Cruise Lines International Association News

The SMM 2024 trade show will run from September 3-6 this year, and organizers are expecting more visitors and exhibitors than last time; the exhibition halls are nearly fully booked.“We are expecting more than 2,000 international exhibitors from 70 nations,” says Claus Ulrich Selbach, Business Unit Director Maritime and Technology Fairs & Exhibitions at Hamburg Messe und Congress. “We are overwhelmed by the response. We are actually setting-up an additional hall to accommodate all requests.

The global cruise industry reported record passenger volumes in 2023 as the sector continues its rebound following the lows of the COVID-19 pandemic.Cruise ships carried 31.7 million passengers in 2023, up 7% from previous highs recorded in 2019, according to latest figures published by the trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).Most increases were in the United States—which remains, by far, the world's largest cruise market—with an incremental increase of 2.7 million passengers…

Italian marine engineering consultancy RINA has secured a contract from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to carry out a comprehensive Global Investment Plan Study aimed at steering the cruise sector towards a sustainable future.The research will provide a worldwide scenario focused on the cruise sector, mapping real-time energy needs, infrastructure and regulations with foresight scenarios extending to 2050.The cruise sector is recognized as one of the most active in driving the shipping industry towards greater sustainability.Today…

The 2023 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea has been presented to Caleb Halle, Aviation Survival Technician Second Class (AST2) of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). He was recognized for the outstanding courage, endurance and determination he showed during the rescue of the seven-strong crew of the tugboat Legacy in January 2023.AST2 Halle, based at the Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, received the award at the annual IMO Awards Ceremony in London. The ceremony…

Mobile Cable Positioning Devices can quickly accommodate vessels of many sizes and shapes, making shore power available almost immediately, a boon to the industry’s ambitious decarbonization goalsOne of the keys to reaching Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) target of net-zero carbon cruising globally by 2050 is switching from diesel burning engines to shoreside electricity while in port. Although the technology can significantly reduce emissions to address climate change and improve air quality…

Interferry CEO Mike Corrigan explains the driving forces behind the global trade association’s imperative to keep its foot on the gas.Interferry and its members scaled some demanding peaks in 2022 but, to state the obvious, our work is never done. Facing an equally busy schedule of challenges and opportunities in the year ahead, we need to keep climbing – a truism that has been memorably expressed as ‘the top of one mountain is always the bottom of another’.Our 46th annual conference in Seattle last October was definitely one of the peaks…

The global cruise industry continues to make progress as it works to achieve its goal of net-zero carbon cruising by 2050, though the need for development and deployment of sustainable marine fuels remains.The 2022 Global Cruise Industry Environmental Technologies and Practices Report from trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) reveals an increasing number of vessels launching over the new few years that will be able to incorporate zero-emissions propulsion when available as well as the growing investment to equip ships to plug in to shoreside electricity where available.

River cruise operator American Queen Voyages announced on Wednesday that it has named Cynthia “Cindy” D’Aoust as its next president, effective October 3, 2022.An industry veteran, D’Aoust joins AQV with nearly 40 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry including previously serving as the President of Hospitality for Cape Resorts Management Company and Global President & CEO of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).“Hornblower Group is committed to the expansion of American Queen Voyages…

Cutting-edge solutions to an unprecedented increase in human and technological challenges will be unveiled when global trade association Interferry stages its 46th annual conference in Seattle this October on the theme of ‘Power and People’.As Interferry CEO Mike Corrigan explains, "In a fast-changing operational and environmental climate, the ferry industry’s long-term success depends more than ever on two main factors. We need to attract dedicated people who are interested in pursuing a rewarding maritime career and help them achieve the qualifications required by our industry.

Andrea Mather's plans for a long-awaited summer cruise around the Hawaiian islands with her financial analyst husband unraveled after her booking with Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America was canceled due to a staffing shortage.It was the second time this year that the 55-year-old homemaker's plan to go on a cruise was scuppered.The cruise industry is sailing in choppy waters yet again as it has to deal with a storm of labor problems, red-hot inflation and recessionary threat…

Chief Executive Bob Chapek introduced Walt Disney Co's first new cruise ship in a decade on Wednesday, the culmination of the first project the former theme parks executive championed to the company's board of directors.The launch of the 4,000-passenger Disney Wish is a bright spot for Chapek, who became Disney's CEO in February 2020 and secured a three-year contract extension on Tuesday following recent controversies that prompted questions about his tenure.It took more than six years to bring the 144…

A rule change in the United States aims to make it easier for cruise ship passengers to receive refunds after their voyages have been canceled or delayed.The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced on Wednesday it is amending its regulations governing "non-performance" by passenger vessel operators to establish new requirements for when cruise passengers should be provided refunds. The changes define non-performance as canceling a voyage or delaying a voyage by three…

The U.S.

