Norwegian is upping the capability of the ultimate Prima class vessels below development at Fincantieri
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) yesterday at this time reported monetary outcomes for the fourth quarter and full 12 months ended December 31, 2022 and offered steering for the primary quarter and full 12 months 2023.
While the numbers have been what they have been (still in the red, though much less so than a year ago), the corporate says that entered 2023 with a report booked place and at greater pricing.
Occupancy is predicted to common roughly 100% for the primary quarter and is on observe to succeed in historic ranges for the second quarter.
Now, in an echo of the cruise business of pre-pandemic years, Norwegian is now seeking to improve capability.
This 12 months, capability is predicted to extend roughly 19% in comparison with 2019 together with the supply of three newbuilds in 2023: Oceania Cruises’ Vista, Norwegian Viva and Regent’s Seven Seas Grandeur.
“We are now squarely focused on the future and are taking deliberate and strategic actions to best position the company for its next chapter, which includes an industry-leading growth profile representing approximately 50% capacity growth over 2019,” mentioned Frank Del Rio, president and chief govt officer of Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings Ltd.
“This year, for the first time in our history, we are gearing up to deliver one newbuild for each of our brands, adding over 5,000 additional berths to our fleet including an over 20% increase in our upscale berths,” mentioned in a name with monetary analysts. “On a capacity day basis, this will result in approximately 19% growth in 2023 compared to 2019.”
MODIFICATIONS TO NEWBUILD PIPELINE
“We have made some modifications to our newbuild pipeline primarily related to the last two ships in the Prima Class,” Del Rio mentioned. “These ships have been lengthened partially to accommodate the long run use of other fuels.
“We now count on gross tonnage for the third and fourth Prima Class to be roughly 10% bigger and the fifth and sixth Pima Class ships to be roughly 20% bigger than Norwegian, Prima and Viva.
“As a result, delivery days have shifted a bit, and we now expect one larger Prima Class ship to be delivered each year from 2025 to 2028. We remain confident in our ability to profitably absorb this capacity with continued consumer demand for travel, our expansion into the many unserved and underserved markets around the world that our brands have not yet tapped into, and on the broader industry’s vast under-penetration particularly when compared to land-based vacation alternatives.”
Those “alternative fuels” Del Rio was speaking about actually embrace methanol. Back in September, Norwegian signed up as a member of the Methanol Institute. The following month it inked an MOU with MAN Energy Solutions on a mission to retrofit a medium-speed MAN 48/60 engine to make it able to dual-fuel diesel/methanol operation.
The MoU supplies for a multi-stage mission with the third and remaining stage involving the completion of subject testing and engine handover to Norwegian for industrial operation.
