Norwegian Cruise Line Passenger Ships At Port Of Oakland Until Economy Recovers
ONN – Norwegian Cruise Line Passenger Ships At Port Of Oakland Until Economy Recovers
The Port of Oakland Press Release tells you that Norwegian Cruise Line Passenger Ships are coming to Oakland.
It reads…
Three passenger vessels will idle here with only crew and without passengers while the U.S. embargoes cruise operations, the Port of Oakland said today. The Port said it has not received reports of any cases of coronavirus associated with the vessels.
According to the Port, two Norwegian Cruise Line vessels will tie up at Oakland’s Outer Harbor Terminal, which is currently not in use for the Port’s container shipping business. Another will dock at Howard Terminal on the Oakland Estuary. That terminal is no longer considered large enough for container operations. The ships could remain at berth for 2-to-3 months, according to the cruise line.
The first two vessels are scheduled to arrive May 9. The third is expected May 10.
The Port said it is making berth space available because approximately 100 cruise ships worldwide are seeking safe harbor. An estimated 80,000 crew members are aboard passenger liners at sea waiting to tie up. Other U.S. ports, for example some in Florida and Virginia, are already providing berth space for cruise ships.
“We’re a container port, but we’re still in the shipping business,” said Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan. “These ships are under federal requirements to report health concerns, and we understand that they haven’t had a history of coronavirus, so we’ll do what we can to help.”
Yeah. Well, the real reason for the giant ships coming to Oakland was revealed by CNN Business May 5th. It goes like this:
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, the company said its accounting firm has “substantial doubt” about Norwegian’s ability to continue as a going concern because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
And…
Norwegian also announced plans to raise nearly $1.35 billion more in a private placement of other notes due in 2024, and up to $400 million more through the sale of additional shares of stock. Altogether that should provide the company with $3 billion in additional cash reserves, according to a company release.
“This strengthens the company’s financial position and ensures it is well positioned to withstand well over 12 months of voyage suspensions,” said the company statement. “While this is not the company’s base case expectation, the company has taken a proactive approach to protect its future given the significant uncertainty and unknown duration of the Covid-19 global pandemic.”
So those vessels may wind up being beached whales in Oakland.
Stay tuned.
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