Tag Archives: Seabourn Odyssey

MOL Plans Cruise Expansion, Newbuilds

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Seabourn Odyssey photo credit for Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

With the purchase of the Seabourn Odyssey, MOL Group, which operates Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. in the domestic Japanese market, plans to operate two ships in 2024, it said in a press release. Sales terms were not disclosed.

The Seabourn Odyssey will be renamed and sail alongside the Nippon Maru, according to the company, which has hired a new Senior Executive Advisor in Anthony Kaufman, who has extensive knowledge and expertise in the cruise ship business, having held key positions with Carnival, Holland America Group and Princess Cruises, where he played a major role in the development of the inbound and outbound markets in Japan.

In a press statement, MOL Group said it “positions the cruise ship business as a new growth area,” and plans to build an additional two new 600-guest ships.

The Seabourn Odyssey will join the fleet in 2024 after a refurbishment, the company said. A new name for the ship will be announced this summer, along with other details.

“By increasing the number of cruise ships operated by MOPAS to two, they will be able to significantly increase the number of departures and arrivals in various parts of Japan and globally, and will be able to provide a wider variety of itineraries and experiences that meet our customer’s needs,” the company said in a statement.

In the near term, MOL will open a “Wellbeing & Lifestyle Business” brand as well as a new “Cruise Business Innovation Project Unit.”

Carnival Corporation Sells Seabourn Odyssey to MOL Group

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Seabourn Odyssey photo credit for Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

Carnival Corporation and its luxury Seabourn brand have announced the sale of the 450-guest, 2009-built Seabourn Odyssey to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), which currently operates a one-ship Japanese cruise line with the Nippon Maru.

Following the sale, Seabourn will continue to operate all published voyages through August 22, 2024, under a charter arrangement.

The Seabourn Odyssey will then be delivered to MOL after the charter agreement.

Of note, it’s the 26th ship to exit the Carnival Corp. fleet since 2020.

“We are proud that Seabourn Odyssey carried our guests across the world for the last 14 years and are happy to see her join a great company, MOL,” said Seabourn President Natalya Leahy. “As we prepare to say farewell to Odyssey in September 2024, I am excited to further optimize our fleet as we grow our expedition business. With the addition of Seabourn Pursuit this summer, Seabourn will have one of the most modern fleets in the ultra-luxury segment with an average age of just seven years.”

The company said that Seabourn’s fleet expansion into the ultra-luxury expedition market allows for a more diverse offering of deployment opportunities, which will lead to new and exciting itineraries across all seven continents with a higher guest capacity compared to 2019 even after Seabourn Odyssey’s departure.

“With this elite, modern fleet, Seabourn continues as the leader in ultra-luxury travel, providing highly curated and immersive experiences and unique ‘Seabourn Moments’ for our guests,” Leahy said.

Damen: Growing Cruise Ship Drydocks Scheduled to 2030

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Damen is seeing growing project scopes and has ships scheduled up to 2030 according to the 2023 Drydock and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.

“We have exact dates up to 2030 already,” said Rogier van der Laan, global product manager of cruise maintenance and upgrade services at Damen.

“We are seeing bookings far out. There are three back-to-back ships scheduled in 2025, and one is an especially huge conversion,” van der Laan added.

Damen completed multiple projects in 2022 as well. Among 2022 highlights were the Emerald Princess drydocking in Rotterdam, the Seabourn Odyssey in Curacao as well as the Celebrity Xpedition, and the winter conversion of the Maasdam into the Renaissance for French start-up CFC.

The former Maasdam arrived at Damen’s Brest, France, facility in October, entered drydock in November and is scheduled to start sailing in the spring.

The yard will handle steelwork, maintenance and more, and help interior contractors with logistics, container shipments and more.

“With the supply chain problems, logistics can be a challenge. For the yard, it’s not a problem, but getting supplies from the manufacturers can be a big issue and the price is going up everywhere,” he said.

Overall, van der Laan said the outlook was “very good” for the company’s yards, with its European facilities looking after ships of any size and its Curacao drydock perfectly suited for smaller ships and expedition ships moving between the polar regions.

Across the industry, van der Laan said that Tier III updates for ships would be a trend in coming years, allowing them to sail in sensitive areas.

Planning has tightened up with changing budgets and project scopes from cruise customers, meaning five to six months out instead of a year for a project plan.

“But we are flexible. It’s always changing,” van der Laan said. “There can be change orders or unforeseen steelwork, and we can do that.”