Carnival to sell at least 6 ships

[M_BA]

It will be an evolving process over the next two years. The cruise lines need enough cash/credit just to stay afloat. European cruise lines have always bought up smaller ships to retrofit, as many ports in the Mediterranean have limited docking capacity. These same cruise lines on our side of the pond still need smaller ships, too, for European cruising. That's why you see ships like Rhapsody of the Seas continually being refreshed or upgraded.

 

Scrapping a ship is almost always a last ditch resort, as all major cruise lines maintain good seaworthiness. The monetary loss would only help with tax offsets in the flagged country. Another consideration is that the the primary scrap locations are India and Bangladesh. They may become overwhelmed and simply not have the capacity to strip so many commercial and cruise ships.

 

Only time will tell...

[Tree_skier]

18 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Just a guess... Allure, Oasis, Harmony, Quantum, Spectrum, and Empress. 

I heard from a guy whose brother's girlfriend's uncle is shipyard worker. He said that rumor has it that Odyssey, when completed, is planning to be liveried in Renaissance Cruises colors and operate on it's Antartica route.

[twangster]

Rats.  I really wanted to sail on Odyssey before they sold her.  

[Tree_skier]

Her inaugural voyage will 114 days to from Barcelona to Cape Adare, Antartica.  There will be one port of call in Lagos Nigeria to pick up the former crown prince.  He will be dividing his wealth with all those fortunate enough to be on this inaugural sailing.  Also, the drink package will be selling for $18 a day.

[Tree_skier]

Here is a link to booking this great inaugural

 

Renaissance Cruises Inaugural Odyssey of the Seas cruise.

[HappyCruiserettu]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Her inaugural voyage will 114 days to from Barcelona to Cape Adare, Antartica.  There will be one port of call in Lagos Nigeria to pick up the former crown prince.  He will be dividing his wealth with all those fortunate enough to be on this inaugural sailing.  Also, the drink package will be selling for $18 a day.

$18/day sounds good. Does that include gratuities?

 

[tidecat]

Costa Victoria has been sold, reportedly for $15 Million, to San Giorgo del Porto shipyard for use as a hotel ship.

 

Prior to the pandemic, Costa was being scheduled to lose two ships. Costa Atlantica was transferred in January to CSSC, which is a joint venture between Carnival (40%) and the Chinese State Shipbuilding Corporation (60%). Costa Mediterranea presumably is still set to join her at CSSC next year. If Costa was scheduled to lose five, the oldest remaining are Costa neoRomantica (1993), Fortuna (2003), and Magica (2004). I have a hard time seeing Fortuna and Magica get sold, as those were built as classmates to the Carnival Destiny (now Carnival Sunshine), but Carnival doesn't appear to be bullish on Europe, and all of the Costa new builds are intended for China.

 

Back in the US, Carnival Fantasy (1990), Imagination (1995), and Inspiration (1996) are the only three Fantasy class ships that have not been retrofitted with additional balconies. Fantasy was already without work for 2022, so she is likely done forever. Both Imagination and Inspiration run 3-4 day itineraries out of Long Beach, so those likely get consolidated into one ship. Whether Carnival keeps ports like Mobile, Jacksonville, and San Diego may be questionable.

 

Diamond Princess, Ruby Princess, and Grand Princess may also be on the chopping block. Those ships have had some of the largest numbers of cases and deaths from this horrible disease, and those ships' names will be drug through the mud.

 

[zonacruiser25]

Brings back memories of my first cruise on Carnival Holiday in 2005.  She was Carnivals oldest ship then and they said she would be retired.  Still didn't happen till years later.  Now I imagine older ships in cold lay up may just be the first to be cut loose.  Changes are coming, my crystal ball is still cloudy!

[Biker19]

Fantasy should reach Aliaga by the end of the day, though she may not be beached for a while. Inspiration is about a week behind her, finishing her TA.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Biker19

[Iamcruzin]

On 6/19/2020 at 1:49 PM, DISFANS3 said:

You think I could get My Harmony cruise vacation in before they sell it?? If Harmony sails in Sept we will be there..

🤣

[Iamcruzin]

On 6/19/2020 at 11:06 PM, tidecat said:

Diamond Princess, Ruby Princess, and Grand Princess may also be on the chopping block. Those ships have had some of the largest numbers of cases and deaths from this horrible disease, and those ships' names will be drug through the mud.

 

Only people who follow CC will remember the names of the ships that were associated with C19. To tell you the truth I had already forgotten which ships they were until you brought it up. I think there were 2 HAL ships also under the CCL umbrella that also had issues with C19.

[hloakes]

I am curious as to how much the cruise line receives (if any) when they scrap a ship.

