Company insight Infinity and beyond
With decades of expertise and hands-on experience, SunStone Ships specialises in the commercial management of passenger ships and is responsible for buying, selling and chartering its managed fleet. President Niels-Erik Lund tells World Cruise Industry Review how the company is delivering an impressive array of vessels just in time for the cruise industry’s revival.
When was SunStone Ships founded and to what end? Niels-Erik Lund: In December 2012, International Shipping Partners, which was a technical, hotel and commercial management company for expedition vessels, was sold to a German private equity firm. The commercial management of the fleet, as well as the new-building project, the Infinity Series, were excluded from the sale, and SunStone Ships was formed to combine these two aspects of the existing expedition ship fleet, as well as the new-building project. Today, SunStone Ships is the commercial manager of ten expedition ships, two of which are from the newbuilding Infinity Series, Greg Mortimer, and Ocean Explorer. In addition to the existing fleet, an additional five Infinity ships are on order and SunStone is working on a new series of slightly larger vessels – the Boundless Series.
How has your relationship with charterers and crew been impacted by Covid-19? How are you helping them through this period of disruption and uncertainty? SunStone has been working very closely with all charterers and crew. The negative impact of Covid-19 has lasted longer than anticipated. However, from the onset of this crisis we immediately provided the crew with the option of getting a non-interest- bearing loan, for up to five months of their monthly salary. The idea was for them to repay the loan upon their return to work over a ten-month period, or more if necessary, which was well-received and very much appreciated.
It is now clear that we still have some time to go until we reactivate some of the fleet, and we are therefore looking at increasing the manning levels on board our laid-up vessels and offering jobs to keep the crew engaged. We offer online crew training modules, hold regular virtual workshop sessions, and introduced a mental health and wellness programme, which will be
available for crew both on board and at home. We are with our crew, and we understand the hardship they and their families are going through. We are doing everything we can to ensure we provide some relief during these difficult times. It is clearly in the company’s interest to ensure that our charterers survive the Covid-19 period until they can resume normal business. We have negotiated various reduced charter and layup rates for this period, and as charter contracts vary – for example some charterers are small family- owned businesses and others are large companies owned by private equity firms – we cannot, and will not, treat them all the same. We will do our utmost to ensure everyone’s survival.
What vessels are currently being assembled?
At the time of writing this article, it is expected that the Ocean Victory, the third vessel in the Infinity Series, will be delivered within the month. Thereafter, the Sylvia Earle and Ocean Odyssey are scheduled for delivery in Spring 2022, the Ocean Albatros later in the autumn and Ocean Discoverer to be delivered in 2023.
When will they be delivered and in which countries will they operate? The Sylvia Earle, Ocean Albatros and Ocean Discoverer will be mainly polar vessels operating in the Arctic and Antarctic, where the Ocean Odyssey will operate worldwide cruises.
What are SunStone’s best assets and how do they benefit your clients? SunStone’s best asset is undoubtedly the crew who have worked with the company for many years and are trained and specialised in expedition cruises. SunStone is the largest tonnage provider in this market segment with an existing fleet of ten ships, five on order from the Infinity Series and a planned number of ships from the Boundless Series. This positions
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the company as the largest and fastest expanding tonnage provider in this segment, which makes us attractive to our officers and crew. In addition to the crew, the company has developed a series of new buildings. With our knowledge of operating expedition ships since 2004, we are the front-runners in operating smaller ships in very remote parts of the world. Being able to provide deck-engine, hotel and port and fuel management through our associated companies, Cruise Management International and CMI-Leisure, makes us a one-stop-shop. Travel agents, tour operators or cruise companies can contract a ship, which will be managed in all aspects except sales, marketing and providing passengers.
From your perspective, which segment of the cruise sector is best poised for post-pandemic growth? We believe that the cruise market in general is poised for post-pandemic growth. Naturally, in the number of passengers, the growth will be seen for the large cruise vessels operating standard cruises in areas such as the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Baltic, and the Far East. However, in growth percentage for passengers and the number of ships, we believe that the small ship expedition market will see significant growth as passengers prefer smaller vessels. In both the pre- and post-pandemic demographics, there are more and more nationalities expanding in the sales and marketing of expedition cruising. The age range includes both younger and much older passengers, who choose to go on these types of cruises as they seek to explore more remote locations, inaccessible to all but smaller ships. Worldwide, we’re also seeing an increase in the number of people who have the time and means to take expedition cruises, which is usually an expensive option. ●
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