Carnival Corporation on Tuesday, September 15, announced that its 9 brands were in the process of removing at least 18 ships from their fleets (selling or scrapping) as they cut costs and reorganized in anticipation of a slow restart of passenger shipping. That is 3 more liners than the company had previously revealed.
In a regulatory filing with the USA's Securities and Exchange Commission, Carnival said 8 of the cruise vessels had already left its fleets, the rest would leave in the coming months.
Miami-based Carnival Corporation is the parent company of Princess, Holland America, Seabourn, CCL-Carnival, and 5 other brands that went into the COVID crisis with a combined fleet of 104 vessels. Together, the 9 brands account for ~45% of all voyages worldwide.
The Corporation's all 9 brands suspended operations in mid-March because of the crisis, and many canceled all sailings into November 2020 or beyond. The shutdown is now causing great financial hardship.
The departure of 18 cruise ships at once is unprecedented in Carnival's history as it amounts to ~17% of the combined fleet's capacity. The liners that are leaving account for ~12% of the Corporation's combined fleet passenger capacity.
Carnival Corporation has not specified which vessels are leaving its global fleet.