Genting Hong Kong to resume operations from July

The Hong Kong government has allowed Genting Hong Kong to resume sailings in Hong Kong from July.

Hong Kong.- Casino cruise ship operator Genting Hong Kong Limited has been allowed to resume the Genting Dream‘s cruises in Hong Kong from the end of July.

The company has been in talks with authorities, intending to resume domestic cruise operations in various key markets.

Kent Zhu, president of Genting Dream Cruises, said: “We will mobilise our resources across the region to bring Genting Dream into Hong Kong by June to begin her quarantine process so that she will be ready for July sailings in time for the summer holidays.”

Genting Hong Kong will only operate with vaccinated passengers and at 50 per cent of its capacity, with no port visits.

The company has recently published its audited 2020 results and expressed some concern regarding 2021.

In 2020, Genting Hong Kong‘s revenue fell from US$1.56bn to US$366.8m mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting suspension of cruise operations. The company reported a net loss of US$1.72bn for 2020, which compares to a loss of US$158.6m in 2019.

As for the second half of 2020, Genting Hong Kong reported that total revenue was down from US$831.8m to US$140.6m. It reported a net loss of US$973m compared to US$102.1m in H2 2019.

Genting Hong Kong had restarted sailings with reduced capacities in Taiwan and Singapore, but operations were suspended in the former until at least June 8 due to a rise in Covid-19 cases.

In Singapore, Genting Hong Kong reduced the capacity of its cruise from 50 per cent to 25 per cent following the announcement of new restrictions from May 16 to June 13.

The group is seeking to reengineer its cost structure and efficiency to improve performance and profitability. It could implement a restructuring proposal by the end of the first half of 2021.

Last year, it announced it had decided to temporarily suspend all payments to financial creditors.