Top Headlines

Viking Cruises reveals deployment of its seventh ocean ship, announces return to Turkey

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 17 September 2019 17 September 2019

Viking today announced its seventh ocean ship, Viking Venus, will join its fleet in early 2021, further solidifying the company’s standing as the largest and world’s best small-ship ocean cruise line. The newest 930-guest sister ship will spend her maiden season sailing popular itineraries in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, including British Isles Explorer, In Search of the Northern Lights, Viking Homelands and Into the Midnight Sun.

“The spirit of exploration is at the heart of everything we do. We have always drawn inspiration from the original Viking explorers, who were the first to use the stars and constellations for long-distance navigation. Many elements onboard our ships honor those Viking explorers, and we are proud to host our guests on itineraries that sail some of those historic trading routes,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “I am pleased to announce that Viking Venus will join our fleet in 2021, allowing us the ability to introduce even more travelers to the Viking way of exploration.”

Viking will also expand its offerings in the Mediterranean and today announced five new itineraries that include stops in Istanbul, marking the company’s return to the iconic city. The new 8-day Ancient Mediterranean Treasures will sail between Athens and Istanbul, with overnight stays in both cities. Guests looking for an extended experience in the region can choose a longer versions of the itinerary, including the 15-day Ancient Adriatic Treasures, which sails between Venice and Istanbul; the 15-day Ancient Mediterranean Antiquities, which sails between Rome and Istanbul; the 22-day Iconic Mediterranean Treasures, which sails between Barcelona and Istanbul; or the 29-day Mediterranean’s Iconic Shores, which also sails between Barcelona and Istanbul and includes stops in Montenegro and Croatia.

Beginning in April 2021 and sailing on Viking’s 930-guest all-veranda Viking Sky, guests embarking on the new Ancient Mediterranean Treasures itinerary or its longer combination cruise options will witness the origin of civilization while cruising the fabled Aegean Sea. Highlights of the new itinerary include:

– Istanbul, Turkey: Guests begin their journey with an overnight stay in Istanbul, allowing more time to explore the iconic city. Guests can visit a wealth of religious sites including the “Blue Mosque” one of the city’s most recognizable sites, watch the mesmerizing whirling dervishes perform at a local venue, or participate in a centuries-old tradition at a hammam, a Turkish bath. Plus, Viking’s Privileged Access® offers guests the chance to tour the legendary Hagia Sofia free of crowds.
– Troy (Çanakkale), Turkey: Guests can explore the nearby well-preserved ruins of Troy, most remembered as the setting of the Trojan War, described by Homer in the Iliad, or visit the nearby Battlefields of Gallipoli, the tranquil memorial site of one of World War I’s longest and deadliest battles.
– Ephesus (Kuşadasi), Turkey: One of the best-preserved cities of antiquity in the world, Ephesus is rich in history and ancient relics. While in port, guests can visit the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, walk through the Byzantine Basilica of St. John, or visit the modest home where, according to legend, the Virgin Mary lived out her final days.
– Rhodes, Greece: While on the island of Rhodes, guests can explore within the city walls of Old Town, Europe’s largest active medieval town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, learn about island culture through a visit to a traditional village home, or head to one of the island’s scenic mountaintops for sweeping views of the island and the Turkish coast.
– Heraklion, Greece: Located on the island of Crete, Heraklion boasts millennia-old history and was once the strongest fortified city in the Eastern Mediterranean. Guests can take in archeological splendors whose history is interwoven with the legends of Greek mythology, including the Palace of Knossos and the village of Arolithos, or explore the ruins of the Minoans, Europe’s oldest recorded civilization.
– Athens, Greece: The journey concludes with an overnight stay in Athens, known as “the birthplace of democracy,” where guests can witness iconic sites such as the Hellenic Parliament, the Panathenaic Stadium, the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the mighty Parthenon atop the Acropolis. Viking also offers guests Privileged Access to the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation’s exhibit on British naval icon Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson and the chance to tour a reconstructed ancient Athenian warship, the Olympias, once the dominant warship on the Mediterranean Sea from the 7th to 4th centuries BC.

Costa Smeralda delivery to be postponed by one month

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 16 September 2019 16 September 2019

Meyer Turku, the Finnish cruise ship builder, said that the delivery of Costa Smeralda, the first LNG powered cruise ship that the yard has built, would be postponed by one month to mid-November.

In addition to the propulsion system, the 184,000 gross ton ship also has several public rooms with high tech audio and video entertainment systems. Costa Smeralda is also significantly larger than the vessels the yard has built in recent years, it said.

The baseline design of Costa Smeralda is the shared between four brands of Carnival Corporation & plc – Costa Crociere, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line.

