Carnival which owns nine cruise brands ( Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Aida Cruises, P&O Cruises, P&O Australia, Cunard Line, Seabourn, and Holland America Line) around the world has revealed that cruises will be resumed soon and it will be disposing off six cruise ships in the next 90 days on mid June 2020 as part of the cruise company’s update on earnings that saw the company post a loss of $4.4 billion and how it’s dealing with the current global health crisis.
The cruise company is expecting a slow return with only limited capacity so a removal of some ships will take place and delays in new ship deliveries. The removal of cruise ships will take place before the end of 2020 and they have already planned removals which would have been done over several years in normal times.
The Carnival Corporation stated:
In connection with its capacity optimization strategy, the company intends to accelerate the removal of ships in fiscal 2020 which were previously expected to be sold over the ensuing years. The company already has preliminary agreements for the disposal of 6 ships which are expected to leave the fleet in the next 90 days and is currently working toward additional agreements.
There are already preliminary agreements for six cruise ships to be sold off and work is also being done towards additional agreements. It’s not known which cruise ships would be sold but we already know that the COSTA VICTORIA which is operated by Costa Cruises was sold to the San Giorgio del Porto group.
CARNIVAL FANTASY is the oldest lady in the fleet, built in 1990 and is listed for sale for $100 million. Her last refurbishment was in 2019 though not a major one as mainly it was general maintenance and essentials. She was
built in Finland with GRT of 70,367 tons and a passenger capacity of 2,056 at double occupancy.
Before Carnival Cruise Line voluntary suspended cruise operations the vessel was sailing out of the Port of Mobile in
Alabama and was set to stop sailing from the port once CARNIVAL FASCINATION takes over in 2022. That could allow the ship to be disposed of much earlier if needed.
Here as FANTASY leaving Port Canaveral, Florida in USA back to May 1998.
The second oldest in the fleet is CARNIVAL ECSTASY built in 1991 and is currently she is listed for sale. Her last refit was October 2019 which mainly general maintenance and essentials. She was built in Finland with GRT of 70,367 tons and a passenger capacity of 2,056 at double occupancy.
The newest in the Fantasy Class , the CARNIVAL ELATION is listed for sale too for $250 million. The first cruise liner with azipod units she was built in Finland in 1998 with GRT of 71,909 tons and a passenger capacity of 2,190 at double occupancy.
Here as ELATION off Torbay, UK (South West England) back to 1998.
Another liner of the Fantasy class ships CARNIVAL INSPIRATION is listed for sale too for $155 million on one site and $200 million on a different site. She was built in Finland in 1996 with GRT of 70,367 tons and a passenger capacity of 2,000 at double occupancy.
Here as INSPIRATION off Torbay, UK (South West England) on her delivery voyage back to 1996.
The most surprising Carnival ship now up for sale is the CARNIVAL SUNRISE. Part of the Sunshine class she underwent a huge transformation from the CARNIVAL TRIUMPH in Spring 2019. Listed for sale too, she was built by Fincantieri, Italy in 1999 with a GRT of 102,239 tons and a passenger capacity of 2,984 at double occupancy.
Another important response from Carnival to cope with the suspension of operations is putting ships in a cold lay up. The company estimates that ship operations and administrative expenses will be around $250 million per month once all ships are in paused status. There are currently 62 Carnival owned vessels in their final pause located and all of the ships are expected to be the same during the third quarter.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the cruise industry and just spare a thought for the thousands of crew members who remain on ships around the world to keep them maintained.
Watermarked Photos are by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. NO PHOTOS can be used or manipulated without our permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Sunday 28th June, 2020
