I think it’s fair to say that there is lot to be unhappy about for marine equipment suppliers who serve the global marine industry at the present time. Whilst some businesses are just encountering difficulties, for some others their current problems began about a year ago and for a very few they never really recovered from the Great Recession of 2008 and are still fighting tooth and nail to survive.
But there is always a ray of hope, especially for those of us lucky enough to be suppliers to all types of vessel and our sunbeam has to be the continuing upsurge in the fortunes of the cruise industry, which is nothing short of staggering.
Some yards that specialise in cruise ship building, and it seems specialise is the operative word, have full order books for the next ten years. I know the major cruise lines are long established and very successful at what they do but I always felt that holiday makers have fads and a 10-year gamble that the cruise companies will get it right is a pretty long shot.
In view of the recent catastrophes at some yards in South Korea and China, that went bust with full order books, leaving many unhappy owners, employees, banks and politicians, we should hope that the cruise ship builders have got their prices right and can at least break even if they cannot make a profit. Having said that, their customers all seem to be running very profitable operations so I’m sure they will be happy to spread their money about a bit????
