Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reached an amicable settlement with Rolls-Royce concerning problems with the pod-propulsion system on Celebrity Cruises' Millennium-class ships.
RCCL sued Rolls-Royce and Alstom Power Conversion, maker of the Mermaid propulsion pods, for $300 million after technical issues with the pods on four Celebrity ships (Millennium, Summit, Infinity and Constellation) forced them out of service and into drydock on several occasions.
In a statement today, RCCL said it had reached "a suitable and amicable resolution to the lawsuit," and that RCCL and Rolls-Royce have improved the reliability of the pods' design.
"We look forward to continuing our alliance with Rolls-Royce for many years to come," stated Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity CEO. "Rolls-Royce has one of the best reputations for reliability, and guests and travel agents should feel confident in Rolls-Royce's assurances of the reliability of the Mermaid pods."
RCCL said the settlement would generate a net increase of approximately $65 million in income for the company's 2010 first quarter results.
In 2008, Carnival Corp. also sued Rolls-Royce for damages related to the Mermaid pod system on Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2.