On Wednesday morning, the Canaveral Port Authority announced that they project over $43 million in losses for 2021 and are delaying cruise lines until July.
No ships have cruised since the CDC put out a 鈥渘o-sail鈥� order in March of 2020.
鈥淭he industry is in complete stand still,鈥� Port Canaveral CEO Captain John Murray said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a challenging year.鈥�
The news comes after officials revised the budget in consideration of the pandemic trends. Originally, Murray said, the CPA was expecting to get started again in spring, but vaccination efforts are taking longer than what had been previously predicted.
Murray said he that while he knows the new administration is working on an action plan to get the virus under control, he understands that the cruise line industry is not high up on that list.
鈥淯ntil we see a shift in the dynamic of this pandemic in a positive direction, it鈥檚 going to be very difficult for the cruise lines to get back in business,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not a priority.鈥�
The CPA has reported the current shut down has cost over 11,000 jobs and hundreds of millions in wages.
鈥淲e ourselves ended up reducing our headcount by 43-percent,鈥� said Murray. 鈥淲e pushed everything in our budget until July. And then it鈥檚 going to start very, very slowly with just a handful of ships on less than half capacity.鈥�
The Port Canaveral board held a commission Wednesday morning to discuss the budget cuts and cruise line delays.
Mike Poole, the Port Canaveral CFO, said the amended budget is 鈥済ood news,鈥� as its forecasts are more realistic and project revenue to start coming in for the summer months of July, August, and September.
鈥淎t the last board meeting in December I said we would probably be coming back at the next board meeting for a mid-year budget amendment, and we weren鈥檛 sure if this would be the first of many,鈥� Poole said. 鈥淚t looks like the reductions that we鈥檙e putting in place might be able to take us through the rest of the year.鈥�
The CDC鈥檚 no-sail order ended on Oct. 31 and a new 鈥渃onditional sailing order鈥� was put in place. Murray says other cruise lines have been successfully carrying customers under these guidelines.
He said some companies, like Mediterranean Shipping Company Cruises, or MSC Cruises, shifted to cargo shipments to stay afloat during the pandemic shut down.
Murray said MSC Cruises managed to grow financially, while also keeping cruises going in Italy through the fall, moving over 30,000 people with very few COVID-19 issues.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a success story,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey run a very tight operation.鈥�
Murray said MSC Cruises will be joining Port Canaveral as one of the new expanded lines in July.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited to have them here,鈥� the CEO said. 鈥淚t does work. There is a way to do it, and the protocols can be established.鈥�
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