Global cruise fleet valued at $167bn, down $4bn on coronavirus

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The global cruise fleet's value has fallen by $4bn since the start of the year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to VesselsValue.

The London-based firm has just launched automated valuations, data and satellite intelligence for cruise ships at a time when these assets are very much under the microscope. 

483 cruise ships

VesselsValue tallies the global cruise fleet at 483 ships with an aggregate value of more than $167bn, as of March 31. That is $4bn less than at Jan. 1.

Oasis 6 highest valued asset

VesselsValue puts the highest valued asset as Royal Caribbean's sixth Oasis-class ship, set for delivery from Chantiers de l'Atlantique in autumn 2023, at $1.13bn. The newbuild was ordered in February last year for a reported €1.1bn. The value had increased from the time of the order until just before the COVID-19 outbreak, which has caused the value to decline.

COVID-19

With the global outbreak of COVID-19, cruising's billion-dollar assets have become financial liabilities with high-priced vessels now laid up and owners securing loans to cope with the crisis.

Genting Dream sale/leaseback

Not surprisingly, the sale and purchase market has come to a halt, with the only real transactions concluded on a sale and leaseback basis. Perhaps the best known of these is Genting Dream, built in 2016 in Germany and sold in January prior to the crisis to a Chinese leasing company for $900m against a 12-year bareboat charter back to the sellers. According to VesselsValue, the value today is $777m.

VesselsValue said it spent the past 12 months collating and verifying its commercial and fleet databases and has gone live with daily updated automated market valuations, as well as demolition and fixed aged values dating back to 2010 for these asset types: mega cruise, large cruise (standard and luxury), small cruise (standard, luxury, expedition, expedition luxury).

The firm took into consideration a number of specific features to factor into their algorithms. These include passenger space ratio, total number of decks and accommodations, and number of swimming pools, casinos and restaurants, among others.

Discounted cash flow valuations to come

The development of discounted cash flow valuations is under way and will be live on VesselsValue in the near future.