Major shipping line sinks

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Major shipping line sinks

The world's fifth largest shipping line ceased all operations today and passengers and crew on board its vessels were being disembarked early, according to messages on the company's voicemail and website.

Renaissance Cruises, a US-based company, offered services between Sydney and Singapore, via Brisbane, Cairns and Darwin, as well as between Sydney and Auckland, via Melbourne and Hobart.

Other itineraries included the Caribbean, Mediterranean and northern Europe.

When reached by phone earlier in the day, Renaissance spokesman Bradley Ball would not comment and said a statement was forthcoming but as of 2300 GMT (0900 AEST) no further statement was released.

A recorded message later said: "As of September 25th, Renaissance Cruises has ceased all cruise operations. Passengers and crew currently onboard our vessels are being disembarked and travel arrangements are being made to get them safely home."

The message also told customers who had upcoming trips to contact their travel agents to receive a refund.

Information on the bankruptcy case would be available on the company's website soon, the message said.

"We apologise for any inconvenience you will experience and thank you for your prior support of Renaissance Cruises," the message said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0109/26/biztech/biztech100.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 25, 2001

Answers

And the stock market went up for the second day in a row. Figure that.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), September 26, 2001.

I can't say why they quit completely. The price of oil is dropping through the floor. Americans have short memories. The fear or traveling will disappear by Thanksgiving.

In any case, this article should be front page news. The worlds fifth largest shipping line in the WORLD ceasing operations is BIG news. That would be a LOT of jobs.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley1@netzero.net), September 26, 2001.


I am dismayed! The Cruise Line was fantastic! Could it be that crew members were under suspicion of terrorist connections? If true, the cruise line was wise to discontinue, for in foreign ports the cost of security would be prohibitive.

-- bet doyle (doylebet@home.com), September 26, 2001.

Headline: 2 major cruise lines announce big cutbacks; Royal Caribbean to dismiss workers; Princess docking ship

Source: Associated Press, 27 September 2001 URL: http://www.dallasnews.com/attack_on_america/economic/stories/481489_cr uise_27bus.A.html

MIAMI – The cruise industry is absorbing fresh hits from the terrorist attacks as Royal Caribbean Cruises said Wednesday that it is planning job cuts and Princess Cruises is docking its oldest ship for six months.

That news comes a day after Renaissance Cruises shut down without warning. The company ordered its 10 ships into the nearest ports Tuesday, arranged to fly passengers home, canceled flights for the next wave of passengers and said it planned to file for bankruptcy protection.

While the demise of debt-ridden Renaissance was no surprise to analysts, the moves by Royal Caribbean and Princess were the first significant cutbacks announced by industry leaders since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Royal Caribbean plans to disclose job cut plans within three weeks as part of a comprehensive cost review.

Carnival Cruise Lines has yet to make major changes. "New reservations are certainly below normal volumes," said Robin Farley, leisure travel analyst with UBS Warburg. "It's a question of how long that's going to go on for. I don't think anybody has an answer to that. It's unprecedented."

Ships with the major lines have been sailing at more than 90 percent capacity since the attacks. That sounds impressive compared with the 50 percent capacity many airlines are experiencing, but cruise rates commonly climb above 100 percent when passengers occupy bunk-bed style upper berths.

Princess has decided to dock its Pacific Princess rather than sail Middle Eastern routes from November through April.

Several lines are canceling European cruises next summer and shifting ships to North America, counting on higher demand closer to home.

Destinations near New York have also been hurt. After the closing of the port of New York, many cruise lines have canceled nearby stops. For example, 11 of the 27 cruise ships destined for Newport, R.I., have canceled their visits, costing the community an estimated $2 million.

Trouble in the cruise industry is expected to last as long as travelers are jittery about air travel, because about half of all cruise passengers fly to and from their departure ports.

Discounts, the industry's traditional response to downturns, are on the way, however.

Travel agent Bobbie Hamilton of Ruskin, Fla., is receiving about 75 faxes a day offering cruise savings or booking incentives. "They're doing some pretty nifty ones," she said. Norwegian Cruise Line "is coming up with all sorts of fancy deals, and Carnival says, 'You book three people, and we'll give you an extra $150 in commission.' "

Fort Lauderdale-based Renaissance, with a young fleet of small ships sailing abroad and 1,200 employees, was hoping to turn itself around under new management by 2003, but the attacks shattered the financial plan.

At the insistence of creditors, Renaissance ships were impounded when they docked in Dover, England, and the Italian port of Civitavecchia, north of Rome. The passengers, mostly U.S. citizens, on the three ships that ended up in Italy flew home from Rome, said an official of the Revello maritime agency.

In Dover, Renaissance's R7 was "being detained because of an unpaid bill," said a spokesman for the Dover Harbor Board, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Some passenger deposits for future sailings may be lost. The line, which didn't sail from U.S. ports, wasn't required to post a $15 million passenger-protection bond with the U.S. Maritime Commission. The travel insurer CSA advised people with Renaissance bookings to immediately dispute their credit card charges.

"The question is who's going to be left standing when we come out the other side," said Scott Barry, leisure travel analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston.



-- Andre Weltman (aweltman@state.pa.us), September 27, 2001.


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