MARITIMEREPORTERANDENGINEERING NEWSInnovativeM A R I N E L I N K . C O MEDITORIALHQ118 E. 25th St., 2nd FloorNew York, NY 10010 USATel +1 212 477 6700Fax +1 212 254 6271www.marinelink.comBy DesignFL Of? ce 215 NW 3rd StBoynton Beach, FL 33435-4009Tel +1 561 732 4368Fax +1 561 732 6984PublishersJohn E. O’Malley John C. O’Malleyjomalley@marinelink.comAssociate Publisher/Editorial DirectorGreg Trauthwein trauthwein@marinelink.compage 35.Finding a vibrant sector in the marine industry these days can take some effort, as the Vice President, SalesAs this is the “Marine Design” edi-offshore energy sector swoon continues in earnest for its fourth year and changing Rob Howard howard@marinelink.comtion, this too is traditionally where we global trade patterns have conspired to keep rates tight in the big three – the bulker, Web EditorEric Haun haun@marinelink.comseek C-suite insight from the leaders tanker and containership markets.Web Contributorin classi? cation, as class is literally the For those searching under every rock for the next hot market, look no further than Michelle Howard howard@marinelink.com‘glue that binds’ in terms of melding fu-the cruise industry. I know, the volume of cruise ships serving the world is paltry in Editorialture tech onto the commercial boats and comparison to the number of commercial ships, but the cruise sector is interesting Tom Mulligan - UKClaudio Paschoa - Brazilships of the world. To be kind to these for a number of reasons:William Stoichevski - Scandinaviaperpetually moving executives from • Economic impact: Since I ? rst sat in this seat starting in 1992, the Cruise Line ABS, ClassNK, DNV GL and LR we Industry Association (CLIA) has worked tirelessly to tout and build the cruise brand Productiondecided to keep this tight and tidy, and Irina Vasilets vasilets@marinelink.comas a whole, and the latest numbers from CLIA prove that the effort has been a suc-Nicole Ventimiglia nicole@marinelink.comhave limited this virtual ‘roundtable’ to cess. According to CLIA’s 2016 Economic Impact Analysis passengers and crew Corporate Staffjust “Three Questions for Class.” Trust that spent a cumulative $21.9 billion in 2016. Looking at the big picture, the industry Mark O’Malley, Marketing ManagerEsther Rothenberger, Accountingthey are good questions, and even better had a $48B impact on the U.S. economy, generating 389,432 U.S. jobs paying more Information Technologyresponses, starting on page 54.than $20.5 billion in wages and salaries, powered by nearly 12 million passengers Vladimir BibikEmin Yuce Finally, there is a story from Tom embarking at U.S. ports. Florida remains the cruise king, with 61% of embarkations Mulligan this month on Hans Beele’s emanating in the Sunshine State, but there is solid growth in other regions, particu-Subscriptionmission to build “Sealing Valley,” a reposi-larly California.Kathleen Hickey k.hickey@marinelink.comtory for expertise on the advancement • Breadth: Traditionally the lion’s share of the focus has been on the mammoth, of ? re protection and watertight sealing billion dollar ? oating cities that ply the world’s oceans, as the trend up until a few Salestechnology for the maritime market. years ago was “Bigger.” While the big ships still get the big headlines, there is a Lucia Annunziata annunziata@marinelink.com +1 212 477 6700 ext 6220Unfortunately I was unable to personal-distinctive change underway, with a burgeoning ? eet of smaller, luxurious adventure Terry Breese breese@marinelink.comly participate in the festivities to launch +1 561 732 1185cruise ships being designed and built, shuttling discerning cruiser to destinations John Cagni cagni@marinelink.comthe project in late September, but when that the larger cruise ships simply cannot access (and, the mainstream cruise crowd 631-472-2715 +1 the project and event came to my at-cannot afford). Included in this is a growing ? eet of inland and river cruise vessels. Frank Covella covella@marinelink.com +1 561 732 1659tention it gave me cause for pause, and Starting on page 40 of this edition, Oslo-based contributor William Stoichevski of-Mitch Engel engel@marinelink.comafter spending 15 minutes on the phone fers insight to the “Designer-Built Cruise Adventure.” +1 561 732 0312with Mr. Beele, hearing his passion and Mike Kozlowski kozlowski@marinelink.comKeeping with the cruise theme I am particularly pleased to offer the interview and +1 561 733 2477 ? nancial commitment to the endeavor, insights from John Hae