjord in Norway and Stromstad in Sweden.

Design firm shows concept of Color Line cruise ship project

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 June 2013 04 June 2013

Falkum Hansen Design, the Norwegian interior design company with focus on maritime intreriors, has a concept design of a cruise vessel for Color Line, the Norwegian ferry company, on its website.

A half a minute long video shows the exterior of a vessel that appears to be based on Color Magic and Color Fantasy, two 75,000 gross ton cruise ferries that operate between Oslo and Kiel. The design has about a dozen lifeboats on either side, which would indicate that a large vessel is in question.

A German media report says that the planned ship would operate year round cruises to "Noddland," a term used in Germany to refer to northern destinations in general and Norway in particular.

Tallink pays more for five year money than DFDS in Oslo

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 June 2013 04 June 2013

Tallink, the Estonian ferry company that said today it had placed NOK900 million worth of five year notes on the Oslo market, has paid a significantly higher premium for funds that DFDS, the Copenhagen based ferry company that has also issued five year paper in Oslo.

Tallink said its senior unsecured notes that will mature on 18 October 2018 carry a floating rate coupon of three month NIBOR (Norwegian Inter-Bank Offered Rate) plus 5.00%.

Earlier this year, DFDS, which is listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic in Copenhagen, issued NOK 700 million worth of five year notes that also carry a floating rate coupon, but of three month NIBOR plus 2.90%. Trading in the notes of the Danish company started on the Oslo stock exchange today.

Tallink, whose shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic in Tallinn, said it also plans to seek listing of its notes in Oslo. The company has a fleet of 19 cruise ferries. DFDS, meanwhile, only has four cruise ferries but it also operates a total of 16 ropax and day ferries and has a fleet of some 60 ships that mainly consists of freight roro ships

Oceania Cruises to hold 10th anniversary event in UK

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 June 2013 04 June 2013

More than 200 travel agents, press and former and prospective cruise guests will join top executives from Oceania Cruises on 11 June in celebration of the 10 years since the line was formed back in 2003, the company said in a statement.

The event, taking place in Southampton on board Oceania Cruises’ 1250-guest cruise ship, Marina, will include personally guided tours of the ship and a gourmet six course lunch. Each course will draw signature dishes from the menus of the speciality dining restaurants, with a main course from the private dining venue, La Reserve.

To host the event Bernard Carter, Managing Director Oceania Cruises UK and Europe , will be joined by Bob Binder, Oceania Cruises’ Vice Chairman and Co- Founder. Bob Binder will remain on board to host a special 10th Anniversary Cruise from Southampton to the Baltic.

Oceania Cruises expands North American sales team

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 June 2013 04 June 2013

Oceania Cruises has announced the expansion of its North American sales force with the addition of two new Regional Sales Director (RSD) positions, one to be based in the Northeastern U.S. and one in Canada.

Additionally, the company has created a new sales event manager position and added a new account executive position to its Sales Resource Center in Miami to further support the field sales force. Since 2009, Oceania Cruises has increased its North American sales team by over 65 percent.

“With the recent growth of the Oceania Cruises’ fleet and the tremendous response to Marina and Riviera, we are increasing our investment in our sales team across North America,” said Kunal S. Kamlani, president of Oceania Cruises. “The addition of these new positions reinforces our ongoing commitment to provide exceptional service and support to our travel partners to help them continue to be successful.”

The North American sales team is led by industry veterans Michael Hirsch, senior vice president of sales and Nikki Upshaw, vice president of field sales. With the new positions, Oceania Cruises’ North American team will now consist of 25 sales representatives who work with more than 3,000 travel agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“Next year marks the biggest deployment in the company’s history with Insignia returning to the fleet after a two-year charter,” Kamlani added. “This expansion will allow our sales team to build deeper relationships with the agency community to educate, communicate and support them as they further grow their businesses.”