“The cruise industry generates £10bn for the UK economy each year. We understand the significant impact, therefore, that our decision to suspend operations has on the livelihoods of people who work in our sector, and on businesses that rely on the cruise industry in all parts of the country. Unfortunately, our research shows that for a 60-day suspension we can anticipate a loss of more than 3,000 UK jobs and an economic cost of £539m to the UK.”

“As the world is still preparing to resume travel, it is with much disappointment that we announce an extension of our pause of global ship operations and the cancellation of cruise vacations for our loyal guests. Among other disruptions, airlines have limited their flight availability and many popular cruise ports are closed. It saddens us to think about the impact on the livelihood of our teammates, business partners and the communities we visit.”

“CLIA, on behalf of the wider cruise community, appreciates the constructive working relationships we share with global authorities around the world, including in North America, Europe, Australasia and South America. We will use this time during the suspension of global operations to continue to work with them to achieve our shared objective of going further still in our efforts to protect the health and safety of passengers, crew and public and to support recovery goals for tourism and business sector partners.”

Princess Cruises has announced that it has extended the suspension of global ship operations to the end of August this year. The suspension was extended due to decreased flight availability and port closures introduced to help fight the global Covid-19 pandemic. Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess Alaska cruises have been cancelled along with the remaining Europe and Transatlantic cruises on Sky Princess, Crown Princess, Enchanted Princess, Regal Princess and Island Princess. The company has also cancelled summer Caribbean and Canada and New England cruise trips on the Sky Princess and Caribbean Princess. Summer to fall cruise trips on Diamond Princess from Japan, Sapphire Princess and Sea Princess’ Australia-based cruises through August, Majestic Princess’ July cruise trips from Taiwan, and fall cruises to Hawaii and French Polynesia through November on Pacific Princess have also been cancelled.

Finnish shipping company Viking Line has announced that it will restart passenger services for essential traffic. The move follows the decision of the Finnish Government to slowly ease some of the restrictions that were imposed due to the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. The new regulations will be enforced from 14 May. Passengers should check the instructions issued by the officials. The restrictions will be in place until 31 May. Of the seven vessels in the fleet, four will continue operations in Finland, Sweden, the Åland Islands and Estonia. Viking Line CEO and president Jan Hanses said: “We are pleased that the decision has now been made to partly ease travel restrictions. It is extremely important to maintain vital social functions by allowing essential service between these countries. We look forward to resuming our normal service with the hope that this can take place in time for our peak summer season.”

Carnival Cruise Line has announced that it will resume operations in North America from 1 August with eight ships from Miami, Port Canaveral and Galveston. The operations in the remaining North American and Australian markets will continue to be suspended until 31 August. Last month, Carnival Cruise Line suspended all its operations around the world until 26 June amid the Covid-19 pandemic. All North American cruises will be cancelled from 27 June to 31 July. From 1 August, Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Vista will operate from Galveston, Carnival Horizon, Carnival Magic and Carnival Sensation from Miami, and Carnival Breeze and Carnival Elation from Port Canaveral. The Carnival Spirit Alaskan cruises from Seattle and the Carnival Spirit Vancouver-Honolulu cruise on 25 September and Honolulu-Brisbane transpacific cruise on 6 October have also been cancelled. All of the Carnival Splendor cruises from 19 June to 31 August in Australia will be cancelled.

Finnish shipping company Viking Line will launch its new cruise ship Viking Glory, which is considered to be one of the most eco-friendly ships in the world. In June, the cruise liner held a keel-laying ceremony for the new passenger ship at the Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Shipyard in China. Viking Line will launch the new vessel in 2021. The ship will be fitted with Wartsila 31DF dual-fuel engines, facilitating operations using sulphur-free liquefied natural gas (LNG).  The ship will also be able to operate on biogas. Due to fuel-efficient engines, Viking Glory will use up to 10% less fuel compared to its sister ship Viking Grace.