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| Aker confirms dispute with NCL |
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| Cruise News - Europe Cruise News | ||||||
| Sunday, 05 October 2008 | ||||||
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 REPORTS this morning on various news outlets that Aker, France - the ship builder of NCL's new F3 super ships - has confirmed it is in dispute with the cruise firm over costs.NCL was in choppy waters today as confusion circled the industry with reports that it is about to pull the plug on its three new super liners, codenamed F3. If these rumours are true, this is going to be the biggest cruise story of the year say experts. The future of NCL’s $1billion, three ship super liner contract, hung in the balance last night, with some reports across Europe suggesting the contract has already been cancelled. NCL launched the new F3 Freestyle cruising concept in a trumpet blast of publicity in October 2007, claiming F3 ships are the next generation of less structured, more relaxed and more resort styled cruising. The 15,000-ton ships were each to hold 4,200 passengers and would represent the largest ships in NCL’s 14 ship fleet. The first was targeted to roll out of Aker ship yards, France, in January 2010, however this now looks unlikely. Meanwhile Carnival shares bounced on the news up 3 per cent, as UBS analysts said it would be good news for rivals, since it would lower capacity and reduce competition. NCL spoke to www.holidayinisders.com late last night from their Miami HQ, but did nothing to squash the rumours. Spokesperson Courtney Recht said: “NCL Corporation Ltd., in response to reports that one of its subsidiaries may be involved in a contractual dispute with Aker Yards S.A. of France regarding a shipbuilding contract, will not comment on commercial or legal disputes”. Seatrade and other industry insiders claim Carnival, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruise’s of Italy have all been approached by the French ship builder Aker to take over the contracts. But, sources we spoke to this morning, said chances any other cruise firm stepping in now is highly unlikely. The F3 has a very unusual design, cabins have this new wave style, the ships have no main dining room, and no main theatre- all represents a dramatic shift away from more traditionally designed ships. Initially, the F3 ships order was for Star Cruises. But then it was announced the two 150,000-ton ships, with a third as an option, would be used for NCL. Our source said initial costs were about $735 million Euros (close to $1 billion) per ship, and costs have since increased. Seatrade this morning is reporting several independent sources saying the builder and NCL Corp. are in a dispute over the costing of changes to the original specification. Aker Yards is allegedly putting the cost of these changes at €50m, according to one source, a figure Seatrade Insider and holidayinisders.com has been unable to confirm. The source said NCL could not foresee operating the vessel profitably at the higher price resulting from the changes.
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 06 October 2008 ) | ||||||
WE reported back in August of ongoing problems with NCL's F3 project. Trade publication Travelpulse today said that NCL had tweaked its 'About us' copy at the end of their press releases.| < Prev | Next > |
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