Royal Caribbean Likely to Order Third Oasis-Class Ship

Royal Caribbean (RCL) hopes to order a new Oasis-type ship–at 5,400 berths, they're the biggest cruise vessels in the world–by year’s end.

The company’s first Oasis-class ship had a contract price of about $1B back in 2006, but RCL says a new ship should cost less/berth and it doesn’t expect to accept delivery until 2016, giving the company years to build up money.

“The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have proven themselves to be exceptionally attractive ships by generating the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the fleet coupled with very compelling financial returns,” said Royal Caribbean chairman, Richard Fain. “Ordering another such ship for delivery in 2016, at a lower cost, with better energy efficiency is very consistent with our balanced goals of prudent growth, return improvement and debt reduction.”

RCL and other cruise lines cooled capacity growth amid the financial crisis, delighting investors with less-encumbered cash flow. RCL’s plans follows rival Norwegian Cruise’sorder of 4,200-berth ship earlier this month, hinting the industry may be coming out of a capacity slumber.

Alang, Gujarat: The World’s Biggest Ship Breaking Yard & A Dangerous Environmental Time Bomb

Alang in Gujarat is the world’s biggest ship breaking yard with hundreds of ships getting scrapped each year. With increase in the yard’s popularity around the world, there has also been a steep increase in the number of threats posed by the ship breaking yard to the marine environment and laborers working there.

Unlike other countries, India possesses very loose marine environmental protection policies, which have lead to irreversible harm to the surrounding flora and fauna. Several beautiful coral reefs near to the Indian coasts have been completely destroyed and the marine life the affected area has gone haywire.

Moreover, Alang has now become an official storage facility for toxic wastes, radioactive elements, poisonous gases, and waste, unusable oil. These toxic have not only entered into the marine food chain by contaminating the oceans but have greatly affected the health of workers, who already live in dilapidated condition with least safety measures and poor health care facilities.

We bring to you an exclusive video of the Alang Shipyard, made and presented by NDTV, India.