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16 September 2025 - Year XXIX
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FORUM of Shipping
and Logistics

 



Shipping and Shipbuilding Markets in 2003

I N D E X




The Cruise market in 2003

 

Whilst the shipping world is enjoying an exceptional year which will certainly be something of a landmark, cruise ships operators did not have any regrets in reaching the end of 2003. As with the tourist industry, the cruise business has been badly buffeted in the course of the year, which has left some bruises.

The year began with the preparations for the Iraqi invasion, which put a damper over the development of tourism and was a serious cause of anxiety - little conducive to new cruise projects. In addition, the world economy was still stuttering and to crown it all the SARS epidemic brought a large part of the globe to a standstill.

As early as February, reservations were proving to be well below predictions and it was necessary to launch a vigorous commercial campaign with discounts and promotional offers in order to fill up ships.

People going on cruises have reacted to the current circumstances by booking at the last moment and having a preference for cruises closer to home and less dependence on air travel.

In addition to the difficult economic climate, owners also had to contend with the arrival of a massive capacity of new ships coming onto the market, 2003 being in this respect a record year with nearly 24,000 lower berths (12 ships) delivered.

Rarely have cruise ship owners' nerves been put through such a thorough examination.

With the price of cruises dropping, owners have been looking to recover part of their income with increased onboard sales, which now represent over 20 % of their turnover.

In order to find ways of getting necessary supplementary income, the cruise product is evolving with ships becoming bigger and bigger, thus permitting a diversification of profit centres across a range of paying activities.

Despite a difficult year, the number of cruisers has increased in the US and should reach 8.3 million passengers at the end of the year thanks to the new units coming into service, an annual increase of 12 %, with however a drop in the occupancy level to an average of 90 %, which nonetheless is exceptional within the tourist industry.

Once again the figures show that to a certain extent in this sector the offer creates its own demand.
 

Mariner of the Seas

Mariner of the Seas

137,000 gt, delivered in 2003 by Kvaener Masa, operated by Royal Caribbean.

 

With all these besetting problems owners were not encouraged to order new ships and it was not until September that we saw an order from Norwegian Cruise Line with Meyer Werft for two ships of 93,000 gt, 2,400 berths, for delivery respectively at the end of 2005 and end 2006, for a price of $ 360 million each, followed by an order from Royal Caribbean with Kvaerner Masa for a ship of the 'Ultra Voyager' class of 160,000 gt, 3,600 lower berths, delivery in May 2006 at a price around $ 700 million - the owner having finally abandoned the two options held at Meyer Werft.

It is true that the upsurge in value of the euro against the dollar during the year (more than 52 % in two years) has considerably softened the enthusiasm of orders for those operating in the dollar zone and whilst the Asian orderbooks are filled with commercial ships of all types, the European shipyards are getting desperate at the few projects being seriously studied not only for cruise ships but also passenger ferries and their likes.
 

Cruiseships delivered and scheduled

Twelve ships were delivered this year to enlarge the fleet by 24,000 lower berths, hereunder listed by size:

  • for Radisson Seven Seas, 'Seven Seas Voyager' (41,500 gt, 714 lower berths) built by Mariotti/Visentini,

  • for Aida Cruises, 'Aida Aura' (42,200 gt, 1,266 lower berths) built by Aker MTW,

  • for Mediterranean Shipping, 'MSC Lirica' (59,100 gt, 1,526 lower berths) built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique,

  • for Crystal Cruises, 'Crystal Serenity' (68,000 gt, 1,080 lower berths) built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique,

  • for Holland America Line, 'Oosterdam' (81,800 gt, 1,848 lower berths) built by Fincantieri

  • for Celbrity Cruise Line, 'Serenade of the Seas' (90,100 gt, 2,100 lower berths) built by Meyer Werft,

  • for Princess Cruises, 'Island Princess (91,600 gt, 1,974 lower berths) built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique,

  • for Costa Crociere, 'Costa Fortuna' (105,000 gt, 2,720 lower berths) built by Fincantieri and the 'Costa Mediterranea' (85,700 gt, 2,124 lower berths) built by Kvaerner Masa,

  • for Carnival Cruise Line, 'Carnival Glory' (111,000 gt, 2,974 lower berths) built by Fincantieri,

  • for Royal Caribbean, 'Mariner of the Seas' (137,300 gt, 3,138 lower berths) built by Kvaerner Masa,

  • for Cunard, 'Queen Mary 2' (150,000 gt, 2,620 lower berths) built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique.

