Investing in a luxury cruise ship - the Japanese mail ship is determined

The Japanese postal ship, which just sold its shares in the cruise company, changed its mind and recently planned to spend 60 billion yen (about 541 million US dollars) to build a second luxury cruise ship, which is scheduled to be delivered around 2025.

According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese mail ship had previously considered expanding the cruise fleet, but it failed to achieve due to the decline in the main cargo business. However, with the growing demand for luxury travel by Japan's affluent retired people, the Japanese travel market has gradually taken off, prompting the Japanese mail ship to take this step and invest in a second luxury cruise.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japanese tourists who participated in cruise accommodations in 2017 surged 27% to a record high of 315,000. The increase in wealthy consumer groups has brightened the outlook for the cruise market. According to estimates by Nomura Research Institute, Japan had 1.60 million households with net financial assets of more than 100 million yen (about RMB 6.035 million) in 2017, an increase of 26% in four years.

At present, the cost of constructing cruise ships on the market is about 50 billion to 60 billion yen, depending on the busyness of the shipyard. Japanese mail ships will pay close attention to market trends and wait for the timing of the order.

Originally, there was a luxury cruise ship "Flying Bird 2" in the Japanese mail fleet, which was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and delivered in 1990. The new luxury cruise ship of Nippon Yusen may continue to choose Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, but it does not rule out the possibility of being built by a foreign shipyard.

For the Nikkei News report, the Japanese mail ship responded that the company has not yet made any decision to make new investments in the cruise industry.

Last month, Nippon Yusen had just decided to sell 50% of its subsidiary, the shipping company NYK Cruises, to Japanese investment company Anchor Ship Partners (ASP). Nippon Yusen Shipbuilding expects that in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, the share transfer income of Nippon Yusen in non-consolidated accounting is approximately 9 billion yen ($81.9 million), and the share transfer income in consolidated accounting It is about 8 billion yen ($72.8 million).

NYK Cruises was established in 1989 to provide cruise ships for the Japanese market and currently operates the "Flying Bird 2". Nippon Yusen said it will invest in the cruise business with ASP to provide high quality and attractive services while maintaining the tradition that Japanese mail ships have cultivated so far.

ASP said it hopes to help Japan's postal shipping to fund the development of the cruise business, including an investment in a new shipbuilding. ASP believes that in the future, in order to become the leader of the global cruise business, it is necessary to build a new cruise.