Saga Cruises has ordered a second newbuilding at Germany’s Meyer Werft in the latest move by the UK stock-listed company to renew its fleet.
The company confirmed today that it has exercised an option at the Papenburg yard for a near-1,000 passenger vessel to be named Spirit of Adventure.
A spokeswoman for the Folkestone-based operator told TradeWinds that price for the 58,250-gt vessel was still under discussion. Its sistership, Spirit of Discovery, was reported to have cost around $330m.
Driving the latest order was the “appetite” shown for Spirit of Discovery, which will begin sailing in July 2019.Spirit of Adventure is scheduled to enter service in the summer of 2020.
Both ships will be similar in external design, with balconies for all cabins.
The spokeswoman says it is expected that Spirit of Adventure will replace, on entering service, Saga’s 707 berth, 37,000-gt Saga Sapphire.
Spirit of Discovery will replace the 450 berth, 18,600-gt Saga Pearl 11 (also built 1981), which will also be retired, leaving Saga with just the two modern newbuildings operating out of the UK to destinations including the Norwegian Fjords, Canary Islands and potentially the US.
Lance Batchelor, chief executive of Saga plc, says pre-sales for Spirit of Discovery had been very strong and supported the decision to go for the company’s second newbuilding.
Spirit of Adventure will be around 236 metres in length and 31.2 metres wide.
The latest newbuilding order was revealed as Saga plc announced a 5.5% rise in underlying profits before tax to GBP110.2 million at the six month stage.
Fewer days lost because of ship maintenance prompted a 21.5% increase in passenger days.
Profit also benefited from higher spending per tour passenger.
Revenue from its retail insurance broking business, however, declined 4.4% to GBP 144.9m, although Saga saw an improved performance in its other insurance sectors and lower costs.
“Saga is on track to deliver a fourth consecutive year of growth,” said Batchelor.