The French can take pride in the total success with the delivery of the 'Queen Mary 2' on time despite the complexity of the ship and to owners' entire satisfaction.

This ship will not keep its title as the largest cruise ship in the world for long as the size of the 'Ultra Voyager' which is on order already surpasses the 150,000 tons of the 'Queen Mary 2'.
 

 
Queen Mary 2
 

Queen Mary 2 - 150,000 gt, delivered in 2003 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, operated by Cunard

In April as was foreseen the general meeting of P&O/Princess shareholders endorsed the absorption within the Carnival Group, thus creating the largest cruise ship company in the world with 65 ships of which 18 are on order.

This integration should allow the two groups to achieve certain economies of scale and to reinforce the supremacy of the Carnival constellation in the market for a long time.

At the end of the year Carnival Corporation whose financial year ended on November 30th, announced a consolidated turnover of $ 6.7 billion dollars and a net profit of $ 1.2 billion (18 %) compared to $ 4.4 billion and $ 1 billion in 2002 (23 %). These figures although enviable show nonetheless the erosion of profits over the year (everything being relative with this group!).

As soon as this acquisition was announced, a ship of 116,000 gt and 3,100 lower berths was ordered with Fincantieri Monfalcone for Princess Cruises, to be delivered in June 2006 for a price of $ 460 million replacing an order for Holland America Line on the site at Marghera.
 

MSC Lirica

 

MSC Lirica

59,000 gt, delivered in 2003 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, operated by MSC

As in previous years we have seen very few second-hand sales, with buyers of older ships becoming a rare species due to the concentration of the market.

We nonetheless can list out some significant transactions such as:

  • The purchase by Norwegian Cruise Line of the 'United States' built in 1951 and out of service for 34 years and of the 'Independence' built in 1950. This purchase took everyone by surprise but of course is related to the requirement, under the Jones Act, imposing only US built vessels on American coastal cruises. Will the new owners pursue this process by having these old ships refitted at high cost? NCL who has resumed the cruises around the Hawaiian archipelago and who is about to complete the 'Project America' begun in the Ingalls shipyard with Lloyd Werft, is the only company that has placed part of its activity on American cruises under American flag, thus benefiting from the protection that the latter offers despite higher running costs.

  • The 'Song of Flower', built in 1974 -190 passengers- was sold for $ 7,2 million to the Compagnie des Iles du Ponant to become 'Le Diamant' under French flag.

  • Saga Holidays bought the 'Caronia' ex 'Vistafjord' built in 1973 -677 passengers- for $ 20 million. This ship will be delivered in 2004 and team up again the 'Saga Rose' ex 'Sagafjord' on the very lucrative market for retired English.

  • Seized in 2002 after the financial problems that her owner ran into, the 'Hyundai Pongnae' (1972, 728 passengers) was sold for around $ 11 million to a Hong-Kong operator.

  • the 'Superstar Capricorn' (1973, 800 passengers) was sold for $ 20 million to Spanish Cruise Line to serve the Spanish market in full flight.
     

In a market which is more and more concentrated, it is interesting to note the creation of new companies, operating in niche markets, such as:

  • Mauritian Island Cruises, which bought the small 'Renaissance Seven' and 'Renaissance Eight' to operate in the Indian Ocean out of Mauritius under the names of 'Island Sun' and 'Island Sky'
  • Discovery World Cruises, created by the veteran of cruises - Gerry Herrod, who has put into service the 'Discovery' ex 'Island Princess', built in 1971 with 610 passengers.
  • Oceania, the company created after the folding of Renaissance, has put successfully into service the 'Regatta' and the 'Insignia', both built in 1998 - 700 passengers - and has already project for a third in 2005, the 'Nautica'.

Two companies were sadly in serious difficulties:

  • Regal Cruises has been declared bankrupt and the 'Regal Empress' (1953 - 875 passengers) has been sold at auction for $ 1,75 million and been chartered to Imperial Majesty Cruises
  • Royal Olympic Cruises has encountered at the end of the year serious financial problems, which has immobilised its two new ships built by Blohm & Voss.

Small and medium size companies in the cruise industry have emerged from this difficult year more fragile, not always having the necessary critical size to be able to handle the difficult challenges.

Let us hope that the recovery of the market will allow them to surmount these difficulties, given the patience of their creditors, as it is neither in the interests of clients, nor the one of suppliers, that the market is increasingly concentrated in the hands of few.

