Top Headlines

MSC Cruises to offset carbon emissions from start of 2020

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 11 November 2019 11 November 2019

MSC Cruises, the Geneva based cruise shipping company, said it is commitment to become the world’s first fully carbon neutral major global cruise line by making no negative contribution to climate change from the start of next year.

MSC Cruises will offset all direct carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its fleet marine operations through a blend of carbon offset projects developed according to the highest standards by leading international entities that take immediate action on greenhouse gas emissions. All costs for the offsets as well as any other associated items will be covered directly and in full by the company, said Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises Executive Chairman.

“As we recognise that today’s even most advanced maritime environmental technology alone is insufficient to immediately reach carbon neutrality, the further commitment we make today ensures that our fleet makes no negative contribution to climate change, starting January 1, 2020. We are a company with over 300 years of maritime heritage and an historical focus on the long-term that is especially typical of family-owned businesses like ours. For us, this is another step forward in our long-standing commitment to protecting the oceans, the destinations we visit and the port communities we touch,” he continued.

“Our focus on innovation, since we built our first cruise ships only in 2003, ensures that we have one of the most modern fleets at sea as well as one of the highest environmentally performing. And, thanks to our long-term planning, this will allow us to already achieve a fleet-wide 29% reduction in carbon intensity (rate) by 2024 vs. 2008, on our way to meet the 40% reduction target set for 2030.

“Additionally, last week we announced that the LNG-powered fuel cells PACBOAT project will be hosted on board MSC Europa – the first of 5 LNG-powered cruise ships that are due to join our fleet. This is not only a world-first for a technology that promises to be most efficient for high-power maritime operations but also yet another concrete example of our firm commitment to partner and support the accelerated development of the next-generation technologies that will lead us and this industry to zero-emissions ship operations.”

Vago added: “We will work with leading providers in carbon offsets able to offset CO2 emissions with the highest level of integrity. Our vision is to also invest in projects that provide quantifiable community benefits, protect the environment and support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

In particular, MSC Cruises aims to develop a carbon offset portfolio that incorporates projects which protect and restore Ocean and coastal habitats while also absorbing more CO2 than currently occurs. As Blue Carbon projects focused mainly on coastal habitats are currently scarce, MSC Cruises will itself support the development of what aims to become the first carbon credits to be generated from the earth’s vast ocean, constituting an important new means for protecting and enhancing marine biodiversity and to support communities that rely on the highly pressurized resources of the sea.

Vago concluded: “Blue carbon offsets will be a specific area of focus of our commitment to ensure carbon neutrality with immediate effect. We will put our people and our resources to work to also support the development of the specific type of projects, and the enabling certification processes, that can generate this innovative form of offsets which directly benefit the oceans and communities that live by the sea. As more of these become available, we will steadily increase our reliance on them as an additional area of focus within our overall long-term commitment to achieving zero-emissions operations.”

MSC Cruises’ commitment to delivering zero-emissions operations also includes a specific focus on energy efficiency and other aspects of its end-to-end operations beyond emissions. In particular, since 2017 all MSC Cruises new ships come equipped with ship-to-shore power facilities, a feature that would allow cruise ships to immediately go zero-emissions in any port that is ready for this technology. And, this will provide even greater overall benefit when the ultimate source of shore power is renewable.

MSC Grandiosa and MSC Europa together represent significant additional progress in terms of delivering against MSC Cruises’ objective to minimize and continuously lowering its fleet environmental footprint.

Restructuring costs of Vard hit otherwise strong Fincantieri

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 08 November 2019 08 November 2019

Fincantieri, the listed Italian shipbuilder that is a major builder of cruise ship, had a strong first nine months of the year, but restructuring the Vard group in Norway that is now fully owned by the Italian company, resulted in costs, the company said in a statement.

The process of full integration of Vard that became fully owned by Fincantieri Group at the end of last year and its and alignment to the best practices continued. A change in management followed, together with the launch of a reorganisation process. In particular, a review of the industrial management systems and of the economic planning of both Cruise and Offshore and Specialized Vessels projects was launched.

“Such initiatives, supported by the Italian personnel of the Group, led on the one hand to the recovery of the production delays, which would have impeded the on-time delivery of the units, and to the review, on the other hand, of the estimated costs at completion which were included within the results as of September, 30 2019, including the higher costs occurred to recover the delays on the ships in delivery. Further analysis on the industrial management systems and on the economic planning of projects are still ongoing,” Fincantieri said.

With regards to the initiatives already completed, the exit from the business of small fishery and aquaculture support vessels, which in total impacte the EBITDA of the first nine months of 2019 negatively by €19 million and the disposal of Aukra shipyard were approved.

