SC Atlantic acquired

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 02 August 2012 02 August 2012

International Shipping Partners (ISP) has finalized the acquisition of the cruise vessel SC Atlantic for Ocean Atlantic Partners Ltd., which is owned by an investor group arranged by ISP.

During 2010 the vessel was converted from a passenger ferry with capacity of more than 400 pas- sengers to a cruise vessel with 118 outside cabins. The conversion was done in the Far East at a cost in excess of $10 million.

The vessel has been delivered in drydock in Poland, where it will be renamed Ocean Atlantic, and the Classification changed from Russian to Bureau Veritas. The vessel will complete drydocking and upgrading and thereafter will be available for charter. Atlantic has a 1B Ice Class and with its substantial interior spaces, restaurants, bars and lounges, is excellent for cruises in the Polar Regions, as well as in warm waters.

Ocean Atlantic will also be very attractive as an accommodation vessel for windmill installations and offshore work.

ISP is the Owners’ Representatives and the Administrative Manager of the company, Ocean Atlan- tic Partners Ltd., as well as the Technical Manager for the vessel. The vessel has a small car deck with both an aft and side ramp, which are especially attractive for employment as an accommodation ship, and it can hold more than 20 containers. Interest in chartering the Ocean Atlantic should be directed to Niels-Erik Lund, ISP’s President at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Two of Deilmann top brass resign over Deutschland flag issue

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: More News More News

Published: 02 August 2012 02 August 2012

Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}

Two of the three joint managing directors of Reederei Peter Deilmann, the German owner of the luxury market cruise ship Deutschland, have decided to vacate their posts over aborted flagging out of the vessel that carries the name of the nation.

Andreas Demel and Marcus Mayr will leave the company on 15 August as they do not wish to go along a decision not to flag the ship after all, the company said in a statement. The management had intended to reflag the ship to Malta, but on 30 July it decided to retain the German flag as the issue had risen to public debate that reached the floor of the Bundestag, the lower house of the Federal German parliament.

German ship owners have said that changes in the shipping policy due to budget cuts have rendered the German flag uncompetitive. “From a business point of view, it is essential to the success of Peter Deilmann to act with similar framework conditions as comparable shipping companies on the German market that operate their ships using other than the German flag,” Demel and Mayr said.

“The Maltese flag will remain in the drawer,” said Konstantin Bissias, the third joint managing director, in statement the company issued on 30 July to announce decision to retain the German flag.

PPI Group celebrates the FCCA's 40th anniversary with commemorative book

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 01 August 2012 01 August 2012

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association is turning the Big 4-O, and PPI Group can think of no gift more appropriate than a special anniversary-edition publication to celebrate the organization and all it does for the cruising industry.

Through beautiful photography and fascinating articles, this collectors' item will examine the cruise industry's development and chart the journey that so many have embarked upon to make this industry what it is today. Appropriately, this publication will premiere at this year's FCCA Cruise Conference and Trade Show, taking place in Curaçao, October 1-5, 2012 and offering business sessions and social functions to bring together nearly 1,000 cruise industry partners and 100 cruise executives to cultivate valuable business relationships and knowledge of the industry's inner-workings. It will also feature a silent auction and the FCCA Golf Classic, both benefiting the FCCA Foundation.

"We are proud of the FCCA and its continuing efforts to better not only the cruising industry, but also the places and people that we in this industry visit," said Bill Panoff, president and CEO of PPI Group. "The FCCA has long been a positive pillar in the cruising community, and we wish to honor them in the best way we know how - by creating a custom publication that can be treasured forever."

"Since joining the FCCA in 2010, I have been incredibly proud of the work we have done to continue to bring cruise lines together with governments, ports, and associations across the Caribbean and Latin America," said Kevin Sheehan, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line and chairman of the FCCA. "I am honored to be part of this incredible organization as we celebrate our 40th anniversary and look forward to achieving more important milestones in the future."

"The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association's mandate is to foster a better understanding of the cruise industry and to develop cooperative relationships with our destination partners at both the public and private sector levels in order to create a win-win situation for all," said FCCA president, Michele M. Paige. "We are proud of the  progress we have made to achieve our mandates over this time, but we know there  is more ground to cover."

