Top Headlines

Port Rashid to be new permanent home of Queen Elizabeth 2

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 02 July 2012 02 July 2012

Istithmar World, DP World and the QE2 management today (July 2) announced the iconic QE2 is to have a permanent home at the heart of Port Rashid, the hub of cruising in the Middle East. The vessel will be moored next to the original cruise terminal at Port Rashid and converted into a 300 room luxury hotel, with top quality lifestyle facilities, while the terminal itself will be developed into a maritime museum.

Once converted, the QE2 will once again display the ship’s collection of art works and other historical assets acquired during nearly four decades as one of the world’s leading ocean-going cruise liners.

The 293-metre long vessel, which in its heyday could accommodate more than 2,900 people, together with the connected maritime museum, will be a leading tourist attraction at Port Rashid and add further to the attractions it offers as the leading cruise destination in the Middle East. DP World has been expanding Port Rashid’s capacity to cater for the growing demand for cruise tourism.

HE Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, Istithmar World, said: “The QE2 will be at the heart of Dubai in its permanent position at Port Rashid and contribute to the growth of Dubai as the city continues to develop and expand as a top tourist destination. The vessel is truly iconic and has a huge following around the world. Our vision is to enhance the facilities on board but retain the very strong sense of history that is a fundamental part of her attraction. Having the QE2 moored as a floating, top class hotel, right on the waterfront in the centre of Dubai, will also add further life and activity to the surrounding area.”

Mohammed Al Muallem, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DP World, UAE Region said: “We are delighted that the QE2 will be the centrepiece of Port Rashid. Together with the planned Maritime Museum, it reinforces Port Rashid and Dubai’s status as a leading cruise and maritime tourism destination. We are excited about the potential for Port Rashid to further develop as a tourist destination in its own right.”

Leili Gerami, Spokesperson and Project Director, QE2, said: “Even in its retirement the QE2’s majestic profile continues to attract much attention and there is considerable interest and enthusiasm for the next phase of her long life. It is our desire to tap into the continued public fascination for the great passenger liner and its amazing history as a cruise ship with unrivalled luxury, style and prestige. We believe the hotel on board the QE2 will be one of the finest anywhere.”
She added that the museum and redevelopment of the QE2 are expected to be completed within 18 months. In the meantime, the QE2 will continue to operate as an exciting venue for exclusive events.

Dubai’s cruise tourism has been growing rapidly. The award-winning Dubai Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid hosted 108 cruise ships with 396,554 passengers in 2011 and 71 vessels with 275,000 tourists during the first half of this year. This figure is projected to touch 145 cruise ships and 500,000 passengers by 2015, according to Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), DP World’s strategic partner.

In April, five cruise ships docked at Dubai Cruise Terminal simultaneously, bringing with them over 19,000 tourists, the largest number of visitors handled at the Port Rashid facility on a single day.

DP World’s vision is for Port Rashid to eventually be able to serve as many as seven large cruise vessels at one time.

Saga Cruises confirms newbuilding project plan

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 June 2012 26 June 2012

Saga Cruises, the UK based niche cruise brand, is studying the viability of ordering a newbuilding, said James Duguid, Commercial Director of Saga Shipping, the company that owns Saga Cruises. Experience has shown that major refits can overshoot budget, he pointed out.

"We are looking at ordering a newbuilding,” Duguid told the European Cruise Council’s annual meeting in Brussels. The company's cruise business has grown at a rate of about 15% per year and Duguid said it is realistic to assume a similar growth rate in the future too.

A major upgrade of a second hand vessel will add perhaps 10 years to the economic life of the vessel, but a newbuilding would have a number of features that an existing vessel cannot offer, such as better fuel efficiency and higher grade safety through better redundancy etc, Duguid said.

He revealed that the company had spent £28 million last winter to refit the 37,301 gross ton Saga Sapphire that had been built as Europa in 1982, which was £4 million more than originally intended.

Similarly, a 2010 refit of current Quest for Adventure that had started life in 1981 as Astor of 18,835 gross tons , had cost the company £24 million, again £4 million more that had been planned.

“On Saga Ruby, we spent more on the refit than what we paid for the ship,” he said, referring to the 1973 built 24,294 gross ton ship that was built as Vistafjord.

Regent may offload oldest ship if orders newbuilding

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 June 2012 26 June 2012

Regent Seven Seas Cruises, the top end of the market operator, may offload its oldest unit in case it decides to proceed with a newbuilding, a senior company official told Cruise Business Online.

The company, which is part of the Prestige Cruise Holdings group, is studying a 750 passenger newbuilding project, said Graham Sadler, Managing Director UK of the Florida headquartered Regent.

In case it decides to place an order, it may be worthwhile for regent to limit capacity growth and to offload the 1999 built Seven Seas Navigator, the oldest ship in the three vessel fleet of the company. The 28,550 gross ton ship has 490 lower berths and it is the smallest unit in the company’ s fleet: the Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Voyager both have 708 berths.

Regent has been able to increase prices in the recent past and it has invested in upgrades of its fleet, including Seven Seas Navigator. Replacing this ship with a larger newbuilding would help the company to obtain a coherent fleet in terms of size, Sadler said.

A sale or chartering out of Seven Seas Navigator could help to mitigate capacity increase once the new vessel would be delivered, thereby helping the company to maintain positive development in pricing.

Sadler said that no decision has been made as yet with regards of either placing a newbuilding order or to offload Seven Seas Navigator. He dismissed rumours that an order at Fincantieri would be imminent or that the company would use an option for a third 68,000 gross ton newbuilding of sister company Oceania Cruises that would be redesigned to meet Regent’s needs. Sadler noted that Oceania hull would be too large for Regent.

Finance gaining importance in shipbuilding – Antonini

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 June 2012 26 June 2012

The ability of shipbuilders to provide attractive finance to prospective customers is becoming increasingly important in shipbuilding, including passenger vessels, said Corrado Antonini, Chairman of Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilding group.

“Competition moves from design and innovation to financing,” he told the European Cruise council’s annual meeting in Brussels.

Four European yards – Fincantieri, STX France, STX Finland and Meyer Werft - have built 90% of the cruise capacity built since 1990, when measured by lower berths. To maintain this position, European yards need to innovate on a broad scale, ranging from technical to environmental matters, Antonini said.

European cruise market growth outpaced world average 2011

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 June 2012 26 June 2012

The European source market for cruises grew by 13% to hit 6.2 million last year, thereby outpacing the figure for the while world, which increased by 10% to 20.6 million passengews, figures published at the European Cruise Council’s annual meeting in Brussels show.

The direct economic contribution of the industry grew by €0.5 billion to hit €15.0 billion last year, an all time high. However, shipbuilding and shipyard recorded a 7.9% fall in their contribution, marking a third year of a decline in row, said Michael Thamm, future CEO of Costa Crociere group, who presented the Cruise Industry 2012 report today.

The industry employs a total of 315,500 persons in Europe and it has added 100,000 jobs since 2005, while the economic contribution has doubled in the same time, Thamm said.