Early Christmas presents don’t please all!

Last week saw two early Christmas presents for companies in the cruise and ferry business; one very welcome, the other no so! Carnival Corp’s early present to Rolls-Royce Marine was write in a Florida court for US $100m damages for ongoing problems with the complex podded propulsion system onboard Cunard’s flagship QM2. The world’s leading cruise operator is alleging ‘fraud and conspiracy.’ This isn’t the first time that there have been problems with the Mermaid podded propulsion system, RCCL took the manufacturers to court over problems with the pods fitted to Celebrity’s four Millennium-class vessels. Both parties settled out of court.

A more welcomed early Christmas present last week was the gift of two state-of-the-art high speed passenger/vehicle ferries from the Government of Saudi Arabia to the Government of Egypt. Both 37 knot vessels, built in Australia, will significantly improve the comfort of passengers travelling across the Red Sea between the Egyptian port of Safaga and Dibba in Saudi, as well as the reliability of the service. Sphere: Related Content