As restart operations accelerate around the world, just under 50 percent of the entire global cruise fleet is expected to be back in service by the end of August.

The data is from the August 2021 edition of the Cruise Ships in Service Report by Cruise Industry News.

The combined fleets of the nearly 90 active cruise lines currently account for approximately 410 cruise ships, according to the 2022 Global Cruise Ship Index by Cruise Industry News.

The 190 cruise ships returning to service through August 31, mean approximately half of the world’s fleet will be sailing commercially by the end of the month.

The number illustrates the positive trend for the cruising restart, which is fueled by various countries and markets reopening ports to the cruise vessels.

After eight months with a slim 20 cruise vessels in service around the globe, numbers began to grow in May – which ended with 55 ships operating revenue sailings.

After further growth in June, the number of ships sailing increased dramatically in July.

With the U.S. ports reopened for revenue sailings, 141 vessels were back in service by the end of the month. The additional 50 ships entering service in August mean a 150 percent increase of ships sailing with paying passengers in the last 60 days.

The number of berths are also on the rise, going from just under 26,000 in September 2020 to over 275,000 in service by August 31.