6 8 Bouncing back to success Niels Erik-Lund tells Alex Smith how SunStone Ships is successfully coming out the other side of the pandemic and looking to the future with new construction projects Like the rest of the cruise industry, SunStone Ships has endured a difficult few years as its ships stayed laid up during the pandemic. However, a full restart in operations in recent months is now bringing SunStone back to a position of strength. “We have all 10 of our ships operating according to schedule, including cruises in Iceland, the Great Lakes, Alaska, Canada, and the Arctic,” says NielsErik Lund, CEO of SunStone Ships. “It’s very good news, finally. All of our charterers have survived this difficult period, and we’re all extremely happy to be back in operation.” Three of SunStone’s new Infinity-series ships completed full seasons in winter 2021-2022, including Greg Mortimer, Ocean Explorer and Ocean Victory. A further two ships, Sylvia Earle and Ocean Odyssey, will join the fleet in the coming months. “The vessels have been received very positively,” says Lund. “All of our charterers are extremely pleased with the performance of all three ships so far. We started in Antarctica this winter and were one of the only operators who managed to operate our entire schedule without disruption from Covid or other issues. Now they’re on course for summer charter, and guests are very happy with the experience onboard.” Onshore, developments have also been taking place that will provide SunStone with new opportunities. Along with fellow shareholders of Cruise Management International (CMI) and CMI Leisure Management, SunStone Ships has signed a letter of intent to sell the companies to AngloEastern Univan Group, the world’s largest provider of independent ship management services. “Anglo-Eastern has more than 30,000 crew members and a further 1,800 people in offices around the world,” says Lund. “With the acquisition of CMI, it is breaking into the cruise market for the first time, which makes a lot of “ We see growth across nationalities and demographics” INTERV IEW
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