Louis considering overhaul of its cruise fleet

LOUIS Cruise Lines is looking at the possibility of proceeding with new buildings for ships with a capacity of 2,000 passengers, though delivery would not be possible until 2012, the company said.

Responding to a report in the respected shipping paper Lloyds List that it was to start negotiations with European shipyards on a new building and that some of its older vessels might be sold off, Louis responded in a statement to the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE).

The comments had been made to Lloyds by Louis Cruise chief executive Stelios Kiliaris.

“The company is examining the possibility of proceeding with a new building of a ship or ships of 2,000 passengers, while he [Kiliaris] made clear that the construction of a new ship before 2012 is not feasible since the shipyards are busy until then,” the statement to the CSE said.

Louis currently owns 13 vessels. Four of the cruise ships, M/V Thomson Destiny, M/V Thomson Spirit, S/S The Emerald and M/V Calypso are chartered to Thomson Cruises of TUI AG and another one, the Arielle, to Transocean of Germany.

According to a report in the Financial Mirror yesterday, Louis’ biggest disadvantage is that most of current fleet can only carry a range of 500 to 1,300 passengers, while rivals such as Carnival, Celebrity, MSC Cruises, etc. accommodate more than 3,000 passengers per ship.

Louis said yesterday that had nothing further to add to what was said in the announcement to the CSE.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.