SunStone Ships has lined up charterers for four firm cruiseships it is ordering at China Merchant Industry Holdings (CMIH), says chief executive Niels-Erik Lund.
The lines that will operate the vessels will be named once the Miami shipowner firms up the order in the next few weeks.
As TradeWinds reported last week, SunStone forged a framework agreement for a series of 160 to 200-passenger ships from the China Merchants Group shipbuilding subsidiary, with delivery starting in August 2019.
Lund says his company, an owner of 10 ships chartered to cruise lines, is placing the pioneering order to replace older tonnage and to meet demand growth in the market for 80 to 250-passenger expedition vessels.
The 37 expedition cruiseships of this size range in the global fleet have an average age of 28 years, he estimates.
“If you take those 37 ships, they all need to be replaced in the next 10 to 15 years, and in addition to that, the market is expanding,” he said. “So it’s not only a matter of replacing tonnage, it’s also a matter of adding tonnage.”
While industry experts have expressed concerns about the newbuilding orderbook for small cruiseships, Lund says many of the vessels on order will serve different market segments than SunStone’s vessels.
TradeWinds reported in 2012 that SunStone was close to ordering up to eight high ice-class cruiseships at a European yard.
Lund says that deal did not go through at the time for a number of reasons, mainly price.
He declines to disclose the price of the order at CMIH.
The vessels will be among the vanguard of cruiseships built in China, where Carnival Corp recently placed the country’s first-ever cruiseship order.
As with Carnival’s order, experienced European hands will help guide CMIH into cruise building.
Norway’s Ulstein Design & Solutions is supplying the design and equipment package and will supervise construction.
The newbuildings will be the first cruiseships to use Ulstein’s iconic X-bow design, which will reduce the impact of the rough waters in which the vessels are expected to operate.
The shipbuilder has also hired Finland’s Makinen to provide the interior spaces. It will build a cabin assembly plant and interiors workshop at CMIH’s facilities.
Lund says SunStone has decided to build ships to requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) safe return to port standards, even though it is not necessary in this size range.
The vessels will also receive the PC6 notation under the Inter-national Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters and will have zero-speed stabilisers.
“We are really trying to build a ship that is very comfortable for expeditions,” Lund said. “We believe this size with these features will be the best ride for the passengers and the best expedition-style product.”
