Bliss-Ful Conveyance

The sixteenth ship of the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet departed Meyer Werft’s Papenburg shipyard on 13th March for her conveyance along the River Ems (above). The 168,028gt and 333.40m long/48m beam Norwegian Bliss embarked on her journey down the River Ems and to the North Sea stern first, passing through the narrow sea lock at Meyer Werft with less than 1.2m clearance. The ship reached Eemshaven, The Netherlands, on 15th March prior to sea trials, final preparations at Bremerhaven and handover there on 19th April prior to sailing to Southampton for a showcase visit on 21st April.

New Horizon At Fincantieri

On 28th March the 133,396gt Carnival Horizon was handed over at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, having been constructed at the company’s Marghera facility. The ship is a sister ship of the 133,596gt/6,400 passenger and crew capacity Carnival Vista, delivered in April 2016.

Finished Symphony

On 23rd March and after a 36 month period involving 4,700 shipbuilders and crew the much anticipated cruising giant Symphony of the Seas (above) was delivered to Royal Caribbean International during a ceremony at the STX France shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The 228,081gt/2018 built ship becomes the largest cruise ship in the world, taking the title from 226,693gt sister ship Harmony of the Seas that was delivered in spring 2016. The 25th ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet accommodates 5,518 guests at double occupancy in 2,759 staterooms. The ship’s maiden 7 night Mediterranean voyage departed 7th April from Barcelona and the ship will relocate to Miami after the summer season to begin cruising the Caribbean from 10th November.

Global Dream Realised

On 8th March Genting Hong Kong marked the official start of production on Dream Cruises’ new Global Class cruise ship during a steel cutting ceremony held at the MV Werften shipyards in both Wismar and Rostock, Germany. After designing the Global Class ships for the last three years and investing over €210 million to make MV Werften a state-of-the-art cruise shipbuilding yard, construction can finally begin.

Mein Schiff 2 Reprieve

TUI Cruises has revealed that the 77,307gt/1997 built Mein Schiff 2, built as Celebrity Mercury, will remain part of the company’s fleet after all, until 2022, albeit under another name as a new Mein Schiff 2 is being built. The ship was to transfer to Marella Cruises, joining sister, the former Mein Schiff 1, but instead another sister vessel, the 72,458gt/1995 built Skysea Golden Era (built as Celebrity Century), will join the TUI UK & Ireland Marella fleet. The Mein Schiff 2 joined TUI in February 2011 and underwent a complete refit at the Lloyd Werft shipyard. Additional newbuild, Mein Schiff 7, is scheduled to join the company in 2023. The reason for the fleet reshuffle is that Royal Caribbean Cruises and Ctrip have confirmed they will end their Chinese joint venture SkySea Cruise Line and sell the ship, Golden Era. The line has operated since May 2015 and was hailed as the first smart contemporary cruise line specifically developed for the Chinese market. SkySea will continue to operate until a final voyage is confirmed in the coming weeks. The ship will be delivered to Marella Cruises in December to offer adults only cruises under the name Marella Explorer 2, sailing from Naples.

Viking Marches On

On 3rd April Viking Cruises announced its 2019 Ocean & River Voyages, which provide guests the unique opportunity to explore Europe’s legendary rivers on an award-winning Viking Longship® before setting sail to Scandinavia on one of Viking’s award-winning ocean ships. Debuting in May 2019, the Grand European & Viking Fjords itinerary will sail Budapest to Bergen, combining Viking’s 15-day Grand European Tour cruise on the Rhine and Danube Rivers between Budapest and Amsterdam, with the 8-day Viking Shores & Fjords ocean itinerary, which sails the North Sea, between Amsterdam and Bergen. Viking will also offer additional departures in 2019 of the 15-day Rhine & Viking Shores & Fjords combination itinerary, which will sail between Basel and Bergen, starting 2nd June, in addition to a 30th June 2018 cruise. The first Budapest-Bergen cruise departs 26th May 2019. The following day, 4th April, Vard Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Fincantieri, signed a Letter of Intent for the design and construction of two special cruise vessels for Viking Cruises, with an option for two more. The ships, with deliveries scheduled in Norway in 2021 and 2022 respectively, will be the first that Vard will build for this ship owner. The potential contract value for two vessels is expected to be approximately Norwegian Krone 4.5 billion, equal to more than Euro 460m. The parties have a common intention to enter into final contract by mid-2018. The innovative project will be developed by Vard Design in close co-operation with the customer, according to the highest safety and reduction of the environmental impact standards. Starting from 2012, Fincantieri has received from the same company orders for 10 units, 4 of which are already delivered, with the remaining ships to be delivered by 2023. More recently, Fincantieri and Viking reached an agreement in March 2018 for a further 6 ships, which expand the horizon of the partnership until 2027. Is there no stopping the march of the Vikings?

