These agreements are in addition to the sale of four ships, which were announced prior to the 2020 financial year.

In total, the 13 ships expected to leave the fleet represent a nearly 9% reduction in current capacity. The company currently expects only five of the nine ships originally scheduled for delivery in 2020 and 2021 will be delivered prior to the end of the 2021 financial year. The company also expects ships originally scheduled for 2022 and 2023 to be delivered later.

‘We have been transitioning the fleet into a prolonged pause and right sizing our shoreside operations,’ says President and CEO Arnold Donald. ‘We have already reduced operating costs by over US$7b on an annualised basis and reduced capital expenditure by more than US$5b over the next 18 months. We have secured over US$10b of additional liquidity to sustain another full year with additional flexibility remaining.’