Viking Not Coming to United States

Cheng, I remember that Viking had a Calfornian investment company which would have acted as owner of the ships. Not sure if that would have been enough to be PVSA compliant. They tried to get an exemption especially from the "US built" rule.

 

steamboats

It's a bit complicated as to what constitutes a "US ownership" (who the corporate officers are, etc), my company had problems with that when we got some foreign capital invested into the company, and I'm by no means an expert in this. As long as American Cruise lines operates a competing service, there won't be an exemption to the US build rule.

Chief

I recall that Akers argued, successfully, that the US labor required for the hull and assembly of the foreign made components, was a high enough percentage of the overall labor to qualify as a US made ship. Do I recall inaccurately?

Chief

I recall that Akers argued, successfully, that the US labor required for the hull and assembly of the foreign made components, was a high enough percentage of the overall labor to qualify as a US made ship. Do I recall inaccurately?

No, you are correct, I thought that is what I said in the previous post. Nearly all newbuild shipyards in the US use designs from overseas yards (tankers, container ships, etc), and get a percentage (more or less depending on the yard and the deal with the overseas yard for the design license) of material from overseas. Virtually 100% of diesel engines used in merchant ships (including cruise ships) are built overseas, and nearly all ship's equipment (pumps, switchgear, compressors, boilers), while there may be US subsidiaries to supply spare parts, the equipment itself is made overseas.

For a large, ocean going cruise ship, the percentage may become problematic, if the cabin modules were to be built overseas, and the cost of shipping modules vs starting up infrastructure to manufacture them in the US would be the balance point. For the river boats, this may not be quite so problematic.

Viking just needs to find a "boat yard" (shipyard that builds tugs, barges, and small coastal craft) in the US that would have the facilities to build a boat the size they want. It then becomes a cost analysis problem, balancing capital construction cost against projected revenues. There's a reason that American Cruise line fares are as high as they are.

And the only ship yard which is currently building new river cruise ships is owned by the same guy who owns American Cruise Lines ;).

American Queen Steamboat Company bought up at least two old casino boats and let them convert to river cruise boats (one is the new American Duchess, the other is still "on hold" for future use).

steamboats

steamboats,

thank you for the explanation on the Mississippi river system. Quite literally different terrain from our navigable rivers. It sounds as if not much has changed there since Karl Bodmer (a Swiss guy) painted the landscape (and the Indian tribes) in the 1830's. I imagine it is similar to what the upper Rhine used to be like before 1820.

chengkp75,

Thank you for all the technical and business stuff. It very much helps to understand what is troubling Viking and has prompted them to put their "plans on hold".

On the Rhine Viking had a new floating dock built - a steel construction protruding into a harbour section - in close cooperation with the Duisburg authorities. A relatively easy infrastructure thing, companies on the Rhine are familiar with building these and the water-related authorities have dealt with such matters regularly lately. No problem, but even this little construction took around 18 months to plan and build till the dock was ready.

Does not sound promising in the US for Viking at all.

notamermaid

And the only ship yard which is currently building new river cruise ships is owned by the same guy who owns American Cruise Lines ;).

 

American Queen Steamboat Company bought up at least two old casino boats and let them convert to river cruise boats (one is the new American Duchess, the other is still "on hold" for future use).

 

steamboats

Given the different lock sizes in the US, and the lack of locks on the Mississippi, the design of Viking's boat for the US could be shorter and broader. In this case, there are several yards on the Gulf Coast with floating or graving docks that could build river cruise boats. Just because they haven't before, doesn't mean they couldn't. Heck, Viking could even buy parts of the defunct Avondale shipyard in New Orleans which was sold off late last year with no plans to redevelop.