It was regretfully not the choice of a French bank, who abruptly decided in the first days of January to arrest the three modern cruise vessels of Festival Cruises, all built in Chantiers de l'Atlantique, taking the risk to cause a fatal blow to this young company, which contributed successfully to the development of the European cruise market.
 

Faced with an orderbook which is becoming depleted and the large number of ageing ships still in service, can one still talk about an over-capacity? It should be remembered that safety regulations require all ships having asbestos on board and built with combustible material, to be out of service by 2010. This means that nearly 40 ships representing about 20,000 lower berths, can no longer be in operation in the course of the next 6 years. These ships serve primarily the European and the Asian markets.

Already 6 ships have been scrapped this year.

Eighteen new ships are due for delivery up to 2006, including 11 in 2004, 3 in 2005 and 4 in 2006, for a total of about 42,000 berths, which in view of old ships going out of service, should increase the fleet by about 8 % over the period, compared to an average annual increase in the number of cruisers of 8 %.

Between 1999 and 2004, there were 63 ships built totalling 115,000 berths. It is therefore clear that, in order to meet the continuing growth of the market at the same pace as in previous years, owners will need to order new ships.

With the coming three years seeing fewer deliveries, owners will be able to 'breathe' again and possibly, we hope, will allow them to increase the price of cruises to find a better return.

Nobody wants the market to stay at current levels but with new ships becoming bigger, with an average capacity over 2,600 passengers, the American market will need between 5 to 6 ships per year to match their needs, whereas the E.U., expanding to 25 states and becoming the biggest potential market within the developed countries, will need to put into service some 10 ships of around 2,000 passengers before 2010, to compensate for those being scrapped and the market development.

The Asian zone, which should experience a very strong progression, led by the awakening of China and the next Olympic games in 2008, should also be able to absorb 3 to 4 new ships before 2010.
 

We expect a slower and more reasonable development, which should be able to satisfy to some extent the needs of European shipyards, but the pace of new orders will depend to an enormous extent on the parity of the dollar / euro which is very difficult to predict.

 

