Crunch time

The cruise industry is unusual. Unlike the rest of the marine world it exhibits a rapid growth that looks set to continue. Nine ships in excess of 100,000g will soon be trading and others will follow. Similarly ships in other tonnage classes are also on order and there are some prestige projects, such as Cunard`s Queen Mary in the pipeline.

But therein lies the rub. Four European yards have long dominated cruise newbuilding to the annoyance of Far Eastern yards. Japan`s Mitsubishi HI has built cruise liners in the past but not recently. Other yards, such as HDW have been successful in winning recent orders but the primary cruise yards remain as Fincantieri, Kvaerner Masa Yards, Chantiers de l`Atlantique and Meyer Werft.

But there are two aspects that could threaten their dominance. The first is the cost of newbuildings in the Far East and both the Koreans and the Japanese are willing to exploit that advantage. The second is the current full state of the orderbooks in Europe. Most of the newbuilding berths in Europe are full and owners are contemplating placing more newbuilding orders. However, depending on the required delivery dates there may be some slack in the schedules at European yards.