Richard Grable News

(Photo Credit: Richard Grable) The world's largest cruise ship, Queen Mary 2, pictured arriving January 26 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Cruise vessels will take center stage at the SMM 2004, 21st Shipbuilding, Machinery & Marine Technology, International Trade Fair Hamburg, which is to take place at the Hamburg Fair site from 28 September to 2 October. Cruising and cruise vessel construction have had to maneuver in difficult waters in the past year. The very active ordering activity of recent years has slowed down to become steady, dependable growth. That, explains Peter Fetten in an interview, is because growth is a part of the strategy of the big American cruise lines…

Fueled in part by a spate of luxurious newbuildings such as the Queen Mary 2, the cruise industry, according to government statistics, is growing by leaps and bounds. Reflecting a rise in the popularity of passengers departing from ports closer to their homes, cruise lines carried 2.3 million passengers on North American cruises in the first quarter of 2004, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) reported today. The figures reflect a 13.6 percent increase compared to the same period in 2003. The majority of cruises are still destined for the Caribbean and the Bahamas.