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You would think that
if you were a newcomer to the cruise market and were also entering
the luxury sector, your choice of shipyard to build your new vessels
would be of paramount importance. You would naturally look at
shipyards that have a good track record in building quality, luxury
vessels; yards with an impressive portfolio. You wouldn’t risk
having your new ships built by a shipyard that has never built a
cruise ship would you? No, that would be just asking for trouble.
Well that’s exactly what newcomer Pearl Seas Cruises did and the
company is now paying the price.
The US line was so
eager to enter the luxury small ship cruise market that it couldn’t
wait for newbuilding slots at a tried and tested cruise ship yard;
instead it placed a contract for two vessels with a Canadian
shipyard which had never built a cruise ship before. The deal didn’t
get off to the best of starts, with the first vessel being
cancelled. The second vessel was supposed to have been delivered in
the first quarter of this year, but deficiencies recently discovered
during sea trials, along with quality issues and construction delays
have resulted in Pearl Seas having to cancel the vessel’s inaugural
summer season.
When the Canadian
shipyard secured this order a spokesman for the yard, Halifax
Shipyard, said: ‘we don’t see a problem in building cruise ships for
the first time as we have recently completed a number of vessels for
the offshore oil and gas industries which have required extensive
accommodation outfitting to a very high standard.’ |