Regent Seven Seas Cruises to refinance debt, gives guidance for rest of year

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: More News More News

Published: 01 August 2012 01 August 2012

Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which is part of the Miami based Prestige Cruise Holdings group, plans to refinance an existing credit facility with a new one and the company also gave guidance with regards of the second quarter and second half of the year.

The company plans to publish its second quarter interims on or about 9 August.

Regent said in a statement will hold talks with banks today to refinance its existing credit facility with a new $340 Million senior secured credit facility. The meeting is preliminary in nature, and at this time we have not committed to complete a refinancing, nor can we state the terms on which any such refinancing would be achieved. The Company is also releasing preliminary financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012.

 

• Revenue for the second quarter of 2012 is expected to be a record amount between $130.3 million and $132.3 million compared to $122.8 million in the second quarter of 2011.
• Net Yield for the second quarter of 2012 is expected to be up between 2 percent and 3 percent driven by an 8.5 percentage point increase in the occupancy rate. This increase is expected to be partially offset by additional product costs associated with the increased inclusive product offerings we added to our European cruise packages in light of the softer European market.
• Capacity during the second quarter of 2012 decreased to 163,170 available passenger cruise days, approximately 1.1 percent versus the second quarter of 2011, due to the scheduled dry-dock of the Seven Seas Navigator.

Commenting on the second quarter preliminary financial results, the Company’s Chairman and CEO, Frank Del Rio, stated, “We are pleased with our expected second quarter revenue and Net Yield increases over the prior year considering the backdrop of a challenging European environment. In order to drive demand for our softer European sailings, we chose to include additional value in our already industry leading all-inclusive product offerings rather than discount cruise fares"

"This non-discounting strategy is consistent with our longstanding go-to-market philosophy and reinforces our brand’s high value proposition, but it increased product offering costs for the quarter. We believe that our steadfast refusal to discount our luxury product has positioned the brand well for the upcoming year. This can be seen in our booking patterns for 2013 sailings as occupancy build is stable while pricing is up in the high single digits compared to same time last year for 2012."

Other preliminary key operating metrics for the second quarter of 2012 compared to the prior year are as follows:

• Net Cruise Cost, excluding Fuel and Other expense, is expected to be between $46.6 million and $47.6 million compared to $44.5 million for the second quarter of 2011. The change is expected to be primarily due to increased hotel services costs driven by an increase in occupancy of 8.5 percentage points as well as an expected increase in Deck and Engine expenses associated with a new five year partnership with Wartsila to maintain the engines throughout the fleet.

• Fuel expense, net of the impact of settled fuel hedges, is expected to be between $10.1 million and $10.6 million compared to $8.6 million for the second quarter of 2011. As of June 30, 2012, the company has hedged approximately 80% of the remaining expected fuel consumption for 2012, 52% of expected fuel consumption for 2013 and 28% of expected fuel consumption for 2014.

• Other expense is expected to be between $5.4 million and $6.2 million compared to $5.3 million for the second quarter of 2011. The expected 2012 increase is due to expenses associated with the Seven Seas Navigator dry-docking.

• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $19 million and $20 million for the second quarter of 2012, compared to $24.6 million for the second quarter of 2011. Excluding Fuel, net of the impact of settled fuel hedges, and Other expense⁽¹⁾, Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2012 is expected to decline between $2.4 million and $3.4 million versus the second quarter of 2011 primarily due to the additional product costs associated with the increased inclusive product offerings due to the soft market in Europe.

• Capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2012 are expected to be between $8 million and $10 million compared with $7.8 million in the second quarter of 2011.
• Cash balances are expected to be between $106 million and $107 million at the end of the second quarter of 2012 compared with $97.3 million at the end of the second quarter of 2011.

These second-quarter preliminary results are based on management's initial analysis of the results of operations for the quarter ended 30 June 2012 and are subject to change based on the completion of the Company's normal quarter-end review process. The Company plans to report final results for the quarter ended 30 June, 2012 on or about 9 August , 2012.