Richard Fain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL, the world’s second largest cruise shipping company, has left the door open to further orders for TUI Cruises, the German premium market company of which RCCL owns 50%.
"We think that the ships we have on order for our wholly-owned brands will serve us well and we do not anticipate an additional newbuild for delivery in 2017,” he said in a statement. TUI Cruises has two 99,3000 gross ton newbuildings on order at STX Finland in Turku and the Hamburg based company is widely believed to contemplate the construction of two more ships of the same type.
Based upon current ship orders, RCCL’s projected capital expenditures for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 are $1.3 billion, $1.3 billion, $2.1 billion and $0.3 billion, respectively. "We remain committed to improving our shareholder returns, returning to an investment grade credit and maintaining moderate growth," said Fain.
