Top Headlines

CMV acquires one P&O Cruises Australia ship for UK, other for Germany

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 28 November 2019 28 November 2019

Cruise & Maritime Voyages, the UK based destinational cruise operator that activities in several countries, has acquired two ships from P&O Cruises Australia, one for the UK and the other for Germany. Both will be introduced in 2021.

The 1991 built present day Pacific Dawn of 70,285 gross tons will be renamed before entry into service on the UK market in the spring of 2021. It was built for Princess Cruises as Regal Princess and is fairly similar to the former Star Princess of 1989 (not to be confused with the present ship of the same name) that operates under the CMV house flag as Columbus on the UK market as well.

The 55,819 gross ton Pacific Aria will be introduced under a yet to be decided name on the German market, also in 2021, flying the house flag of CMV’s TransOcean Kreuzfahrten unit. It is a sister ship of Vasco da Gama that CMV acquired from the Australian company last year. Both ships were built in the early 1990s for Holland America Line.

“CMV will take delivery of P&O Australia's Pacific Dawn (tbr) and Pacific Aria (tbr) in Singapore on the 2nd March and 2nd May 2021 respectively, increasing lower bed fleet capacity to 9000 berths and passenger capacity by 30% in 2021,” the company said in a statement.

The duo will be officially re-named in summer 2021 following dry docking, some minor upgrade and re-livery works in Singapore before embarking on CMV maiden positioning voyages via the Suez Canal to Northern Europe.

Pacific Dawn with 798 passenger cabins and carrying about 1400 passengers will be deployed on the UK market in late May 2021 bolstering much needed capacity and cruising year- round alongside Columbus ex-London Tilbury.

Pacific Aria with 630 passenger cabins and carrying about 1100 passengers will be deployed on the German market under the TransOcean Kreuzfahrten brand with a much-needed increase in capacity cruising alongside Vasco da Gama and replacing the 580 passenger Astor. She is being re-named Jules Verne and will be re-deployed to the French market in May 2021.

Christian Verhounig, CEO commented, "The introduction of two more ships to the global ocean fleet is the next exciting chapter of our strategic growth objectives. This will enable us to service increasing market demand for our traditional brand of cruising generated by our expanding international network of in-house sales offices and developing source markets. We have now acquired five cruise ships in just five years and are firmly on course in carrying 200,000 passengers in 2021".

The new ship names will be unveiled later in December 2019 under CMV's explorer theme providing a more traditional scenic cruise experience.

Chris Coates, Group Commercial Director added, "As the CMV brand continues to evolve, the growing popularity of our traditional product, classic ships and destination focused cruise programs has encouraged us to accelerate plans to add capacity to the two top European cruise markets in the UK and Germany, which represent 85% of our business.

These two fine cruise ships perfectly complement our existing fleet providing trade partners and consumers alike with much needed extra capacity. For 2020, we expect close to 70% of capacity to be sold by the year end, in line with expectations. This provides an ideal platform for the early introduction of new tonnage and opportunities for summer 2021 with the focus very much on higher yield business".

The 2021 summer programs will go on sale via the travel trade and CMV's international sales offices and websites during Q1-2020 with special 2021 launch edition brochures being released offering some enticing early booking incentives and great new opportunities.

Costa Smeralda passes LNG propulsion tests

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 25 November 2019 25 November 2019

Costa Smeralda has successfully passed the technical sea trials carried out with liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest fossil fuel in the world, which represents a real innovation in the cruise industry.

The Costa Smeralda is in fact the second cruise ship in the world, after AIDAnova, which is also part of the Costa Group fleet, to use this fuel, both in port and at sea, which guarantees a low environmental impact. LNG enables the virtual total elimination of sulfur dioxide emissions and particulate matter, and a significant reduction of nitrogen oxide and CO2. During the sea trials, which began on Saturday 16 November, the ship carried out a series of tests to verify the correct operation of systems, equipment and engines with LNG propulsion.

“The fueling of cruise ships with LNG is an innovation in which we were the first to believe five years ago, when we ordered the Costa Smeralda, setting an example for the sector which has since been followed by other companies. It is a safe and reliable technology, which is currently the most effective and feasible solution to ensure a significant reduction in the environmental impact of cruise ships in port and at sea," declared Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises.

Once the sea trials were finished, the ship returned to the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, to complete the interior layout. The first Costa Smeralda cruise will depart from Savona on 21 December 2019. The itinerary, which will be repeated until May 16, 2020, will include Savona (Saturday), Marseilles (Sunday), Barcelona (Monday), Palma de Mallorca (Tuesday), Civitavecchia (Thursday) and La Spezia (Friday).

The great innovation of liquefied natural gas fuel is added to other technological innovations, designed to further reduce the environmental impact of the ship, intended to make the Costa Smeralda a real travelling "smart city". The ship will in fact be able to produce the daily water requirement by directly converting sea water and will minimize energy consumption thanks to the use of LED lights, the recovery of heat produced by the engines, the particular shape of the hull designed to significantly reduce friction with the water and elevators of new generation, designed to recover the operating energy through the re-introduction into the electrical system.

Costa Smeralda will represent the synthesis of the coherent commitment to the reduction of disposable plastic, a central theme for the company for about twenty years. Eliminated for the most part in the context of catering and hotels and replaced with alternative materials, plastic will be further reduced, anticipating the objectives of the European Directive.

