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Royal Caribbean's Nordic Empress is. shown in drydock at Atlantic Marine. The cruise industry continues to add exponentially to its capacity with new; meticulously outfitted tonnage in order to stay a step ahead of legislation, consumer demand and the competition. Spurred by the need to fill their fleets with state-of-the-art ships with the latest amenities, cruise shipping compa- nies large and small, old and new, have embarked on an unprecedent- ed buying binge and seeming one- upsmanship which has filled ship- yard orderbooks and created con- siderable business opportunities for suppliers which offer advanced products and systems. The past six months have been active, punctuated by an order for the world's largest (136,000-ton) cruise ship, and a contract for a ship that will serve for a home at sea, at least for those willing and able to fork over between $1.5 to $6 million per living space. More recently, Cunard Lines — sold by Kvaerner to Carnival — announced its plans to re-establish itself as a defining force in the cruise market with, what it dubs, the Grandest Liner ever. The litmus test of success is evi- dent in the considerable coverage given to the market in U.S. con- sumer publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Time and Business Week. As is the practice of publications not schooled in the intricacies of a particular market (and in the effort to create a juicy story), many of the reports have harped what it perceives as "over- building," or on the few problems which have cropped up of late in some of the yards. Most recently a report in WSJ detailing the diffi- culties encountered at Fincantieri in getting the Disney ships out the door to the specification of the notoriously selective buyer. While it is true that the ship- yards' cruise orderbooks are brim- ming, with more than 38 ships totaling more than 2.21 million GT on order according to Lloyd's Register statistics of a few months ago (see chart below), it is also true that the cruise potential in the U.S. — the world's largest market — has barely been scratched. Statistics show that just eight per- Builder Country Ship Name GT Year Builder Country Ship Name GT Year Admiralteiskiy Shipyard RUS BLUE SEA 25 000 1999 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL ZAANDAM 62 000 1999 Astilleros Gondan S.A. SPN GONDAN 405 5 000 1999 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL OCEAN PRINCESS 75 000 1999 Blohm + Voss AG GEU BLOHM & VOSS 96 25 000 2000 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL FINCANTIERI 8153 61 000 2000 Blohm + Voss AG GEU BLOHM & VOSS 962 25 000 2001 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL CARNIVAL VICTORY 101 300 2000 Bremer Vulkan Werft und Masch GEU NORWEGIAN SKY 78 200 1999 Howaldtswerke?Deutsche Werft GEU DEUTSCHLAND 22 400 1998 Cant. Nav. S.M.E.B. S.p.A. ITL GI-AL 1 800 1998 Jos. L. Meyer GmbH & Co. GEU SUPERSTAR LEO 75 000 1998 Chantiers de I'Atlantique FRA VISION OF THE SEAS 76 000 1998 Jos. L. Meyer GmbH & Co. GEU SUPERSTAR VIRGO 75 000 1999 (hantiers de I'Atlantique FRA RENAISSANCE ONE 30 200 1998 Jos. L. Meyer GmbH & Co. GEU MEYER 640 76 000 2000 Chantiers de I'Atlantique FRA RENAISSANCE TWO 30 200 1998 Kvaerner Masa Yards Inc. FIN PARADISE 70 367 1998 Chantiers de I'Atlantique FRA L'ATLANTIQUE J31 47 900 1999 Kvaerner Masa Yards Inc. FIN KVAERNER MASA HELSINKI 495 28 000 1999 Chantiers de I'Atlantique FRA RENAISSANCE THREE 30 200 1999 Kvaerner Masa Yards Inc. FIN RCCLEAGLE 1 136 000 1999 Chantiers de I'Atlantique FRA RENAISSANCE FOUR 30 200 1999 Kvaerner Masa Yards Inc. FIN KVAERNER MASA HELSINKI 499 82 000 2000 Damen Oranjewerf NTH STAD AMSTERDAM 698 2000 Kvaerner Masa Yards Inc. IN KVAERNER MASA HELSINKI 498 82 000 2000 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL DISNEY MAGIC 85 000 1998 Kvaerner Masa Yards Inc. FIN RCCL EAGLE 2 136 000 2000 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL DISNEY WONDER 85 000 1998 Kvaerner Masa Yards Inc. FIN RCCL EAGLE 3 136 000 2002 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL SEA PRINCESS 75 000 1998 Saint Malo Navale FRA LE LEVANT 1600 1998 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL GRAND PRINCESS 104 000 1998 Stocznia Gdanska S.A. POL REGENT SKY 50000 1998 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL CARNIVAL TRIUMPH 101 672 1998 Stocznia Gdanska S.A. POL GWAREK 4 600 1999 Fincantieri Cant. Nav. Italian ITL VOLENDAM 62 000 1999 TOTAL = 2.21 million July, 1998 33
