Carnival Corporation & plc, the Anglo-American cruise shipping group, said it would axe 18 ships from its fleet in a drive to boost efficiency, twice the figure it had intended to axe after the Covid-19 pandemic had emerged as a major concern for the cruise industry.
“The company now expects to dispose of 18 ships, eight of which have already left the fleet. In total, the 18 ships represent approximately 12% of pre-pause capacity and only three percent of operating income in 2019. The sale of less efficient ships will result in future operating expense efficiencies of approximately two percent per available lower berth day ("ALBD") and a reduction in fuel consumption of approximately one percent per ALBD,” the company said in a statement.
Carnival said it expects future capacity to be moderated by the phased re-entry of its ships, the removal of capacity from its fleet and delays in new ship deliveries. “Since the pause in guest operations, the company has accelerated the removal of ships in fiscal 2020 which were previously expected to be sold over the ensuing years,” it said.
Carnival group expects only two of the four ships originally scheduled for delivery in 2020, following the start of the pause, to be delivered prior to the end of fiscal 2020. These are presumably Iona of P&O Cruises and Costa Venezia of Costa Crociere, although Carnival did not state this.
Carnival currently expects only five of the nine ships originally scheduled for delivery in fiscal 2020 and 2021 to be delivered prior to the end of fiscal year 2021. The company currently expects nine cruise ships and two smaller expedition ships of the 13 ships originally scheduled for delivery prior to the end of fiscal year 2022 to be delivered by then
Based on the actions taken to date and the scheduled newbuild deliveries through 2022, the company's fleet will be more efficient with a roughly 13% larger average berth size and an average age of 12 years in 2022 versus 13 years, in each case as compared to 2019,” it said.
