River cruise and FleetPro poised for growth

The huge growth in river cruising is illustrated by statistics from FleetPro Passenger Ship Management. Ten years ago the company managed a handful of European river cruise vessels. This has jumped to 43 of these ships in Europe, giving FleetPro a 15 per cent share of this market, with 17 river cruise brands in its portfolio.

The company takes care of all the technical, operational and hotel management aspects of the river cruise sector, allowing the operators to concentrate on sales and marketing and have a better focus on filling the ships.

FleetPro has recently announced further growth within the river cruise industry as it is launching three newbuild river cruise ships in May and June this year. These comprise two ships for Avalon Waterways and Vantage Deluxe World Travel’s 442ft newbuild River Voyager. FleetPro also manages 23 ocean-going ships.

One reason for the boost in the river cruise market is the introduction of tonnage in this sector by ocean cruise operators. This is something with which FleetPro is familiar. Indeed, the company was formed at the start of 2014, when River Advice of Basle, Switzerland and International Shipping Partners of Miami, USA joined forces. Hans Rood, FleetPro’s commercial executive vice president, told Passenger Ship Technology that the company’s ocean cruise clients were increasingly interested in expanding into the river business and vice versa.

FleetPro president and chief executive Robert Straubhaar told Passenger Ship Technology that the expansion of ocean cruise activity to river cruises was a growing trend, particularly since operator Viking has expanded to occupy both the river and the ocean cruise sector. He said: “Viking has such prominence, so we are hearing more and more questions about the river sector from the ocean side. They are asking: “Have we missed an opportunity? Can we have a share?” And so we get a lot of enquiries.”

Mr Straubhaar said that the European river cruise market had recently seen growth of 10 per cent per annum, although this was expected to settle down. “But there are other opportunities in other markets, such as in Asia, and other regions, like Russia and Ukraine. They have huge potential for river cruising.” He said that FleetPro was keen to grow in areas outside Europe, as well.

This ambition is seen in their clients, too. Mr Rood said: “River cruise operators which see success in, say, the Rhine, want to expand into other areas.

A major consideration for river cruise operators is the raft of regulations that they have to meet. This is something that newcomers to the market, such as ocean cruise operators, might need help with. Mr Rood said: “Environmental regulations are quite complicated. There are European Union regulations and, on top of this, purely shipping related regulations. There are regional regulators and bridge height and water depth restrictions, as well as local regulations on such matters as waste disposal and water. If a new company wants to start in this market, it needs advice on what to do and where to sail. We work with ocean cruise operators that want to enter the river sector, to help them meet these challenges.”

Ocean operators who want to operate on the rivers will find that energy and environmental efficiency are equally as important as with ocean cruising, if not more so. This is particularly the case when it comes to the environment. Mr Staubhaar said: “Ocean newbuilds are not comparable to river newbuilds. For example, on the river we are more limited with the size of the vessel. River vessels are totally green. They use the same fuel as cars. Also, they cannot use generators in ports. The port authorities say they have to use port electricity. While these types of measures are being introduced for ocean cruise operations, for river cruise operations we have had that for years.”

FleetPro is very involved in sourcing and building vessels for river cruise operators, managing newbuilds, retrofits or the purchase of second-hand vessels from the beginning. Mr Staubhaar explained that the options for purchasing second-hand vessels were more limited in the river cruise market, pointing out that out of 300 vessels in Europe, probably only around 5 per cent were available to buy. “It is not a huge second-hand market. A start-up from a minor brand might want to look at such vessels, but for a higher quality operation it is difficult to find a second-hand vessel without investing a lot.”

Mr Rood pointed out that the hotel side was also crucial when it came to the management of river cruise vessels. “We provide the hotel side, too. Technology is not just about the engineroom. It is also about the bathrooms, the galleys and so on. The technology for the hotel operation side is different but vital and is sometimes forgotten. It is also extremely well regulated.” PST