Disney Cruise Line is considering “a competing port” to Miami for use with its expanding fleet.
This was reported in Miami-Dade County’s Memorandum ahead of the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Feb. 17.
“Disney has recently advised the Port that, prior to entering into a preferential berthing rights agreement with the County, it will conduct due diligence with a competing port regarding a long-term berthing agreement at that port,” the Memorandum reads.
Disney currently sails cruises seasonally from PortMiami, and is a key client at Port Canaveral, with a year-round presence.
However, by 2025, Disney’s fleet is expected to grow from four to seven – with the Disney Wish and two other unnamed ships entering the family.
If MSC Cruises signs a lease agreement with PortMiami for Berths 8, 9 and 10, Disney Cruise Line may share Berth 10 with MSC, getting preferential use rights over other cruise lines, according to the Memorandum.
It is not wholly clear which other port the cruise line is considering, although Port Everglades would be the closest major cruise port to Miami.
2021 will see two new MSC Cruises vessels enter the market, the MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, and both ships will be equipped with a wide range of the latest-generation environmental technologies and equipment, according to the cruise line.
Both newbuilds will feature hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) and selective catalytic reduction systems (SCR), achieving a 98% reduction of sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions and reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 90%.
Their wastewater treatment systems have been designed in line with the International Maritime Organization’s MEPC 227(64) Resolution and achieve purification standards that are higher than most wastewater treatment facilities ashore, MSC announced, in a press release.
As all MSC Cruises’ newbuilds, they will also be equipped with shore power, allowing them to connect to local power grids where infrastructure is available.
Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman said: “Our long-term goal is to achieve a zero-impact cruise operation and this is the journey we are on today. As we work with our partners to identify new technologies that will bring us closer to this goal with each new ship that we build and bring into service, we continue to equip our ships with the latest and most effective technologies in the market.”
In addition, MSC has also announced that it is partnering with several industry players in a research project that promotes low-carbon shipping by combining progressive energy technologies and innovative ship design. Led by the University of Vaasa, the CHEK Consortium – deCarbonising sHipping by enabling Key Technology symbiosis on real vessels concept designs project – involves, in addition to MSC Cruises, the World Maritime University, Wärtsilä, Cargill, Lloyds Register, Silverstream Technologies, Hasytec, Deltamarin, Climeon and BAR Technologies.
The consortium is in line to receive significant funding from Horizon 2020 – the European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation.
According to MSC, the project will seek to demonstrate the synergistic benefits of innovative technologies including hydrogen propulsion, ultrasound antifouling, hull air-lubrication, waste to energy systems and digitalized optimization software, fully integrated to maximize efficiency across all aspects of ship operation.
Looking ahead, in 2022 MSC World Europa, the company’s first LNG-powered vessel will be delivered.
The first LNG ship for MSC will also get a 50-kilowatt, LNG-powered solid oxide fuel cell technology project that offers a potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a further 25% compared to a conventional LNG engine.
Linden Coppell, MSC Cruises’ Director of Sustainability, noted: “Every new ship that joins our fleet incorporates solutions to minimise our environmental footprint. MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore will be no exception. As new technologies are identified, we also work to improve the existing fleet, investigating retrofit opportunities, incorporating new energy reduction measures, working extensively with industry experts and seeking out drop-in alternative fuels to achieve the ambitious carbon intensity reduction goals of our industry.”
On Jan. 25, 2020, the cruise industry saw the start of the events that left the industry with damages it’s still recovering from. Cruise lines started cancelling their sailings due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan and around China.
Citing urgent guidelines from the Chinese government to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Costa Crociere, MSC, Royal Caribbean and Genting Cruise Lines all suspended their cruise operations in mainland China on Jan. 25, 2020.
Ships marking a year without passengers:
Astro Ocean’s Piano Land.
MSC’s Splendida.
Genting’s SuperStar Gemini.
Costa’s Serena, Atlantica and Venezia, plus the neoRomantica which has since been sold to Celestyal.
Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas.
February continued as cruise lines first banned or put in restrictions for passengers from specific countries.
Then countries in Asia started to shut down to tourism and cruise lines issued non-stop itinerary changes for immediate and future sailings, and slowly relaxed booking and refund policies.
Even more, cruises were cancelled in Asia on Feb. 15, 2020, following the outbreak onboard the Diamond Princess in Japan,
Princess Cruises later reacted to the growing spread of the coronavirus in Asia and worldwide by pausing all of its ship operations for 60 days from March 12, 2020. On the same day, Celestyal Cruises also announced it was suspending operations.
AmaWaterways and Avalon Waterways (as well as its sister brands Globus, Cosmos and Monograms) said they were taking a voluntary pause in operations, too.
On March 13, 2020, the Canadian government announced it would be deterring the start of its cruise season (normally in April) to at least July. The ban was then extended twice, the last time until February 2021, which will make Canada cruise less for nearly a whole year.
Also on March 13, 2020, Windstar Cruises stated it would be suspending its sailings through April 30, 2020.
On March 14, 2020, CDC issued a No Sail Order and Suspension of Further Embarkation for cruise ships in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction; the No Sail Order was extended on April 9, 2020, July 16, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2020, as cruise lines continued announcing more and more cancelled cruises affected by the order.
July 2020 saw the start of the long-awaited cruise resumptions in Europe with TUI Cruises starting on July 24, MSC on Aug. 16 onboard the Grandiosa and on Oct. 20 onboard the Magnifica, Costa Crociere on Sept. 6, and AIDA Cruises on Oct. 17. Mystic Cruises restarted sailing in early September under its Nicko brand. And in Asia, Dream Cruises’ World Dream has been operating short cruises to nowhere since Nov. 6.
Sadly, the pandemic claimed the lives of the following brands: Pullmantur Cruceros, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, FTI, Blount Small Ship Adventures, and Jalesh Cruises, while a record-high 13 ships were reduced to scrapping in 2020.
However, new brands – such as Swan Hellenic and Tradewind Voyages – were born in 2020, too.
And while safe returns demonstrated by TUI, MSC and other cruise lines give hope already, cruise lovers around the world are still patiently waiting for other brands to join. And, with the No Sail Order being replaced with the Conditional Framework in late 2020, it looks like these times may be just around the corner.
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