The pandemic, whether post or otherwise, is not going to stand in the
way of the big wave that is coming from the cruise industry. The hiatus
in the past two years have only intensified efforts to consolidate and
recalibrate with plans to go full steam ahead – to the tune of more than US$10 billion.
According to Seatrade’s orderbook, 2022 will welcome over 20 ocean-going
new builds that will add more than 40,000 lower berths to the global cruise fleet.
Cruise lines that will be welcoming new ships into their fold include
MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean
International, Swan Hellenic and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection,
among others.
"The level of investment we’re seeing in new ships is a sign of the
positive outlook for cruising over the long term. Cruise lines have
worked incredibly hard in response to the pandemic and have implemented
the most stringent health protocols to be found in any area of tourism,
and this is reflected in renewed demand from travellers who are keen to
return to sea," says Joel Katz, MD of CLIA.
Joel Katz, Managing Director of CLIA
"Our market research shows that the intention to cruise again among
past cruisers has returned to levels similar to before the pandemic.
Around 75% of the world’s cruise fleet is already back in operation and
we expect this figure to reach 90% by the end of April," adds Katz.
Of these new builds, the industry will see the addition of a super
yacht, nine expedition ships, four LNG-powered vessels, and the world’s
latest and largest titleholder. Seven prototypes are expected to make
their debut: Disney Wish, Emerald Azzurra, Evrima, MSC
World Europa, Norwegian Prima, San Ya and Seabourn Venture. The largest
passenger-capacity new build will be Wonder of the Seas with 5,497 lower
berths.
Redefining connectivity for cruise passengers
The pandemic has had a big impact on digital behaviour and the level
of data consumption. Even with recent cruise ship occupancy hovering at
between 50% and 70% as cruises resume, bandwidth demand has shot up
tremendously, according to Seatrade Cruise News.
It also reported on recent comments by Greg Martin, VP of maritime,
SES, who shared that demand per passenger is 25% to 50% higher, while
demand per ship can spike as much as 100%.
Travellers expect uninterrupted and fast Wi-Fi connectivity where
ever they are, where possible, and onboard cruise ships notwithstanding.
The videos they upload on social media platforms to share memorable
experiences also take up bandwidth.
Add to that the cruise lines’ apps to detect passenger location, and
use of wearable technology to unlock stateroom doors, for instance, are
data intensive. Onboarding processes are also different now, and crew
wise, operational and training requirements have required a switch to
online modes.
These developments have a drastic impact on bandwidth demand and
connectivity expectations. SES has recognised this demand and
has made significant investments. It is investing billions into SES-17, a
high throughput, geostationary satellite launched in October last year
to provide connectivity services across North and South America and the
Caribbean.
The game-changer will be the O3b mPOWER medium Earth orbit satellites
expected to be launched in the late first quarter of 2022. It will
provide tens of megabits to multiple gigabits per second in bandwidth,
which is much more than what’s available now.
mPower’s cloud-based and software-defined infrastructure enables it
to dynamically adjust capacity according to the varying demands of
ships.
"With O3b mPower, SES is allowing the cruise industry to transition
into an operation that is fully synchronised with the cloud and
cost-efficiently moving into gigabit services for cruise ships. O3b
mPOWER’s connectivity will enable cruise ships to become the world's
first truly smart cities," says an SES spokesperson.
The first-generation of MEO, O3b has been delivering connectivity services to Asia Pacific since 2014.