Japanese cruise company Luminous Cruise Co has shut down, claiming that the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak has made it impossible to continue operating in an already challenging domestic cruise market.
The company has filed for bankruptcy in the Kobe District Court under Japan’s Civil Rehabilitation Act.
It said in a statement on its website that it had already been suffering from increasing bunker costs and the negative impact on the Japanese domestic cruise market from recent typhoons.
The coronavirus outbreak pushed it over the edge.
“Since 1 February we have had many cancellations which appear connected to the coronavirus. Continuing would have resulted in large losses for our creditors,” the company lamented.
Luminous Cruise Co, via its shipowning arm Hoya Sangyo KK, owns the 4,800-gt cruiseship Luminous Kobe 2 (built 1994). The ship operated short cruises out of Kobe.
The entire cruise industry has been reeling in the wake of the Covid-19.
The Asian cruise sector has been completely shut down with ships either sent into temporary lay-ups or redeployed elsewhere.
As the virus has spreads around the globe, chaos follows for cruise.
The large outbreak in Italy putting the prospects of the upcoming summer European cruise season in serious doubt.
Cruiseships worldwide are frequently being turfed out of ports the moment passengers or crew show the first signs of any flu-like symptoms, or are deemed to be from countries that are now considered to be at risk.
The disastrous quarantining of the Diamond Princess in Yokohama has also scared many potential passengers who have been left with the impression that cruiseships are vast Petri dishes of disease.
The large cruise companies, with deep pockets and ships spread across many regions, are suffering but are considered to have the wherewithal to survive the slowdown in business caused by the coronavirus.
The prospects for smaller cruise lines, especially niche players that operate on a seasonal basis in one specific region, are far bleaker. Industry analysts believe that their chances of surviving a prolonged outbreak are slim.
Luminous Cruise Co is the first coronavirus-linked cruise line casualty. More are likely to follow.