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Catania
The activity will be replicated in the port of Augusta
The Regional Administrative Court (TAR) has confirmed the validity of the tender for the new Ravano Terminal in the port of La Spezia.
La Spezia
DP World's port terminals handled record quarterly container traffic
Dubai
Revenues grew by 22.2% in the first half of 2025
In the quarter April-June the volume of rolling stock transported by Höegh Autoliners increased by +9.0%
Oslo
Sharp increase (+46.6%) of vehicles from Asia
South Korea's HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering acquires Vietnam's Doosan Enerbility
Seongnam
It manages an industrial area with its own port facility
Container traffic in the port of Algeciras grew by 6.6% in July
Algeciras
In the first seven months of 2025, a decrease of -2.9% was recorded
In July, the port of Valencia handled 488,000 containers (+6.7%)
Valencia
Increase driven by growth in empty containers
Salvini has appointed Annalisa Tardino as extraordinary commissioner of the Western Sicilian Sea Port Authority.
Rome/Palermo
The President of the Sicilian Region announces the appeal against the provision
The materials dredged in the ports of La Spezia and Carrara will be used for the construction of the new breakwater in Genoa.
Genoa/La Spezia
Agreement between the two Ligurian Port System Authorities
X-Press Feeders denounces authorities' failure to acknowledge responsibility in the X-Press Pearl accident
Singapore
According to the company, the Supreme Court ruling ignores international maritime law
Cargo traffic in Russian ports remained stable in July
St. Petersburg
In the first seven months of 2025, loads decreased by -4.6%
Container traffic in the port of Hong Kong decreased by -6.5% in July
Hong Kong
A decline of -3.7% was recorded in the first seven months of 2025
In July, the Port of Singapore set a new all-time record for monthly container traffic with 3.9 million TEUs.
Singapore
In terms of weight, containerized cargo decreased by -3.6%
Compensation to be paid by the Civitavecchia Port Authority in the Fincosit case has been set at €1.5 million.
Civitavecchia
Latrofa: The ruling allows the release of set-aside sums that have frozen the budget for years.
Germany's HHLA posts record quarterly revenue
Hamburg
In the second quarter, the group's port terminals handled 3.2 million containers (+7.9%)
In the first half of 2025, CK Hutchison's port terminals handled 44 million containers (+4.0%)
Hong Kong
In the quarter April-June the Wallenius Wilhelmsen fleet transported 14.8 million cubic meters of rolling stock (-0.5%)
Lysaker
Revenues down by -0.7%
In the second quarter, Montenegro's ports handled 670 thousand tons of goods (+0.6%)
Podgorica
Volumes with Italy amounted to 154 thousand tons (+53.1%)
PORTS
Italian Ports:
Ancona Genoa Ravenna
Augusta Gioia Tauro Salerno
Bari La Spezia Savona
Brindisi Leghorn Taranto
Cagliari Naples Trapani
Carrara Palermo Trieste
Civitavecchia Piombino Venice
Italian Interports: list World Ports: map
DATABASE
ShipownersShipbuilding and Shiprepairing Yards
ForwardersShip Suppliers
Shipping AgentsTruckers
MEETINGS
Conference: "Waiting and Delays in Road Transport: Logistics in Check"
Genoa
Organized by Trasportounito, it will be held on September 26th in Genoa
The conference "EU ETS - Perspectives and Opportunities for Decarbonization in the Maritime Sector" will be held in Palermo.
Rome
It will be held on September 18th and 19th
››› Meetings File
PRESS REVIEW
Korean Firms Reassess U.S. Investments After Mass Immigration Raid
(The Korea Bizwire)
Russia's infrastructure development plan aims to build 17 marine terminals by 2036
(Interfax)
››› Press Review File
FORUM of Shipping
and Logistics
Intervento del presidente Tomaso Cognolato
Roma, 19 giugno 2025
››› File
With the arrival of the first container ship, the testing of operational procedures at the Rijeka Gateway begins.
The Hague
The first commercial ship is expected on September 12th
A proposal to bring the port of Taranto back onto global container routes? Start a discussion table.
Taranto
Meeting on the status of freight traffic
Port of Ancona: Tender for demolition of fire-damaged Tubimar warehouses
Ancona
The expected duration of the works is four and a half months
Merger of the German MACS and Hugo Stinnes, both active in the MPP vessel segment
Hamburg/Rostock
Stinnes headquarters in Rostock to close by December 31
In the second quarter, freight traffic in Albanian ports grew by +2.9%
Tirana
There were 331 thousand passengers (+13.6%)
A.SPE.DO, operationalizing the Smart Terminal to increase the competitiveness of the port of La Spezia.
La Spezia
ING loans to Premuda for over 100 million dollars
Milan
Funds for the management buyout and the purchase of two product tankers
Sallaum Lines has taken delivery of the first of six Ocean-class dual-fuel PCTCs
Rotterdam
The ship was completed four months ahead of schedule
First meeting of the new Management Committee of the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority
Genoa
Several measures approved, including those for CULMV and CULP staff
Euroports to operate a new liquid bulk terminal in the French port of Port-La Nouvelle
Beveren-Kruibeke-Zwijndrecht
It is expected to become operational in 2026
In the second quarter, freight traffic in the port of Ravenna increased by +2.6%
Ravenna
Growth of 0.6% was recorded in June. An increase of 4.8% is expected in July.
OsserMare presents five reports on the marine economy
Rome
They focus on a specific sector supply chain or aspect of it
Port of Naples: Road haulage operations resume
Naples
Resolution meeting between institutions, operators and trade associations
ICTSI again reports record quarterly financial and operating results
Manila
Global Ship Lease Reports Record Quarterly Revenue
Athens
In the April-June period, net profit was 95.4 million dollars (+8.4%)
Vard receives new order from North Star for two hybrid SOVs
Trieste
Contract worth between 100 and 200 million euros
The Panama Shipping Registry will no longer accept the registration of oil tankers and bulk carriers over 15 years old.
Panama
Measure to counter the use of the shadow fleet
Danaos Corporation reports record quarterly revenue
Athens
The April-June period closed with a net profit of 130.9 million (-7.3%)
New customs fast corridor between the port of La Spezia and Interporto Padova
Padua
It adds to the other three already active on the same route
ICTSI to operate Indonesia's Batu Ampar Container Terminal
Manila
It is located on Batam Island
Pino Musolino has been appointed CEO of the Alilauro shipping company.
Naples
He replaces the resigning Eliseo Cuccaro
In the second quarter, DIS' time charter revenues fell by -37.1%.
Luxembourg
Net income was $19.6 million (-70.5%)
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