Will the yards get their share as the Europe takes the industry to new hights?
Europe still reigns supreme as[ds_preview] far as the construction of cruise ships is concerned, despite construction of other vessel types substantially moving to the Far East. The rumours of possible cruise ship building moving to the Far East have yet to materialise – though with the advent of Chinese yards there may be pressure on Japanese and South Korean yards to look for other business segments, according to Thomas Weigend, Director of the sales and design department at Papenburg-based Meyer Werft in the latest European Cruise Council Report.
But while the big Korean yards may be producing 100–120 ships a year, the European shipbuilding industry produces around ten to twelf cruise ships. »Even if one Korean yard took all the cruise ship orders,« says Weigend, »it would not fill the gaps. It is really a very small niche that we are in.« Specialist cruise ship yards in Europe also argue that building up the necessary network of suppliers and subcontractors to support any newbuild project takes time and cultivation.
In the past 40 years the North American cruise market has driven the industry with a steady growth. Now with the pace slowing down it is Europe’s turn as the next significant growth market while other regions like South America and Asia get ready to join the club. Europe will require another 100 ships to reach the same market penetration level as North America. While new markets need to be developed new rules and regulations also demand for safer and greener ships to replace aging tonnage in the fleet.
Fincantieri, STX Europe, Meyer Werft and T. Mariotti have all been involved in new building for the cruise lines, and the yards look to their networks of subcontractors and specialist suppliers to fend off any challenge from the Far East. Yards have been very proactive in their approach to the challenge of the new regulations coming into force for efficiency and damage stability, alongside a whole range of other rules.
As the economy recovers from the downturn and despite shipowners asking for lower building and lifecycle costs and more energy efficient ships, the outlook can be quiet optimistic. The know-how of the yards is the key point in the very complex process of building cruiseships. As long as the market growth continues shipowners and yards will be bind together to secure the success of the industry.
