News

Andy Harmer to head CLIA UK from 1 May

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 04 March 2013 04 March 2013

Cruise Lines’ International Association (CLIA), the new global cruise association, has today announced that Andy Harmer will take responsibility for its activities in Britain and Ireland. Andy, presently head of the Association of Cruise Experts, will take up the position as director of CLIA UK and Ireland on 1 May 2013.

In December it was announced that the Association of Cruise Experts (ACE) and the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) were among 10 regional cruise associations which were coming together to serve as the global voice for the cruise industry. CLIA has been created to provide increased benefits and a unified approach for cruise lines, travel agents and business partners – all of whom contribute to an industry that creates nearly $1000 billion in economic impact and more than 753,000 jobs worldwide.

From 1 May, The UK Chamber of Shipping will represent PSA ferry line members, with many ferry companies already belonging to the organisation. Their interests will be represented on the Chamber’s ferry and cruise panel.

Andy Harmer said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of director for CLIA UK and Ireland at such an exciting time. Our goal is to grow the cruise market in the UK and Ireland by working with our travel agent partners and highlighting, through our consumer media campaigns, the many and varied great reasons for taking a cruise holiday. We will continue to provide effective training, support, national and international events for agents with the new association offering more robust partnership programmes and networking on a broader scale.”

He continued: “Technical and regulatory issues will now be looked after by our colleagues in CLIA Europe who will oversee the activities of the national associations. We look forward to working with them on developing events and communications to create a greater interest in cruise holidays.”

After 19 years as PSA director, Bill Gibbons will be retiring on 1 May. Bill said: “I have seen huge changes since I joined in 1994 as cruise has expanded from what some considered a preserve of the wealthy to a mainstream affordable holiday. Over the same time the ferry sector has seen considerable consolidation but has transformed the quality of the service with investment in new ships and services. The passenger shipping industry should be proud of what it has achieved.” He continued: “The formation of a global cruise association makes total sense for what is now a worldwide industry. We have a strong, dedicated team who will be moving forward with CLIA and I should like to thank all our member lines and associate members for their huge support and commitment over the years.”

STX Finland to build TUI newbuildings as planned

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 February 2013 26 February 2013

The two cruise liners TUI Cruises, the German premium market cruise shipping group, has on order at STX Finland at its Turku yard, will be built there as planned, Finland’s Ministry of Employment and the Economy said in a statement.

The government will inject €15 million in new innovation aid to ensure the construction of the two ships, in addition to a €16 million package of which there was an earlier agreement.

Uncertainty over construction time financing of the two ships had threatened their completion at the Finnish yard and the future of the shipyard itself.

The government also buys the site of the Turku shipyard for €23.5 million, while the shipbuilder’s owner agreed to “inject tens of millions in new capital to the yard,” the ministry said. STX Finland is part of STX Europe, an Oslo based subsidiary of STX Business Group of South Korea.

In addition, TUI Cruises itself agreed to unspecified measures to bring in more flexibility in the financing of the construction of the two ships. The first unit, of 97,000 gross tons, is due to enter service next year and the second ship, of 99,300 gross tons, in 2015.

Fincantieri 2012 profit “in excess of €15 million”

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 26 February 2013 26 February 2013

Fincantieri, the Italian state owned shipbuilder, it increased its profit to more than €15 million last year from €9 million in 2011. Operating profit (EBITDA) remained stable at €137 million or 5.7% of revenues that also remained little changed at €2.83 billion, it said in a statement.

"Commercially, Fincantieri succeeded in making the best of the available opportunities, finalizing agreements for new orders, including options, worth a total of €6.5 billion which also include all the cruise industry’s orders for new prototype ships. This figure includes €1.4 billion in finalized contracts, while the remaining agreements are all subject to finalization of the related financial packages."

In particular, in the merchant vessels business unit, contracts were signed for the construction of two cruise ships for Viking Ocean Cruises and an order was secured from Société des traversiers du Québec in Canada for the construction of a dual-fuel latest generation ferry featuring an innovative propulsion system.

With reference to the reorganization plan, contained in the national agreement signed at the end of 2011 with the Ministry of Labour and the majority of trade unions, the Group has aimed, on the one hand, to rebalance its workforce for the weaker order backlog (333 staff have left the parent company while an average of 1,463 employees have been temporarily laid off), and, on the other, to meet its business diversification objectives.