Genting Hong Kong Ltd, an operator of casino cruise ships and investor in Asian land-based casinos, says it has started construction of a second Global Class ship for its Dream Cruises segment. The new ship, likely to be delivered by 2022, is “intended for the fast-growing Asian market,” said the Hong Kong-listed company in a written announcement this week.
Genting Hong Kong is a subsidiary of Malaysian operator of casinos Genting Bhd.
The press release quoted the group’s chairman Lim Kok Thay (pictured left) as saying: “We are delighted that our comprehensive investments at the three shipyard locations are bearing fruits and we can already celebrate today the first steel cutting for another technologically advanced vessel for our shipping company Dream Cruises.”
He added: “Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, Dream Cruises’ second Global Class ship will offer our guests a very interesting, modern and highly comfortable travel experience.”
Genting Hong Kong has been accelerating expansion plans for its cruise business and has developed a three-brand portfolio of cruise lines serving different parts of the market. The brands are: Crystal Cruises for what it terms the ultra-luxury segment; Dream Cruises for what it describes as the premium segment; and Star Cruises for what it defines as the “contemporary” segment.
The company is already building a first Global Class ship, due to be delivered in 2021. The vessels commissioned by Genting Hong Kong are being built by the MV Werften shipyards in Germany, an operation acquired by Genting Hong Kong in recent years.
The second Global Class ship is 342 metres (1,122 feet) long and 46 metres wide. Genting Hong Kong is preparing to lay the keel of the 208,000-ton cruise vessel on December 9, 2019.
With 2,500 passenger cabins accommodating over 9,000 passengers and a crew of 2,200, the Global Class ships “are the first vessels worldwide capable of carrying more than 10,000 persons,” according to Genting Hong Kong.
In August, the Hong Kong-listed firm said it had agreed to sell up to 35 percent of its Dream Cruises business to a subsidiary of TPG Darting Ltd. Genting Hong Kong said the disposal would “strengthen the group’s balance sheet and its ability to continue to expand its fleet in the cruise industry”.
In late July, the company appointed Michael Goh to the positions of president of its Dream Cruises business and head of international sales of Genting Cruise Lines.
The casino cruise firm said on August 30 that it had narrowed its first-half loss by 60.6 percent, to US$55.2 million.
