Carnival Corp has confirmed it will be diverting a number of its cruise ships around the Cape of Good Hope due to the deteriorating security situation in the Red Sea.
“Carnival is committed to the safety and well-being of its guests and crew and has been actively monitoring the situation in the Red Sea and surrounding region,” the company said.
“Given recent developments and in close consultation with global security experts and government authorities, the company has made the decision to reroute itineraries for 12 ships across seven brands, which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea through May 2024.”
Carnival said the Red Sea rerouting is expected to have an adjusted earnings per share impact of $0.07 to $0.08 for full year 2024, with the vast majority of the impact in the second quarter.
Despite these changes, the company said it had not seen an impact on booking trends due to the Red Sea situation and has no other Red Sea transits until November 2024.
Carnival, one of the world’s largest cruise companies, did not disclose which ships or brands would be affected by the diversions.
However, UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that among the Carnival ships being diverted were those from its P&O subsidiary.
The company has confirmed that its 84,300-gt Arcadia (built 2005) will change course on its world cruise after stops including Singapore and return to the UK via the southern coast of Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, the newspaper reported.
P&O offers around the world cruises departing from Southampton that tour the Middle East, including stops in Dubai, Oman and Egypt, before passing through the Suez Canal in the Red Sea to reach the Mediterranean.
Recent media reports also said that Carnival’s German subsidiary, AIDA Cruises, had decided to reposition three of its vessels that were due scheduled to transit the Red Sea in the coming weeks.
The company is reported to have cancelled the cruises of the 69,203-gt AIDAbella (built 2008), the AIDAblu (built 2010) and the AIDAprima (built 2016) in spring 2024.
Carnival is the latest company to divert its ships because of rising tensions in the Red Sea region.
A top executive at the UK arm of Hapag-Lloyd warned recently that trade disruptions from the Red Sea crisis could last for months even after the conflict has been resolved.
