Page 5: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2001)

Cruise Contracts

Crystal Cruises Signs Contract

For New Ship

Crystal Cruises' parent company,

NYK, signed a contract on December 12, 2000 with French shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique for the construction of a new luxury ship. The contract signing comes just five weeks after the formal

Letter of Intent and establishes a June 2003 delivery date, almost six months ahead of original plans enabling the ves- sel to be operational for the summer sea- son.

At its current capacity of 1,880 berths (940 each on Crystal Harmony and

Crystal Symphony), Crystal Cruises is one of the largest luxury cruise operators in the industry. The yet-unnamed 68,000-ton, 1,080-guest ship will increase the line's capacity by almost 60 percent.

Crystal's newbuild will feature an even greater space-per-guest ratio than its sis- ter ships. Like Crystal Harmony and

Crystal Symphony, the newbuild will boast a full outside promenade, a grand observation lounge, a variation of the ships' popular Palm Court lounge, multi- ple dining venues, and a variety of enter- tainment lounges — including a state- of-the-art theater.

Environmentally friendly diesel engines will power the ship and an azimuthal pod propulsion system will be incorporated for greater maneuverabili- ty. The lead architect will be Robert

Tillberg of Tillberg Design, supported by a number of internationally renowned designers who will be involved with var- ious aspects of the ship's interiors.

Mediterranean Shipping

Orders New Cruise Ship

Mediterranean Shipping Company. (MSC) has announced that its cruise division, Mediterranean Shipping Cruis- es has confirmed an order for a new $250 million, 1,600-passenger capacity cruise ship to be built by the French shipyard, Chantiers de l'Atlantique.

Negotiations are also in progress for a second ship of the same capacity.

Backed by a network of MSC owned offices and affiliated agents worldwide,

Mediterranean Shipping Cruises is the only cruise company totally capitalized in Italy. It is part of the MSC Group of

Companies, one of the world's largest shipping groups with $2.5 billion in assets.

Ranked as the fourth largest container operator in the world, MSC also oper- ates 140 container ships in direct and relay services around the world, serving 166 ports on five continents. Ten new 6,700-TEU containerships were ordered last year, and the first of these will be delivered in 2001.

With this new cruise ship order,

Mediterranean Shipping Cruises increases its cruise cabin capacity by 60 percent, from 2,400 to 4,000 berths per night. The new 60,000-ton cruise liner will have 800 cabins; the total capacity, all berths, will be 2,200 passengers.

To increase comfort levels and reduce engine noise aboard the ship, MSC has ordered the installation of a technically advanced Azipod propulsion system.

MSC will take delivery of the new cruise liner in the spring of 2003, bring- ing its fleet total to four ships. If an order for a second ship is confirmed, delivery would take place in 2004.

You'd Be

Hard-

To Find

A Better

Fender.

Really

Hard-

Large or small, floating or fixed, Seaward SEA

GUARD® fenders cover you from the tropics to the arctic. Seaward International brings to fend- er technology the same rigorous quality control and attention to detail we put into all our marine products. From the 2'x4' to the tanker- scaled 12'x24', all our fenders meet the most stringent quality and performance standards.

The SEA GUARD fender combines quality assurance standards with new elastomer technologies such as a reinforced skin, making it the answer to most fender system requirements.

The first of its kind 20 years ago, the Seaward foam-filled fender maintains its record of relia- bility. And we continue to develop and supply the protective marine technologies that keep you on course.

All our products tell the same story: Seaward is committed to safeguarding your peace of mind.

Structures, ships, environments, budgets:

We protect it all. 3470 Martinsburg Pike, P.O. Box 98,

Clearbrook, VA 22624-0098 USA 1-800-828-5360 • 540-667-S191

Fax: 540-667-7987 www.seaward.com

SEA GUARD® Is a registered trademark of the Chem Ray-SEAGUARD

Corporation. Used under license by SEAWARD International, Inc

February, 2001 Circle 267 on Reader Service Card 5