Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

6 8 Left: Niels-Erik Lund is president and CEO of Sunstone Ships. Above: Greg Mortimer, the first of the Infinity-class ships, was delivered in September 2019 INTERV IEW Ready to return Niels-Erik Lund tells Alex Smith about how SunStone Ships is preparing for the resumption of cruising after the Covid-19 pandemic W ith the Covid-19 pandemic bringing cruise operations around the world to a halt, shipowners and operators have had to find solutions to the range of new challenges that the industry now faces. For SunStone Ships, the largest tonnage provider of small cruise ships in the world, this has meant laying up its fleet at the port of Las Palmas, Spain, while preparing for the resumption of cruising in a post-pandemic world. “We have six ships laid up in Las Palmas,” says Niels-Erik Lund, president and CEO of SunStone Ships. “There are 50 crew members, who are maintaining the ships ready for a return to service.” With the possibility that the pause in sailing could extend into next year, SunStone has looked to ensure that its crew members will be able to return following the crisis. “Our biggest concern right now is our crew,” says Lund. “We’ve provided crew with interest-free loans for five months of salary up to this point, as we anticipate that they could be out of work for up to 12 months. We depend on our crew to operate, and we felt that it was important to support them during this time.” SunStone is also looking to the future with the continuing construction of its Infinity-class newbuilds. The next- generation expedition cruise ships are 104 metres long with capacity for between 130 and 200 guests, and will feature Ulstein Design & Solutions’ X-Bow hull design. Following the delivery of Greg Mortimer in September 2019, Ocean Victory and Ocean Explorer are scheduled for delivery in March 2021 and will be joined by Sylvia Earle in September 2021. In 2022, Ocean Odyssey will be delivered in March, followed by Ocean Discoverer in September and Ocean Albatros in “Small ships are going to be in a better position compared to the larger ships”