Page 6: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 1988)

Cruise Ship Construction Boom 25% Increase In Passenger Capacity By 1990

Rockwool Joiner Systems

On New Cruise Ship —Literature Offered

Runyan Machine and Boiler

Works Shipyard, Pensacola, Fla., will deliver the 170-foot luxury cruise vessel M/V Isabella II to Gal- apagos Cruises for operation in the

Galapagos Islands.

The interior of the vessel is being designed and decorated by Interior

Designs, Inc. and completely outfit- ted with a high quality Rockwool

TNF Joiner System in order to pro- vide maximum thermal insulation, noise reduction and fire protection.

The Rockwool TNF Joiner System is preengineered to minimize labor time and meets USCG/ABS and

SOLAS standards.

For free literature detailing Rock- wool TNF Joiner Systems,

Circle 44 on Reader Service Card

The cruise business is experienc- ing a new construction boom, with more than 20 new cruise ships under construction, on order, or in the planning stage. Passenger capacity of the cruise fleet is expected to increase by 25 percent up to 1990.

According to Veritas Forum, the quarterly corporate journal of the classification society Det norske

Veritas, each year up to 1990, sic to eight new cruise liners will be deliv- ered, most of which are slated for

Caribbean waters. Det norske Veri- tas expects to classify half of these vessels.

At present, 46 out of some 90 cruising vessels of more than 5,000 dwt operate in the Miami-Bahamas-

Caribbean region. A steady growth in the number of ships in this area is expected in the years ahead. Miami, the cruise capital of the world, cur- rently is the homeport to 23 cruise vessels. The Miami Port Authority invests about $15 million per year on improving its facilities, and an- ticipates that by the turn of the cen- tury more than 4 million passengers will be taking cruises out of Miami.

This year, the port expects to han- dle 2.75 million passengers out of the world total of 3.5 million passen- gers.

In interviews with Veritas Forum, chief executives of the Royal Carib- bean Cruise Line, Kloster Cruise and Carnival Cruise Lines—three of the world's largest cruise compa- nies—all expressed concern with the ability of the Caribbean islands to cope with the increasing cruise traf- fic.

Einar Kloster, president of

Kloster Cruise, said: "When you see the harbor of St. Thomas at its bus- iest, you may well wonder how the island manages to stay afloat. And how will the situation look when the same number of ships are carrying twice as many passengers? We will have to cooperate with the island authorities in regulating the traf- fic."

Unlike shipping in general where most ships are scrapped after a life span of 15-20 years, relatively few

Free Literature Package

On Port Equipment Offered

By Westmont Industries

Westmont Industries, headquar- tered in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., is offering a free, full-color literature package on their products and ser- vices, which covers their line of ma- terial handling systems, ship load- ers/unloaders, crane systems, pas- senger gangways and other port equipment.

Included in the package is a 12- page four-color brochure detailing

Westmont's design and engineering, fabrication, installation and general contracting capabilities. ships are scrapped in the cruise industry—cruise ships have an aver- age life span of 40 years. The Bri- tanis, the world's oldest cruise ship, built in 1932, is still sailing between

Miami, the Bahamas and Mexico. "Old ships are easily renovated and introduced as new in this mar- ket," said Egil Abrahamsen,

RCCL board chairman. "Older ships naturally offer the best bar- gins price wise. However, it would be in the best interests of general safety to replace some of the oldest ships. The more new ships, the greater the safety advantages gained," he concluded.

Mickey Arison, president of

Carnival Cruise Lines, believes that, "there are still not enough new ships to drive the old ships off the market, but this will start to take place in the 1990s."

Cruise industry representatives refute the assertion that there is a 15 percent overcapacity in the

American market.

For example, Oddmund Grun- stad, president of the Crown

Cruise Line in Boca Raton, north of

Miami, stated that he could not "see any signs of overcapacity in the cruise market. The total capacity of the cruise fleet worldwide barely exceeds the capacity of the hotels in the Disney World area, some 60,000 beds."

The fact that cruise companies readily spend as much as 20-25 per- cent of their annual turnover on marketing proves that cruise activi- ties are more in the line of tourism than shipping. "Further growth in the cruise business depends on agressive mar- keting," said Mr. Abrahamsen.

According to Veritas Forum, the boom in ships on order or in the planning stage confirms that the cruise business is ready to take on the increasing traffic created by the steady rise in the popularity of the cruise as a vacation. With a seven- day cruise on a superliner costing as little as $600, the cruise companies are attracting a new and larger mar- ket.

A second color brochure details

Westmont's material handling sys- tems and ship loaders/unloaders.

Covered in the brochure are travel- ing gantry shiploaders, banana un- loading systems, mobile gantries, barge unloading systems and other bulk material handling systems.

Both brochures have been gener- ously illustrated with color photo- graphs.

Also included in the package are a number of technical data sheets, which provide detailed specifica- tions of several Westmont Indus- tries' products.

For a free copy of this literature package,

Circle 56 on Reader Service Card

Loy Kahler talks with Cascade General's executive team. Lett to right: Dale Krug,

V P Operations, Steve Anderson, Secretary-Treasurer, Ernie Brawley, V P

Finance, Kahler, Bill Lundmark, President and Suren Menon, V P Contract

Administration. ** /Cascade General is a young dynamic ship repair company with a large array of equip- ment in the Northwest — and big plans for the future.

When we decided to expand into Alaska to better serve our customers, we took a hard look at which port and city would best serve our needs.

We chose Valdez for a lot of reasons. Its strategic location, state-of-the-art facilities, international business connections and attractive land use options provide the perfect environment for our growing business. We received a warm welcome and all the support we needed.

They went overboard for our business.

We know we made the right decision by coming to Valdez. "

Valdez could be just the right place for your company to enter Alaska PRUDHOE BAY TO VALDEZ and the North Pacific market. For more information, please write or call:

TPAMQ Al ACKA PIPFI IMF Ci,V of Va,dez. p 0 Box ^^ Valdez, Alaska. U.S.A. 99686, (907)

I nMINo nLnorxn rlrLLIINC 835-4313; Alaska Toll Free 800-478-4300; Telex 25-381; Portland (503)

TENTH ANNIVERSARY 227-4567; Seattle (206) 624-4414. FAX (503) 226-1023.

Valdez Foreign Trade Zone No. 108.

For Us loy Kahler Executive V.P./General Manager

Cascade General 8 Circle 257 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News