Coronavirus shutdown sees Carnival sell off first of 6 ships for disposal

Carnival Corporation has sold off the first of six cruise ships that are projected to leave the company's fleet over the next few months as the company works to revive itself after the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the industry.

Costa Cruises' Vessel, known as Costa Victoria, arrived in Italy last week to be dismantled after being sold to San Giorgio del Porto Group, Cruiseradio.net reported.

Mayor Francesco Ferrari of Piombino, a town on the coast of Italy, announced in a Facebook post that the vessel was scheduled to be demolished, making it clear it was one of the six vessels dropped from the cruise line operator, which is comprised of nine cruise line brands.

Representatives for Carnival and San Giorgio del Porto Group did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.

"The Costa Victoria has arrived in Piombino. This morning I went to welcome this colossus of the sea and its captain, Gianfranco La Fauci, to the city before the ship is launched in the process of preparation for demolition," Ferrari said in the post, originally written in Italian.

CARNIVAL EXPECTS TO BURN ABOUT $650M A MONTH FOR 2020 SECOND HALF

In a mid-June regulatory filing, Carnival Corporation had hinted at plans to trim down its fleet, which was previously expected to be sold over the ensuing years.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
CCL	CARNIVAL CORP.	14.28	+0.16	+1.13%

"The company intends to accelerate the removal of ships in fiscal 2020," the company said in the June 18 filing. "The company already has preliminary agreements for the disposal of six ships which are expected to leave the fleet in the next 90 days and is currently working toward additional agreements."

At the time, the company did not specify what brands or ships would be sold.

CARNIVAL ANNOUNCES CORONAVIRUS LAYOFFS, FURLOUGHS, SALARY REDUCTIONS

Carnival's operations have remained idle since the beginning of the year when the virus began to rapidly spread around the world forcing residents to cancel travel plans and stay home. About half of Carnival's customers canceled sailings and requested cash refunds as of May 31, Dow Jones reported. The cruise line has also offered future cruise credits for customers to redeem on future trips in an effort to decrease its financial losses.

CARNIVAL CEO HAS 'NO IDEA' WHEN CRUISES WILL SAIL AGAIN

However, the company has already taken a major financial hit, suffering a net loss of $4.4 billion in the three months ending in June.

Not only is the company unable to definitively predict when it will return to normal operations, but it also revealed the "pause in guest operations is continuing to have material negative impacts on all aspects of the company's business," the filing stated, adding that the prolonged pause will hut the company’s liquidity and financial position.

Toward the end of April, Carnival CEO Arnold Donald noted that he was unsure when the cruise line industry will recover.

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"At this point, we're taking the reservations, but clearly, we have no idea what the rest of the world, when we'll be in a position to sail again," Donald told FOX Business' "The Claman Countdown." "We know that day is coming. We just don't know exactly when. We just have to wait and see when the world is ready for a social gathering."

For now, though, Carnival is taking bookings. To date, eight cruises are expected to resume on its Carnival Cruise Line unit by Aug. 1, according to Dow Jones. At the same time, the company has had to shutter sailings on its other cruise lines due to the Canadian government extending its sailing restriction for vessels with more than 100 passengers through Oct. 31, the outlet reported.

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