Carnival Eyes Improved Ship Efficiency with New Fleet Operations Centers

Carnival says its Fleet Operations Centers support enhanced ship safety and operational efficiencies.

Carnival Corporation & plc (Carnival) today announced that, in an effort to support engine and fleet efficiency, among other benefits, it is expanding with a second and third Fleet Operations Center in Seattle and Miami, respectively.

"The new Fleet Operations Centres utilise a state-of-the-art tracking and data-analysis platform that enables real-time information sharing between Carnival Corporation ships and specialised onshore teams designed to support fleet operations," explains Carnival.

The company says the system "significantly" improves ship to shore communication, offering both enhanced ship safety and operational efficiencies, as well as lending support to Carnival's overall environmental initiatives.

"Our teams have done a remarkable job in developing the most sophisticated and capable system in the cruise and commercial maritime industry for taking safety management to a completely new level, overcoming the hurdles faced with ships sailing in the middle of oceans around the world," said Bill Burke, Chief Maritime Officer for Carnival.

"With our new operations centres running our proprietary technology, both our ship and shoreside teams have greater-than-ever ability to ensure we are operating at safety levels that far exceed industry standards. We can now also access and analyse data that can significantly increase the operational efficiency of our ships, which is another major benefit."

The company's Fleet Operations Centers in Hamburg and Seattle are noted to both be providing real-time support for Carnival's 102-ship fleet

Construction on the company's third centre is scheduled to be completed at the company's Miami headquarters later this year.

In January, Carnival forecasted the average price it pays for bunkers in 2017 would rise by 32 percent year-on-year.