Lindblad Orders X-Bow Ship – Other Cruise News: New Chinese Cruise Ship Concept – Shell Cruising With LNG And Carnival
by Kevin Griffin
Lindblad Expeditions has now joined Aurora Expeditions in ordering a new 138-berth X-Bow expedition ship in Norway. The similar Aurora ship is being built in China. Elsewhere, current ferry builder Guangzhou Shipyard has exhibited a new design for a mid-sized cruise ship at the China Cruise Shipping event in Sanya last week and Carnival Cruise Line and Shell have announced an agreement for LNG bunker barge fuelling of two new ships to be built for Carnival.
THIS WEEK’S STORY
Lindblad Orders X-Bow Ship
Lindblad Expeditions has announced that it has signed an agreement with Norway’s Ulstein to build a new 138-passenger expedition vessel.
Lindblad Expeditions’ new expedition ship (Rendering courtesy of Lindblad Expeditions) (Click to enlarge)
The contract price is $134.6 million and delivery is planned for January 21, 2020, with the potential for an early delivery as soon as November 18, 2019.
The order has been placed with Ulstein’s Ulsteinvik shipyard in Norway together with an option for two more ships to be delivered in subsequent years.
The SunStone X-Bow ship ordered for Aurora (Click to enlarge)
A core feature of the new ship’s design is Ulstein’s unique X-Bow, which provides fuel efficiency and significantly improved guest comfort in rough seas, as well as a very high ice class for access deep into polar regions.
This bow form has already proven itself reliable on dozens of existing non-passenger ships.
The 2,398-ton 96-berth Lindblad Explorer, the Little Red Ship
The ship’s expanded fuel and water tanks provide for extended operations in remote areas, while the zero-speed stabilizers will ensure stability while standing still for wildlife observation or embarking/disembarking operations.
The delivery of this ship will mark the 50th anniversary of the first-ever purpose-built expedition ship, the 96-berth Lindblad Explorer, ordered by Lars-Eric Lindblad in 1969.
OTHER CRUISE NEWS
New Chinese Cruise Ship Concept
Details of the latest Chinese cruise ship design and build project have recently been reported by Cruise Industry News.
The new mid-size cruise vessel concept from Guangzhou Shipyard International, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) (Click to enlarge)
From the proposed ship’s illustration it seems to copy many of the already popular practices followed by European shipyarsd in recent years.
A new mid-size cruise vessel concept from Guangzhou Shipyard International, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), was on display last week at the China Cruise Shipping conference in Sanya, China.
The mid-size vessel is a concept project for the yard, but CSSC is already heavily involved in leading the cruise ship building picture in China, with two “Vista” class ships on order in a joint project with Carnival Corp & plc for delivery in 2023 and 2024.
The ferry Thjelvar launched last July at the Guangzhou Shipyard (Click to enlarge)
Cruise Industry News also reported that the Guangzhou yard is now offering a modular cabin system aimed at cruise ship orders and has acquired a number of smaller suppliers to help reinforce its capabilities in China.
Guangzhou has been largely involved with building tankers, container ships, bulk carriers and heavy lift ships in the past and is capable of delivering fifty ships a year of these types.
But Chinese yard is also in the course of gaining experience in building passenger ships, with a 1,650-passenger LNG-powered ropax ferry under way for 2018 delivery to Rederi AB Gotland of Sweden as well as a similar 1,800-passenger vessel for Algerian Ferries.
Shell Cruising With LNG And Carnival
Carnival Corp & plc and Carnival Cruise Line have signed an agreement with Shell to fuel the first fully LNG-powered cruise ships in North America.
Shell’s Rotterdam LNG bunker tanker Cardissa, delivered this summer (Click to enlarge)
The two Carnival ships will be fueled through Shell’s LNG Bunker Barge project announced as part of Shell’s plan to develop a global LNG bunkering network.
The Bunker Barge is a first of its kind in the US and will allow the ships to refuel with LNG at ports along the U.S. East Coast.
Carnival Corp & plc has agreements with German and Finnish shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku to build seven LNG-powered cruise ships for four of its ten cruise brands, with delivery dates between 2018 and 2022.
Artist impression of the new dual-fuel LNG ship Costa Smeralda (Courtesy of Costa Cruises)
Two ships are being built for AIDA Cruises with expected delivery dates in 2018 and 2021, two for Costa Cruises for delivery in 2019 and 2021, one for P&O Cruises with expected delivery in 2020 and two for Carnival Cruise Line with expected delivery in 2020 and 2022.
Shell already has a contract to supply LNG to the two Costa ships.
As of this spring more than 200 LNG-powered vessels were on order and Shell is already well organised at supplying marine LNG fuel with tankers and barges out of its LNG base in Rotterdam.
(Kevin Griffin is managing director of specialist cruise agency The Cruise People Ltd in London, England. For further information concerning cruises mentioned in this article readers can visit his blog)
