Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Josh D'Amaro (left) and Singapore Tourism Board chief executive Keith Tan at the launch of a new partnership between Disney Cruise Line and the Singapore Tourism Board. - ST
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): From 2025, a new cruise ship featuring Disney princesses and Marvel superheroes will call Singapore home, as part of a five-year collaboration between the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Disney Cruise Line.
The vessel is expected to be the largest cruise ship calling here, as well as the largest ship in Disney’s fleet, said Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S. Iswaran, who announced the development on Wednesday (March 29).
The ship, which is Disney’s eighth, is estimated to carry 6,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members.
It has the potential to add “millions of local and foreign cruise passengers” over the five-year period, including fly-cruise passengers arriving in the Republic by air, Disney and STB said in a press release.
As part of sustainability efforts, the vessel will run on green methanol, a low emission fuel.
More details regarding the vessel’s maiden voyage and itineraries will be released at a later date, they said.
Construction will be completed at the MV Werften shipyard in Wismar, Germany, under Meyer Werft, which also built three other Disney cruise ships.
Speaking at a press conference at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Iswaran said Disney’s decision to base its first ship in South-East Asia here “speaks volumes of our region’s significant potential for cruise tourism”.
He noted that South-East Asia had been described as the “Caribbean of the East”.
In 2017, STB began a three-year partnership with The Walt Disney Company South-East Asia to bring themed events and activities here.
A subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, Disney Cruise Line currently operates fives ships to destinations including the Caribbean, Europe and Australia.
In 2022, STB said it expected Singapore’s cruise industry to return to pre-pandemic levels between 2023 and 2024.
In 2019, Singapore had more than 1.8 million cruise passengers, with more than 400 cruise ships across 30 brands calling here.
