The crane collapse that damaged Royal Caribbean's Oasis of
the Seas is expected to cost the parent company about $52 million in net income
this year.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said most of the amount will
come from lost cruise revenue. Royal Caribbean canceled three sailings after
the accident at the Grand Bahama Shipyard on April 1. RCCL also has an ownership
stake in the shipyard.
The ship was in drydock when the crane collapse occurred.
RCCL sent the ship to Spain for further repairs. The Oasis is due to return to
service on May 5.
The costs of the accident were disclosed as RCCL reported
first-quarter net income of $256.8 million, up from $218.6 million a year
earlier. Revenue rose 20.2% to $2.44 billion.
RCCL forecasted that adjusted net income for 2019 will range
between $2.02 billion and $2.06 billion. For all of 2018, adjusted net income
was $1.9 billion.
Although RCCL's forecast for 2019 was down from the one
issued three months ago, due largely to the accident and higher expected fuel
prices, investors were cheered by the strong first quarter, which benefited
from increased onboard spending and better-than-expected close-in demand.