Oasis 3 is now a definite maybe

Cruise line Royal Caribbean has confirmed it has begun negotiations to build a third Oasis-class ship, capable of carrying more than 6,000 passengers and 2,100 crew.
The announcement – following rumours which started circulating earlier this month – was made during its latest earnings statement today.
Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, said: “The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have proven themselves to be exceptionally attractive ships by generating the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the fleet coupled with very compelling financial returns.”
His cautious statement continued: “Ordering another such ship for delivery in 2016, at a lower cost, with better energy efficiency is very consistent with our balanced goals of prudent growth, return improvement and debt reduction.”
Royal Caribbean has two 4,100-passenger ships, code-named Project Sunshine, on order at the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. The 158,000-ton vessels will be delivered in 2014 and 2015. Oasis and Allure, each of 225,000 tons, were built at the STX yard in Turku, Finland, which has been almost idle since the completion of Allure in 2010.
The Finnish government is one of the parties to talks about the new ship, as it would offer financial guarantees in order to provide jobs for shipyard workers and contractors.
Royal Caribbean hopes to be able to make a firm commitment to order a new ship before the end of this year. Today’s financial results were better than expected, showing earnings of $1.68 per share – against a forecast of $1.45. The outlook for full-year results is buoyed by better-than-anticipated revenues and continuing cost reduction.