Split Decision

The Norwegian Ministry of Transportation and Communications has split Norwegian coastal service voyages for the period 2021-2030 between the established Hurtigruten, which will continue to operate seven ships on the route, and newcomer, Havila, which plans to build four new ships. The 11 ships will sail year-round between Bergen and Kirkenes, with daily departures, calling at 34 ports. The government had initially planned to split the subsidised contract between companies to encourage what it called more competitive services. Hurtigruten had previously operated the coastal service since 1893. The new contract stipulates stricter environmental compliance and the government subsidy amounts to NOK 788 million per year. Havila Shipping has committed to building four new ships for the service and is said to be considering hybrid power solutions, including LNG and batteries whilst Hurtigruten has said it will modernise its existing ships to comply with the new contract. In addition, Hurtigruten plans to sail its three largest ships, the Trollfjord, Midnatsol and Finnmarken, between Bergen and Kirkenes, as coastal cruises for international passengers and the company will also continue its expedition cruise programme. Based in Fosnavaag, Norway, Havila is a supplier of services to the international offshore industry and operates 23 vessels within subsea construction, anchor handling, platform supply and multi-field rescue recovery services. The new agreement starts on 1st January 2021, leaving Havila little time to build and launch four 600-passenger capacity ships with a shipyard yet to be confirmed. The ship design is already done, according to local reports, as the Havyard Group has put together a vessel concept and general plan. Havyard & Havila are both owned by the Sævik family. Havila Shipping was established in 2003, and was the third such company founded by Per Sævik, father of current CEO Njal Sævik.

Msc Back To The Uk

On 28th March the 95,128gt/2010 built MSC Magnifica made a welcome return to Southampton to start her 2018 season of cruises. She was on a 20 day voyage from Santos, Brazil, to Hamburg.

Meanwhile, on 21st March, MSC Cruises revealed that the MSC Bellissima, will be christened in Southampton. The glamorous event that will take place on 2nd March 2019, attended by more than 2,000 guests including VIPs and important British stakeholders, will span three days. The MSC Bellissima will become MSC Cruises’ fourth mega-ship to come into service in less than three years since 2017 and as part of a 12 new ship, ten-year €10.5 billion investment programme. She will represent a further evolution of the award-winning Meraviglia prototype, the 171,598gt MSC Meraviglia.

Cruising Fool

Various cruise companies entered into the spirit of April Fools this year but CMV’s was perhaps the best. The company revealed that it was planning to open a new cabin grade, The Silent Deck, from Sunday 1st April. Making the announcement Mike Hall, Head of Marketing at CMV said ‘CMV appreciate that sometimes our guests just want some peace and quiet when they cruise. CMV hope to be introducing the new silent deck grade across all their ships over the coming months to include cabins and public areas. On board crew and staff members plus guests alike will not be permitted to speak. Passengers will be communicated to by text messages or through hand delivered notices. On the silent deck there will be no music or announcements and silence will reign supreme in the area. Passengers not booked into the silent deck area will be able to pay a special supplement, known as ‘Hush Money’, for a short allocated period of tranquillity whilst on board. Mike Hall said ‘Whilst this innovation is something we would normally shout about, on this occasion it doesn’t seem appropriate. The company hope to confirm the new initiative following a meeting of CMV’s ‘Facilities on our Liners’ (FOOL) committee on 1st April. This was very well put together but there are surely many cruise passengers who would love absolute peace and quiet. Perhaps it will become reality one day!!