With the buoyancy in newbuild business witnessed so far this year, the cruise ship orderbook stands at an all-time high of some 48 vessels. Erring on the conservative side, analyst Peter Wild of the U.K.-based consultancy G P Wild (International) calculates that the record workload constitutes 3.2 million-gt of ocean-going newbuildings worth around $14.7 billion. Further expenditure amounting to $6 billion-plus is promised in the near-term on the basis of a raft of options and advanced negotiations and tenders. The aggregate fleet investment offers the prospect of a net capacity increase not far short of the 77,500 lower berths encapsulated in the vessels under construction and on order, while offtake through scrapping is likely to be on a limited scale in the immediate term.