Tag Archives: Canary Islands

Five dead on Canary Islands cruise ship

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Five dead on Canary Islands cruise ship

Footage of the accidentFootage shot from the cruise ship showed the lifeboat in the water

Five crew members have died after a lifeboat they were in fell from a cruise ship docked in the port of Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands.

The accident happened on the Majesty, operated by UK-based Thomson Cruises, during a routine safety drill.

Those killed include three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian. Three people were also hurt as the boat reportedly fell more than 20m into the sea.

The MS Thomson Majesty is believed to sail under a Maltese flag.

About 2,000 people were on board the cruise ship when the accident occurred around 12:00 GMT on Sunday, local media say.

Two of those injured are said to be Greek, and a third Filipino.

The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the incident and was “urgently looking into it”.

No passengers were involved, local reports say.

Thomson Cruises said in a statement that it was “aware of an incident involving the ship’s crew on board Thomson Majesty, in La Palma, Canary Islands this afternoon”.

“We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected,” the statement added.

All of our thoughts and prays are with the crews family and loved ones, and the remaining crew who will be devastated by this accident. All Thomson’s  Cruise ships should be safety checked before any sailings, and the ship owners Louis Cruise need to step up to the plate and compensate the family of the crew members, and pay for some needed repairs and up-dates.

Tui claims to have outperformed the market in January

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Tui claims to have outperformed the market in January

Tui Travel claims to have “significantly outperformed” the market in the peak January selling period for summer holidays.

Sales volumes are now ahead of the company’s 9% capacity reduction, and is 35% sold to date, described as in line with the previous year.

Capacity has been cut for North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, with some of this reduction offset by increased capacity in the Canary Islands.

“Turn of year trading has been ahead of expectations and we are particularly pleased with our online performance,” Tui said.

The average selling price is up 8%, reflecting cost base inflation of approximately 5% and the continued increase in differentiated content.

“We have continued to increase the proportion of holidays sold online with 42% booked online for summer 2012, up six percentage points versus the prior year.”

All inclusive bookings are up by seven percentage points to make up 55% of bookings to date for the first summer that First Choice becomes exclusively all inclusive.

The ‘all in’ holiday concept is proving attractive, particularly in the current economic environment.

“As we continue to expand our differentiated offering, which traditionally books earlier, these products have accounted for 64% of bookings to date, up seven percentage points on the prior year,” Tui said.

UK bookings for this winter have improved since early December, with volumes continuing to move towards a capacity reduction of 9% and there is less left to sell against this time last year.

The booked load factor is currently 71%, described as being broadly in line with last year.

“We are pleased with our price performance, with average selling prices up 5% in light of inflationary cost increases and increased differentiated sales,” Tui said.

“Demand for differentiated products continues to be strong with volumes up 15%. These products now account for 62% of our sales, up 12 percentage points on prior year.

“As anticipated, North Africa remains challenging with volumes down 23%. Across our programme strong demand in the lates booking period has resulted in improved load factors for November, December and January.”

Fred Olsen seeks to reduce risk of selling through agents

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Fred Olsen seeks to reduce risk of selling through agents

By Lee Hayhurst |  Jan 10, 2012 17:27PM GMT

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines could start asking agents for a bond or other financial security if it cannot secure credit insurance to cover the risk of doing business with them.

The operator says it wants to take a collaborative approach with the trade and that it is in talks with agent partners about how it can manage financial risk.

The move mirrors similar changes leading cruise operator Complete Cruise Solution has made to the way it works with agents. CCS, however, does not have credit insurance for agents.

Fred Olsen said it was looking to secure credit insurance to protect itself against agency failure but that this was “becoming increasingly difficult”.

The current economic climate means many insurance limits are being reduced or removed, it said.

Nathan Philpot, sales and marketing director for Fred Olsen, said it has credit insurance secured for 80% of agents but the remainder still posed a substantial potential risk.

“This has got to be a dialogue, not a one-size-fits-all solution. We started conversations before Christmas, it would be great if we could have something in place by the end of January,” he said.

Agents which Fred Olsen insurer, Euler Hermes, refuses to cover will be given a range of options including putting up a bond or bank guarantee.

Another option could be increasing the frequency of payments or, as CCS is trying to bring in, getting agents’ customers to pay the line direct.

Philpot said head office solutions could also be sought with consortia. Although Fred Olsen is an Abta member association rules provide limited cover for agency pipeline monies.

Since 2007 operator pay outs have been restricted to three times annual subscriptions in any given year.

Philpot said: “There probably needs to be dialogue with Abta about whether this works for everyone because clearly it’s not adequate if a significant Abta cruise retailer goes bust.”