‘Norwegian’
“We are well positioned for 2010 and looking forward to 2011,” Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, told Cruise Industry News. “We have had eight consecutive quarters of consistent earnings performance,” he said. The brand is also moving back to its roots in one sense. Sheehan wants the line to be known as Norwegian Cruise Line, rather than by its NCL acronym. “Norwegian Cruise Line is a powerful name,” he said. “It stands for seafaring history and traditions and makes our name that much more powerful.” Eventually, Sheehan plans to take the company public.
Green Ports
The most important environmental pressures that ports are facing are to become cleaner, more sustainable with lower emissions from ships, buildings and equipment, and also in terms of noise, according to Roberto Perocchio, managing director of Venezia Terminal Passeggeri, which recently hosted the first Energy for Green Ports conference. A second conference has been scheduled in Venice for February 2011.
Maritime Labor Convention
The Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) is coming and it is coming quickly, according to Mark Dickinson, secretary general of Nautilus International, the British and Dutch labor union for seafarers. Perhaps unrelated to the MLC, 2010 has been declared Year of the Seafarer by the IMO. Dickinson, in addition to Johan Oyen, director or cruise operations for the Norwegian Seamen’s Union and chairman of the ITF Cruise Ship Task Force, said they hope the declaration will be more than a PR effort.
Princess Order
Carnival Corporation and Fincantieri have reached an agreement to build two prototype ships for Princess Cruises for deliveries in 2013 and 2014.
And there is more: New itineraries for 2011 and 2012; After Copenhagen; and Costa Bolstering Its Presence in China.