Also, the disposal of Brevik, a second Norwegian shipyard was authorised. Moreover, the conversion of the Romanian Tulcea shipyard, which is now working at full capacity on Cruise shipbuilding is in its final stages of completion.

Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri's Chief Executive Officer, said: “Unfortunately, the Group results are impacted by the negative contribution of VARD, which suffers from the persisting effect of the deep crisis of its reference market of the Oil & Gas, and from the costs occurred following its entrance into the cruise shipbuilding market. The reorganization of Vard is a priority for the entire Group and we dedicated to this initiative some of our best Italian employees.”

However, revenues in Shipbuilding division of the group rose tio 3.68 billion in the nine months to the end of September from €3.32 billion year on. EBITDA fell to €250 million from €270 million and EBITDA margin to 7.8% from 9.1%.

NCLH says 2020 demand, occupancy and pricing outpace present year

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 08 November 2019 08 November 2019

The outlook for 2020 is strong for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH), the world’s third largest cruise shipping group as demand, occupancy and pricing outpace present year, its top officer said.

“We are on track to deliver yet another record-breaking year in 2019, and the positive momentum for our global brands is carrying over into 2020, as demand, occupancy and pricing continue to outpace 2019 record levels, buoyed by the addition of Norwegian Encore and Seven Seas Splendor,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of NCLH, in a statement.

“The underlying fundamentals of our business remain as strong as ever, allowing us to post another solid quarter of financial results despite the impacts from Hurricane Dorian. The top line exceeded expectations and we recorded the highest quarterly revenue in our history

“We accelerated returns to shareholders to take advantage of current valuations and executed $150 million in share repurchases in the quarter, bringing our total capital returns since January 2018 to $1 billion,” said Mark A. Kempa, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

NCLH third quarter net income slips to $450.6 million as operating expenses rise

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 08 November 2019 08 November 2019

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH), the world’s third largest cruise shipping group, has reported a slight fall in third quarter net and operating income despite an increase in revenues as operating expenses increased.

In the third quarter, net income fell to $450.6 million from $470.4 million year on, while operating income also fell, to $511.7 million from $550.3 million. Revenues increased to $1.91 billion from $1.86 billion.

Cruise operating expenses increased to $990.7 million from $928.9 million and other operating expenses to $411.4 million from $379.1 million, year on.

For the first nine months of the year, NCLH reported a rise in net income to $808.9 million from $800.2 million but operating income fell to $978.1 million from $1.00 billion. Revenues rose to $4.91 billion from $4.67 billion.

GAAP equaled earnings per share (EPS) of $2.09 in the third quarter compared to $2.11 in the prior year. “The Company generated Adjusted Net Income of $481.5 million or Adjusted EPS of $2.23 compared to $506.4 million or $2.27 in the prior year. These results include a $0.06 per share adverse impact from voyage cancellations, itinerary modifications and relief efforts related to Hurricane Dorian,” NCLH said in a statement.

“Revenue increased 3.0% to $1.9 billion on a decrease in Capacity Days of 1.8% compared to slightly less than $1.9 billion in 2018. This increase was primarily due to an increase in Net Yield driven by the repositioning of Norwegian Joy to North America, robust onboard spending along with strong growth in organic pricing across all core markets. Gross Yield increased 4.8%. Net Yield increased 3.9% on a Constant Currency basis and 3.3% on an as reported basis,” NCLH said.

Total cruise operating expense increased 6.7% in the third quarter of 2019 compared to 2018, primarily due to continuing effects from the redeployment of Norwegian Joy during the second quarter of 2019 and incremental direct costs related to air promotions. Gross Cruise Costs per Capacity Day increased 8.9%. Adjusted Net Cruise Cost Excluding Fuel per Capacity Day increased 11.0% on a Constant Currency basis and 10.2% on an as reported basis, the company stated.

Half a million gross tons of newbuildings enter service in three days

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 31 October 2019 31 October 2019

The cruise industry has experienced a record week of deliveries of newbuildings as three large ships added almost half a million gross tons to the global cruise ship fleet in just three days.

MSC Cruises took delivery of the 181,541 gross ton MSC Grandiosa from Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France today.

Yesterday, Meyer Werft in Germany delivered the 169,245 gross ton Norwegian Encore to Norwegian Cruise Line. It is the third and final Brreakaway Plus class vessel of the operator.

On Tuesday, Carnival Cruise Line received the 133,868 gross ton Carnival Panorama from Fincantieri. The ship was ordered in 2015 for P&O Cruises Australia as their first new building, but was later transferred to Carnival Cruise Line within the carnival corporation & plc group.

The combined gross tonnage of the three ships amounts to 484,654.