By
Alex Smith |
Those weighing up the possibility of entering the cruise industry must take a formidable risk. Buying a ship requires a significant investment, while building one is an even more expensive prospect.
There is, however, another option. Chartering agreements in which a shipowner hires out their vessel to a client provides an alternative path into the cruise industry, lowering the barrier of entry for potential operators.
One of the experts in this type of arrangement is SunStone Maritime Group, which has been delivering chartering services for over three decades. The company began providing management services for all types of passenger ships, before focusing specifically on the expedition cruise industry from 2003.
“The barrier for entry into the cruise industry is extremely high,” says Carsten Lund, SunStone’s chief commercial officer. “Our model provides an opportunity for our clients to offer an expedition cruise product without necessarily having a wealth of maritime experience when it comes to operating the ships themselves. We can make sure we comply with all the rules and regulations and be as efficient as possible, taking some of the risk away from the equation for our clients.”
The terms of the arrangement between charterer and shipowner can vary depending on the charterer’s needs and level of expertise in the industry, explains Lund.
“We aim to be a one-stop-shop for charterers, whatever their needs” he says. “There is a division of responsibility between us and our clients, where we ensure that the ship is operating well from a technical standpoint. For some of our clients, this will just include a deck and engine charter, while others will require help with finding a hotel concessionaire to manage the hotel product. This allows our clients to focus on the passenger side of operations.”
SunStone Maritime Group charters vessels to a range of expedition operators, including Aurora Expeditions and Quark Expeditions
While an operator may not have quite the same flexibility in design when chartering a ship as it would have if it owned the vessel, SunStone allows its clients to significantly influence how their ships look while they sail for them. Each vessel will bear the livery of the charterer throughout the time of their agreement, and SunStone can adapt interiors to match, says Lund.
“We’ve always been able to offer customisation on the interior of our vessels, especially for our longer-term charters,” he says. “Our clients are offering different products to different demographics, and they will have certain expectations which we have to provide for.”
SunStone’s flexibility has been even more pronounced with its series of newbuild ships, the Infinity class. By forming 10- to 15-year agreements with its charterers at the start of the construction process, it can provide them with a significant degree of influence over the design and configuration of the vessel.
“Our interior designers can work with the charterer to determine what kind of look and feel they want, customising everything from colours and materials to furnishings and lighting,” explains Lund. “We can also change quite a lot about the division of space onboard and the ship’s capacity. While there’s limited scope to change the superstructure, we’ve even been able to include a two-deck observation lounge on some of our Infinity-class vessels, as opposed to open observation decks on others.”
Despite its long experience within the industry, SunStone has never sold directly to passengers. The decision to remain purely a shipowner rather than an operator forms an important part of its offering to charterers, suggests Lund.
“We made a promise to our clients a long time ago that we will never be in competition with them,” he says. “We will never sell tickets ourselves. We’re aiming to provide the ships and technical operation services, which is at the core of the SunStone DNA. It’s what we believe we are best at, and it enables our clients to do what they are best at.”
This article was first published in the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of Cruise & Ferry Review. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed. Subscribe for FREE to get the next issue delivered directly to your inbox.