SUPERSTAR LEO TO ENTER NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE FLEET
January 21, 2004
Star Cruises today announced plans to reposition Asia's first megaship SuperStar Leo this summer into the Alaska market as part of the Norwegian Cruise Line ("NCL") Alaska programme, commencing in May 2004.
The repositioning follows from the early transfer of the Norwegian Sky to Hawaii and reflagging as the Pride of Aloha which was announced by NCL on 19 January 2004. The early transfer and reflagging of Norwegian Sky into the U.S. registry is in response to the Pride of America incident in the shipyard which has delayed her delivery and affected her scheduled itineraries from May 2004.
SuperStar Leo which is currently in Australia will complete her two-month programme there as planned. Upon completion of the Australian programme, she will relocate back to Hong Kong as scheduled and will remain in Hong Kong for a little over a month before proceeding to Alaska to begin cruises from Seattle on 15 May 2004.
"The forthcoming change in deployment of SuperStar Leo to support NCL's Alaska programme again demonstrates the company's ability to respond at very short notice to unforeseen operational requirements that necessitate the repositioning of ships so as to create the minimum amount of inconvenience to our passengers", said Tan Sri KT Lim, Star Cruises' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
In conjunction with this repositioning of SuperStar Leo and the sale of SuperStar Capricorn announced on 15 January 2004, Star Cruises also reaffirmed the intention to transfer one of NCL's mid-size ships into the Star Cruises Asia-based fleet in the short to medium term. Details will follow in due course, but Star Cruises felt that NCL's immediate needs were best served by making the announcement on SuperStar Leo in advance of any decision as to the particular NCL ship that will transfer to Star Cruises. The chosen NCL ship will join the Star Cruises fleet in Asia towards the end of 2004. This is in line with Star Cruises' aim to modify its fleet profile in Asia in order to have larger numbers of relatively modern vessels of medium capacity rather than mega ships. Medium sized ships offer greater deployment flexibility and more diversification of capacity in a developing market where demand patterns have yet to be established.
Star Cruises will be providing periodic updates on the new Asian fleet profile and itineraries at the appropriate time.
Star Cruises will be informing its travel agents who have passengers booked on the SuperStar Leo and affected by her repositioning, to advise them on the alternatives/options.
ABOUT STAR CRUISES
Star Cruises, the third largest cruise line in the world is a global cruise brand presently operating a combined fleet of 18 ships with over 23,000 lower berths, with cruises to destinations and islands in Asia-Pacific, North and South America, Hawaii, Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Mediterranean, Bermuda and the Antarctica under the Star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Orient Lines and Cruise Ferries brands.
Star Cruises is represented in more than 20 locations worldwide with offices in Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America. For more information on Star Cruises and NCL, please visit
www.starcruises.com and
www.ncl.com