AIDAnova, the first unit of the class, was delivered, also slightly behind original schedule, from the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg in Germany, at the end of last year.

 

European cruise industry meets in Hamburg to discuss zero-emission and sustainability

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 12 September 2019 12 September 2019

Alan Lam reporting from Hamburg

While the emphasis on a greener and more sustainable cruise industry remains unchanged, the political environment and social attitudes, especially in Europe, towards cruising have shifted. They have become much more hostile to the very idea of cruising. Part of the reason for this is due to the fact that the industry has been misrepresented by the sensational media and misunderstood by the public in general.

The sector now faces an increased urgency to made greater and faster strides in the direction of sustainability it was already travelling. The ultimate goal is the utterly uncompromising zero-emission cruising, a goal it now must attain much sooner than previously anticipated

This posts fresh and additional challenges to the industry. It also changes the existing perimeters. While the NOx and SOx emission compliances, which are local issues, can be addressed by the likes of the LNG technology, the issue of GHG emission, which is a global problem, demands an entirely different solution.

The industry has just entered the age of LNG, but this form of fossil fuel will soon become no longer compliant with the incoming environmental regulations. One of the most unpalatable outcomes of this development is that it will make ports and destinations hesitate on investing in LNG infrastructure, while LNG-powered ships are just beginning to roll off the production line. Cruise lines are now in danger of being left with a fleet of LNG-powered ships that have no bunkering facilities to support them.

The industry must therefore endeavour to hold back the speed of regulatory advancement, as it needs to operate at least one generation of LNG-powered ships to recuperate its massive investment, before letting them become defunct.

At the same time, the focus must also go beyond LNG, onto battery, hydrogen and other feasible options.

But this is an immense challenge, as using batteries to power mega cruise ships is still a tall order, not to mention all the necessary landside infrastructure investment required worldwide. Unlike the ferry industry where only one or two ports need to have the necessary supporting facilities to make the operations viable, cruise ships need a cohesive global service infrastructure development if the battery or hydrogen technology solution is to be adopted.

The industry must also be careful that in finding a solution for a problem it does not end up creating another as the result. Energy sources are still needed to charge the batteries or generate hydrogen.

CruiseBusiness.com Magazine correspondent is at the Seatrade Cruise & River Cruise Convention, attending discussion sessions and talking to industry insiders about sustainability and zero-emission cruising. A full analytical article on this topic will appear in our winter issue.

SunStone's China-built Greg Mortimer delivered 24 days ahead of schedule

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 11 September 2019 11 September 2019

SunStone Ships, the largest tonnage provider in the expedition market, announced the successful delivery of their first next-generation, Infinity-class vessel – delivery was 24 days ahead of schedule.

With a goal of marrying European design and quality with Chinese ship-building efficiency, the Infinity-class delivers cutting-edge design, innovations like X-bow technology, and significant operating efficiencies.

SunStone President and CEO, Niels-Erik Lund, commented, “We are very pleased with the quality and high building standards of China Merchants Heavy Industry, which are fully at the level of European Shipyards. A quality this high will not go unnoticed in the cruise industry. We look forward to continuing our relationships with all our partners in the Infinity-class project, and we are moving fast forward as planned at very satisfactory speed, safety and quality level”.

The vessel will be chartered out to Aurora Expeditions, a world leader in expedition cruising and has been named after Aurora Expeditions’ adventurous co-founder.

The vessel has departed China Merchants Heavy Industry, Haimen, and is on its way to Singapore for a one day stop for further supplies, then a two day stop in Cape Town to get the remaining hotel crew and supplies onboard, and from there to Ushuaia where cruising will begin in late October as planned.

Infinity-class Vessels are 104 meters long, and 18 meters wide, having a draft of 5.1 meters. They feature a passenger capacity between 130-200 and a crew capacity between 85 and 115. The Vessels are Ice Class 1A, Polar Code 6 and are being built with Safe Return to Port, Dynamic Positioning and Zero Speed Stabilizers. The Vessels are featuring the X-Bow by Ulstein Design & Solutions. They are small enough to give an exclusive atmosphere and yet large enough to yield all expected services and facilities such as a swimming pool, bar and restaurants, lounges, boutique, gym and spa.

Current Infinity-class newbuilds under way after the delivery of Greg Mortimer are; the Ocean Victory with delivery October 2020, the Ocean Explorer with delivery January 2021, the Infinity-class vessel no. 7 (TBN) with delivery September 2021, the Ocean Odyssey with delivery March 2022, the Ocean Discoverer with delivery September 2022 and the Ocean Albatros with delivery October 2022. All vessels ordered have long-term charter agreements in place.

In addition to the seven vessels already ordered, SunStone has options to build another three Infinity-class vessels.