A restart to full operations can’t come soon enough for cruise lines, whose financial position has become increasingly precarious given high debt levels incurred from fleet expansions and the fund raising required to survive the current crisis, Maritime Strategies International (MSI) said in a report. Read more here

Cruising’s restart can’t come soon enough for an industry that has effectively been closed for business during the last 15 months, says Niklas Carlen, Director, Maritime Strategies International(MSI). Read more in Seatrade Cruise

According to a report from the research consultancy Maritime Strategies International, only 7.5m people took cruises in 2020, compared with almost 30m in 2019. MSI said that it expected 11.9m people to take a cruise this year. Read more in the Financial Times

Car sales crept up toward pre-pandemic levels toward the end of the year. Tonnage is getting scarce, and an ‘extremely low’ orderbook bodes well for future earnings, MSI research director Niklas Carlen says. Read more in Lloyd’s List

The number of people taking a cruise worldwide this year is likely to stage a strong rebound from 2020, but even this would leave the 2021 levels more than 50% below the figure reached before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, a leading research and forecasting consultancy Maritime Strategies International (MSI) said in a report. Read more in Cruise Business