American Maritime Safety (AMS) awarded Norwegian Cruise Line the 2012 Quality Ship Management Award for implementation of quality control systems that enhance crew member efficiency and reduce marine casualties.
This year had hardly gotten underway before we again were reminded how important safety at sea is. Ships’ officers have told us repeatedly that their first priority is safety – for passengers, crew and ship.
As we are starting on a new year, the industry’s attention is focused across a broad range of priorities, from raising ticket prices to reducing operating costs.
In this issue, we are taking a closer look at ship operations.
Royal Caribbean International is unique in the cruise industry and possibly in the whole world, according to Adam Goldstein, president and CEO, who explained: “We have a unique combination of quality and energy, and we are able to bring that combination to all parts of the globe and produce ‘wows.’
“We do it through our ship design, our service, the 275 destinations we go to every year, and who we are,” he continued. “It plays well around the world. We are regarded as a prestigious operator everywhere we go.”
Compliance with the Maritime Labor Convention of 2006 (MLC 2006), coming into force in August, will be a shared responsibility among cruise lines and recruiters, according to Johan Oyen, director of cruise operations for the Norwegian Seamen’s Union (NSU) and head of the Cruise Ship Task Force for the International Transportation Federation (ITF).
Norwegian Cruise Line will essentially deliver two new ships in 2013, with the Breakaway entering service in May, and the Getaway launching in January 2014, with a busy November and December forecast for the cruise line.
Meanwhile, Norwegian has been testing its iConcierge smartphone app on the Epic.
Greg Purdy became vice president of operations at Celebrity Cruises last year, upgrading his vice president of marine operations title, and adding the hotel side of the brand.
“The nice thing about this organization is it came with a team that runs it,” said Purdy, adding that 80 percent of his time is spent on strategic items.
Florida ports are expecting a record year, while continuing multi-million dollar projects to upgrade and enhance terminals, piers and related infrastructure to keep up.
Driving the continued growth are new ships and some ship shuffles between the competitive ports.
