Carnival Corporation to Reduce Fleet An Additional 5 Ships Bringing Total Reduction to 18 Ships

In a effort to raise much needed cash and prepare for a much different cruise industry, Carnival Corporation has announced further fleet reductions. Having funded an aggressive multi-decade expansion program, acquiring other cruise lines, building new ships and leading the industry, Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company in the world, was left in a difficult position when the unprecedented pandemic hit. The Company is now in a position where it needs to raise cash and eliminate inefficient ships to deal with a virus that has wreaked havoc on the cruise industry. Remember these ships were profitable before the pandemic, sailing at full capacity and driving fleet expansion due to unprecedented demand. This demand totally vaporized overnight in March/April when the Coronavirus struck.

Carnival Corporation announced in their preliminary Q3 financial filing to the Security and Exchange Committee that Carnival now expects to dispose of 18 ships, eight of which have already left the fleet. In total, the 18 ships represent approximately 12 percent of pre-pause capacity.

Carnival Corporation ships sold for scrap include: Carnival Cruises' oldest ships including the Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Fascination, Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration; Holland America ships - Maasdam (sold to SeaJet Ferries), Veendam (sold to SeaJet Ferries), Amsterdam (sold to Fred Olsen Cruises) and Rotterdam (sold to Fred Olsen Cruises); Costa Cruises' Costa Victoria has been sold to Italian breakers and three Costa ships (Costa Atlantica (Transferred to Carnival/China Joint Venture) , Costa Mediterranea (Transferred to Carnival/China Joint Venture) and Costa neoRomantica (Sold to Celestyl Cruises); Two P&O Australia ships (Pacific Aria and Pacific Dawn which were to be sold to Cruise and Maritime Voyages before CMV went into Administration) and P&O's Oceana (Sold to Greece's Seajet Ferries). Based on this tally, there are three, yet unnamed ships expected to leave the Carnival Corp fleet but it is unclear at what point Carnival started counting the fleet reduction so more ships may be at risk.

Carnival states - We don’t yet know which ships will be let go or when. Any of the vessels being sold or scrapped could be from any of Carnival’s nine cruise brands including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard and Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia. There are also rumors circulating that entire brands could potentially be sold off. Brands linked to this rumor include Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruises as potentially up for sale. Carnival continues to deny this rumor, but I assume under these circumstances anything is possible.

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