Cruise Control

By Sami J. Anteroinen
Editor-in-Chief

This article was published on NORDICUM 3/2010

The global economic storm is finally fading out, but its repercussions will be felt for quite some time afterwards. For industries where the required investments are hefty, there is understandably still a prevalent wait-and-see attitude. A good example of this is the cruise industry which has been all about big, big boats lately.

The cruise line operator Royal Caribbean placed in a double order for the world’s largest cruise ships while the economic weather was still very nice indeed. As the first of the ships, Oasis of the Seas, was launched in December 2009, the waters had turned murkier. Sister ship Allure of the Seas will be released into a more hope-filled climate in November, but after that, there are no new orders. The hard-working shipyard in Turku, Finland, is anxious for some good news, but none have been forthcoming.

Nevertheless, the relationship between Royal Caribbean and the Finnish ship-makers goes way back. The alliance has yielded one amazing vessel after another, and the two partners seem to understand each other extremely well. The Americans are also aware that undue hesitation will place in jeopardy not only the STX Europe shipyard but also the Finnish marine cluster network.

The making of huge cruise ships is very much a concerted effort, with as many as 500 Turku region companies participating in the process. While luxury cruisers could conceivably be made in Asia as well, it is not likely that this network will uproot itself and head east. A vast amount of know-how accumulated over decades is at stake here.

Against this background, it is easy enough to predict that cruise ships will be made in Turku also in the future. And they will be big ones, too. But will RCCL place an order for another “largest in the world” ship, or opt for something more subtle next?

There is already speculation in the industry that the size race has gone too far. The 225,000 GT Oasis certainly has enough mass to make you forget that you’re on a ship at all, but is that necessarily a good thing? STX Europe has been playing with the idea that one could get the experience of the Oasis from a smaller, more compact vessel. The main philosophy here is multi-space: optimising the way onboard premises are utilised. STX believes that reducing ship volume by up to 15 percent results in higher space ratios and more efficient service operations.

Increasing the IQ of the ship dynamics makes good business sense, especially in these carbon-conscious times. Is the industry ready to trade “go big” for “go smart”?