A guide to maritime pilot transfer safety has been updated amid industry concerns about poorly rigged ladders causing severe injuries or fatalities.The ‘Shipping Industry Guidance on Pilot Transfer Arrangements’, produced by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) in partnership with the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), features a new section with the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s guidance on combination embarkation platform arrangements. Provisions for a ‘trapdoor arrangement’ in combination ladders…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said people should avoid traveling on cruise ships regardless of their vaccination status, as daily COVID-19 cases in the country climb to record highs due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.The move delivers another blow to the cruise industry that had just started returning to the seas in June after a months-long suspension of voyages caused by the pandemic.The CDC on Thursday raised its COVID-19 travel health notice level for cruise ships to its highest warning level…

When Chinese billionaire Jack Ma took a trip to Spain's Mallorca island last month, much was made of it being his first foreign foray since a 2020 fallout with regulators had clipped his wings.However, Ma's sunny sojourn on his newly-built 88-metre (289 ft) cruise boat Zen - estimated to be worth $200 million - also put a spotlight on a global trend: the return of the superyacht.As the number of billionaires grows and COVID-19 has added to incentives for avoiding crowds, the multi…

“On the 27th of July, 1850, I sailed from Baltimore in the ship Nonantum, of Boston, (Bates, master,) bound to San Francisco. In the ship's hold was stowed 1,050 tons of coal. The second morning after the commencement of the storm, smoke had been discovered between decks. The alarming truth instantly flashed upon our minds. The gas that originated from the coal had generated fire. They next proceeded to close the hatches, and caulked every seam tightly, in the hope of arresting the progress of the fire it was impossible to extinguish.” -Incidents On Land and Water…

Maritime medical operations and public health provider VIKAND Solutions said it has appointed Bo Nylandsted Larsen as Vice President of Commercial Partnerships, effective September 1, 2021.Peter Hult, VIKAND CEO, said, “Bo Larsen is so very highly regarded in the maritime industry. His visionary strategic planning and stakeholder engagement abilities enable the kind of collaborative partnerships that benefit an entire industry. These skills represent core values VIKAND strives to reflect in a complex and evolving international maritime world.

A federal appeals court late on Friday reversed course and let stand a lower court order prohibiting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from enforcing coronavirus-related cruise ship rules in Florida.The decision is a win for Florida that had filed a lawsuit arguing the CDC curbs made it tough for the cruise industry to recover from the pandemic.The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta had only on Saturday voted 2-1 to block the lower court decision.But in its latest brief statement…

The first cruise ship to leave Venice since coronavirus restrictions were eased set sail on Saturday, but some local residents protested over the return to normal, unhappy about the passage of giant liners through the historic lagoon city.Hundreds of people rallied on land and small boats fluttering flags saying "No big ships" surrounded and followed the 92,000-tonne MSC Orchestra as it departed Venice port en route for Croatia and Greece. "We are here because we are against this passage but also against a model of tourism that is destroying the city…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has begun a key step for the eventual resumption of U.S. cruise industry operations by issuing new technical instructions.In October, the CDC issued Conditional Sailing Order for operators, which acted as a guidance for a phased resumption of cruise ship passenger operations.On Wednesday, it announced two new phases and said operators now have all necessary requirements needed "to start simulated voyages before resuming…

Cruise industry executives met with health experts and White House staff earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday, following criticism of its guidelines on restarting voyages.The discussion, which centered around how the pandemic-battered industry could get back into business, comes after the CDC said passengers and crew would need COVID-19 vaccine shots and more frequent testing, but did not give a timeline on when it will lift its ban on cruises.Carnival Corp…

The state of Florida sued President Joe Biden's administration in federal court on Thursday seeking to block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's decision to prevent the U.S. cruise industry from immediately resuming operations paused for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.The suit, filed by Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in Tampa, asked the court to issue an injunction barring enforcement of the CDC's order and to quickly lift a "nationwide lockdown" on the industry in place since March 2020.