[Biker19]

Shipbreaking is not something cruise lines typically discuss. In sharing the recycling plans for Carnival Fantasy and Inspiration, Carnival Corp. & plc aims to show it's 'doing the right thing,' said Tom Strang, SVP maritime affairs.

 

Turkey's Ege Celik and Simsekler selected

The company reached out to environmental nonprofit Bellona Foundation – a lead partner in the NGO Shipbreaking Platform — and ship recycling experts Sea2Cradle to guide its selection of Turkey's Ege Celik and Simsekler to responsibly dismantle and recycle the pair of Fun Ships.

 

Both Ege Celik and Simsekler are certified by the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. They are also required to adhere to global standards set forth by the European Union, International Maritime Organization, International Labor Organization and the Basel Convention multilateral environmental agreement.

 

The Basel Convention

EU-flag ships and non-EU-flag ships operating between EU countries may be recycled only in safe and sound ship recycling facilities included in the European List. In the case of Carnival Fantasy, registered in Panama, and the Bahamas-flagged Carnival Inspiration, neither applied but Carnival Corp. took into account the Basel Convention, which controls the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal.

'We wanted to be sure the shipyards met labor standards and handled hazardous wastes properly,' Strang told Seatrade Cruise News.

 

It has been years since Carnival Corp. directly sold a ship to the breakers, he added — perhaps Costa Concordia was the last but that was a highly unusual circumstance — so the company didn't have a body of in-house knowledge to fall back on. Nor could personnel go to inspect yards due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

 

Sea2Cradle oversight

Brokers handled the actual sales, and Sea2Cradle was engaged to ensure optimal compliance with national and international environmental standards, including a complete inventory of hazardous and regulated materials and the procedures for safely removing and processing those in an environmentally friendly way.

 

This Netherlands-based company had been on Carnival ships previously to conduct hazardous materials inventories.

Carnival Fantasy and Inspiration will be stripped of machinery, electronic equipment, glass, wood and other materials that can be directly upcycled for reuse in new ships, used in ship repair or repurposed for other applications. Steel and metal scraps will be salvaged and recycled for direct use or sent to the mill for producing other products and goods.

It can take up to nine months to recycle a cruise ship.

 

What's reusable

Strang said buyers pay for the weight of hull materials. In addition to the steel, there may be valuable metals like copper and aluminum. And ships that have been updated might have recently installed components like scrubbers and advanced wastewater treatment systems that can be reused.

Carnival Corp. did not disclose sale prices for the 1990-built Carnival Fantasy and the 1996-built Carnival Inspiration.

 

Items removed by the cruise operator prior to delivery to the breakers typically include artwork and memorabilia, leased equipment like casino items and goods that are the property of concessionaires. Other items a line may keep to reuse could be taken off, too, but those would be weighed against storage costs.

 

Sea2Cradle expressed pride in collaborating with Carnival.

The company will have its supervisors present at the yard during the entire recycling process to ensure the plan is adhered to and that all health, safety and environmental measures are followed, according to Wouter Rozenveld, director, Sea2Cradle. 'We will also see to it that non-recyclable materials are being disposed of and treated properly, and we will remain on-site until the last piece of steel is brought to the smelter to produce new products,' he said.

 

Sea2Cradle estimates a significant percentage of materials from both vessels will be reused, reclaimed or recycled.

 

Forty-one yards on the European List but ...

Forty-one yards are currently on the European List for safe and sound recycling. That sounds like considerable choice for Carnival Corp. but Strang said factors include whether the facility is big enough and if it has space available since, currently, a number of offshore supply vessels and container ships await scrapping.

 

Another Carnival vessel, Costa Victoria, was sold to San Giorgio del Porto, a Genoa yard that is also certified for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling. It hasn't been announced whether Costa Victoria will be scrapped or perhaps used as an accommodation vessel for ships undergoing work at sister company Chantier Naval Marseille.

 

Past Carnival ships — years back — may have ended up on the beaches of Alang in India or in Bangladesh after being sold on by other companies. But Strang was not aware of 'any reputable cruise lines' recently dispatching tonnage directly to Alang, a passenger ship graveyard before the move to regulate safe recycling. He noted, however, the NGO Shipbreaking Platform was working with a number of yards in India to raise standards.

 

'Dismantling a cruise ship is complex, involving many components for reuse, recycling and waste for [disposal],' said Sigurd Enge, Bellona Foundation head of shipping & Arctic issues. 'We are grateful for Carnival Corporation’s commitment to performing the recycling in a proper way to avoid pollution and to safeguard the environment.'

 

Part of a sustainable cruise industry

As Bill Burke, Carnival Corp.'s chief maritime officer, sees it, the proper disposal of a ship goes along with limiting environmental impact during its lifetime in contributing to a sustainable cruise industry.