Finnish technology giant Wartsila is hopeful of a recovery in its cruiseship service operations in the second half of 2021.
Cruise companies continued to be heavily affected by travel restrictions and no-sail orders due to Covid-19 infection rates remaining high in some of the main passenger markets, the company said.
And while some lines have begun carefully controlled cruising in Europe and Asia, the vast majority of the fleet remains idled.
Wartsila marine power president Roger Holm told TradeWinds: "Looking at the service business, I'm getting positive signals from our customers that starting from July we will begin to see more vessels coming into operation and then gradually ramping up during the rest of the year."
Some ships have had engines running during the idle period, and Wartsila will ensure everything is normal for a return to operations, Holm added.
"I don't expect from our side a huge peak, more that we will see a gradual ramp up of the service business related to cruise," he said.
Tamara de Gruyter, president of marine systems, said the company is now seeing preparation work being contracted for new waste-management systems on cruise vessels.
"Some customers are taking the time now to do some conversion work," she added.
Wartsila has now landed its first waste-management retrofit order since the pandemic began.
"We expect a bit more to come. It makes sense to make some investments when they have time," de Gruyter said.
Fuel work moving forward
Holm added that work on alternative fuels is progressing well, with the company moving to technology tests for ammonia and hydrogen systems this year.
"We need to recognise these fuels are not available to any great extent yet," he added.
"We have seen an enormous interest among the customers to start preparing for it."
Holm said Wartsila can help give owners flexibility during the lifetime of a ship.
"What they have now will not necessarily be what they have in the vessel 10 or 20 years from now," he added.
Ordering of a new generation of ships depends on the availability of the various fuels.
Holm predicted some contracts in the coming years, but mass ordering is still "some years" away, he added.
Wartsila voyage division president Sean Fernback said: "Something that gets forgotten in these discussions is the whole infrastructure needed to support this.
"It's much more than just the engine development."
Profit cut
The group's net profit was €24m ($29m) in the first quarter, from €29m a year ago.
The order intake was stable at €1.24bn but revenue was down 19% at €946m.
Chief executive Hakan Agnevall said: "Vessel ordering activity in general improved, and the demand for services and energy storage solutions was at a good level. This makes us cautiously optimistic about further recovery in the marine markets."
The number of vessels ordered in the quarter hit 376, from 127 a year ago, against a backdrop of generally improving market conditions, particularly in the containership sector.
Investments in offshore wind installations continued to increase, Wartsila added.