100% separate collection and recycling of materials such as plastic, paper, glass and aluminum will be part of an integrated approach aimed at the implementation of circular economy projects. Also on the new flagship great attention will be devoted to the theme of food, with the 4GOOFOOD program dedicated to the reduction of food waste and the recovery of surpluses for social purposes, with the innovation of the Restaurant LAB - Laboratory of Taste, to involve guests in an entertaining way in the field of food sustainability.

The midship section of the Global Dream arrives in Wismar

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 23 November 2019 23 November 2019

After having been towed 50 miles for nearly a whole day at sea, the hull of the cruise ship Global Dream has arrived safely at the place where it will be assembled and fitted out. Thousands of impressed onlookers watched it come into the Port of Wismar at about 4 p.m. on 23 November.

“We’re glad that the entire transport procedure – from undocking in Warnemünde to securing in the dock hall – proceeded so smoothly,” said Peter Fetten, CEO of MV Werften. “The haulage job was a milestone in the production plan. We superbly mastered this vital step today, also thanks to great project partners at our side.

Two oceangoing tugs towed the centre section of the Global Dream from the MV Werften Warnemünde location proceeding at a speed of about two knots (just under 2.5 mph) in the Baltic. After seven hours on the open sea, the midship section arrived at the island of Poel in the Bay of Wismar in the early morning of 23 November. There four more assistance tugs joined the convoy. The passage of 15 nautical miles (17 land miles) into the Port of Wismar lasted about eight hours. The hull reached the Wismar dock hall at about 5.30 p.m. and was then secured.

The entire operation, from the flooding of the Warnemünde dock to the docking in Wismar, took three days.

The Global Dream will now be finally assembled in the dock hall in Wismar. After undocking next year, she will be finally fitted out at the recently renovated Quay 4. A 125 m high crane specially acquired for work on the Global Class ships will be used to install for instance deck structures such as a water park and an innovative roller coaster. The Global Dream, the flagship of the Global Class, is designed for the fast-growing Asian market. With her length of 342 m and width of 46 m, she will have a maximum passenger capacity of up to 9,500, which is the world record. The Global Dream is due for delivery to Dream Cruises in 2021.

Midsection of Global Dream leaving Rostock

Fincantieri and Ponant sign MoA for the construction of two new-generation cruise ships

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 November 2019 20 November 2019

Fincantieri has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA), worth about 300 million euro, for the construction and design of two new-generation luxury expedition cruise vessels for the French cruise company Ponant, a subsidiary of Artemis Group (holding company of the Pinault family). The MoA also envisages an option for one further sister ship.

The finalization of the contract is subject to the fulfilment of technical and financial conditions.

The new units, due for delivery both in 2022, will represent an evolution of the Ponant Explorers class vessels. They will be operated in the South Pacific areas for Paul Gauguin Cruises brand as well as the eponymous ship acquired recently by Ponant, thus bringing the number of ships under this brand to three. They will be built by Vard group’s production network, and they will be about 11.000 gross tons with the capacity to accommodate about 230 passengers on board.

They will be equipped with cutting-edge technology in terms of environment protection, featuring the most extensive battery package application in the market, allowing smokeless operation at anchor, in ports and in environmentally sensitive areas. Furthermore, the agreement paves the way to further cooperation between Ponant, Fincantieri and Vard for the development of other environmentally friendly projects.

Jean Emmanuel Sauvée, CEO of Ponant, commented: “We are delighted to continue our historic collaboration with Fincantieri. This agreement for two additional ships allows us to develop Paul Gauguin brand acquired a few weeks ago and consolidates our position as the world leader of luxury expedition cruise. For the first time in the world of cruising, these two new vessels will cut their engines and cease all emissions each day during each stop, for nearly ten hours per day. Small-capacity ships at the cutting edge of technology and environmental preservation: this project fully matches our philosophy of sustainable tourism."

The CEO of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, stated: “We cannot but welcome with great pleasure the acknowledgement of the partnership with a ship owner like Ponant for this new-generation project, strongly inspired by environmental protection, which takes us to 13 units for them”. Bono concluded: “The strengthening of the commercial relations with our clients, as well as the consolidation of the production network of the Group and of the synergies we develop within it, are the best possible feedbacks highlighting the success of our strategies."

Valiant Lady, Virgin Voyages second ship, to cruise from Barcelona summer 2021

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 19 November 2019 19 November 2019

Virgin Voyages, the new cruise venture in Sir Richard Branson’s business empire, said their second ship will be called Valiant Lady and that it will sail on three different seven night Mediterranean itineraries out of Barcelona, Spain when it debuts in May 2021.

Itinerary 1 includes Barcelona, Ibiza, Monte Carlo, Marseille and Olbia.

Itinerary 2 includes Barcelona, Ibiza, Toulon, Ajaccio, Marina di Carrara and Cagliari.

Itinerary 3 includes Barcelona, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and the British port of Gibraltar.

“We are thrilled to unveil the name of our second ship - Valiant Lady - and to deliver on our commitment to offer travelers a sea change in how they can experience cruising in this fantastic part of the world. Our Sailors will fall in love with the places we go and the moments and memories they will be able to create on our gorgeous ship. After all, there is no better way to sail the seven seas than doing it the Virgin way,” said Tom McAlpin, CEO of Virgin Voyages.

The Miami based company has four 110,000 gross ton ships on order at Fincantieri in Italy.