Cruise ordering market: the scenery is good here

The global shipbuilding market is almost stagnant for cruises or new highs

Since 2016, the demand for new shipbuilding market has almost disappeared. Excluding 30 VOLC unconventional orders, the volume of new ships in January-April has shrunk by more than 90% year-on-year. Among them, container ships (ship-type shipyards trading), LNG ships and other ship types are Zero transactions so far. In contrast, the luxury cruise market is extremely active, with a cumulative turnover of 12 ships and 1.284 million gross tons in January-April, which has exceeded the full year 2015 volume.

In addition to the above-mentioned orders, STX France, Norway Kleven, Norwegian Vard and other shipyards currently hold a letter of intent for the construction of four cruise ships. It is estimated that the number of cruises in 2016 will exceed the number of 17 in 2014. The annual volume of luxury cruise ships is expected to exceed 20, a record high in 20 years. In addition, compared with the previous year, this year's cruise ordering has obvious batch characteristics. The number of single orders is generally more than 2, and the Carnival Group has signed a total of 5 3.4 billion US dollars with Italy Fincantini. The order of the cruise ship shows that the ship owner is full of confidence in the future market.

China's cruise market demand surges, cruise construction is welcoming big opportunities

The enthusiasm of the cruise company's investment is mainly due to the steady growth of global cruise passengers, especially the broad prospects for the development of the Chinese cruise market. From 2011 to 2015, the number of global cruise visitors increased by nearly 3% annually and is accelerating. As the global cruise economy shifts gradually to the Asia-Pacific region, the Chinese cruise market is showing a spurt of growth. From 2011 to 2015, the number of inbound and outbound tourists in cruise ships has grown at an average annual rate of nearly 50%, far exceeding the global level.

In the future, with the gradual cultivation of the domestic cruise market, according to the "Cruise Green Paper: China Cruise Industry Development Report (2015)", by 2020 and 2030, the number of cruise passengers in China will be fast based on 2.48 million passengers in 2015. It has grown to 4.5 million and 17.5 million. The broad prospects of the domestic market provide strong demand support for the current cruise construction market.

Cruise companies step up their efforts to upgrade the competition in the Chinese market

In the face of rapidly growing market demand, relevant parties such as cruise companies and cruise construction companies have accelerated their deployment in the Chinese market.

In terms of the operation market, the international cruise giants have further increased the Chinese market on the basis of the existing layout. Among the 12 cruise ships that were sold in January-April 2016, the two 136,000 gross tonnage luxury cruise ships of Geshida were specially built for the Chinese market. When the Mediterranean cruise ship announced the order to build two 180,000 gross tons of Meraviglia-Plus luxury cruise ships, it also highlighted the Chinese market operation plan. At the beginning of May, Genting Group ordered two 201,000 gross tons for its Star Cruises, which were also designed specifically for the Chinese market. At the same time, the above-mentioned cruise ships are expected to be delivered centrally from 2019 to 2020, which coincides with the rapid development of the domestic market, showing that the major cruise giants are determined to win the Chinese market. In terms of domestic companies, in addition to the existing local companies such as Bohai Ferry (stock) and Ctrip, other participants have also emerged. China Communications Construction Group, Hong Kong China Travel Service Group and Sanya Municipal Government have jointly entered the cruise industry, and China Merchants Group has invested in it. Shekou announced that it will vigorously develop the cruise business in the next 3-5 years. Fujian Province Luxury Cruise Investment Co., Ltd. was also established recently, and plans to build three cruise ships into operation.

In terms of the cruise construction market, CSSC recently established China Ship Cruise Industry Development Co., Ltd. to accelerate its entry into the domestic luxury cruise industry. At the same time, although Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (ship hangar location) suffered a heavy loss in the cruise construction business, but optimistic about the future market prospects, Japan's Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Group has resolutely announced its entry into the cruise construction market. Its Tsuneishi Zhoushan (Location Review News) plans to In 2020, the first-class cruise ship with a capacity of 30,000 tons and 400 passengers will be delivered. Xiamen Shipbuilding Heavy Industry (Location Review News) is also aiming to build the first luxury cruise ship for Fujian Province Luxury Cruise Investment Corporation. In addition, the European shipyard is further integrating and upgrading the construction capacity of the cruise ship. Germany Lloyd Werft merged with the three shipyards of Nordic Yards under the leadership of Genting Hong Kong and ranks among the top four cruise shipbuilding groups in Europe; Italy Fincanini will also build the cruise ship this year. The business further expanded to its Norwegian Vard shipyard.

Under the background of the global downturn in the new shipbuilding market, luxury cruise ships have become a hot spot in the market competition, driven by multiple positive factors. As the number of participants increases, it is foreseeable that the future cruise market will not only have broad market opportunities, but also fierce competition and challenges.