Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) announced that its group company MOL Cruise, Ltd. (President and CEO: Tsunemichi Mukai; Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo) has held handover ceremony of the luxury cruise ship Seabourn Odyssey operated by U.S.-based Seabourn Cruise Line Limited. in Yokohama with Seabourn Cruise. In December, Seabourn Odyssey will be reborn and enter service as the Mitsui Ocean Fuji, featuring all-suite cabins.
People from both the Seabourn Odyssey and Mitsui Ocean Fuji attended the ceremony and honored the accomplishments of the Seabourn Odyssey over its nearly 15-years of voyages and celebrated the beginning of a new voyage for the Mitsui Ocean Fuji. Seabourn Odyssey Captain Krasimir Radev, who has served on the ship as Staff Captain for the ship's inaugural season in 2009, and Kim Roger Karlsson, the first captain of the Mitsui Ocean Fuji, took the stage at the ceremony and each shared their passions on the ship and expressed their heartfelt congratulations to MITSUI OCEAN CRUISES.
The MOL Group introduced its new management plan, "BLUE ACTION 2035" in March 2023, to diversify its portfolio to offset the volatility of commercial shipping markets. An element of this is to focus on the cruise business, which is a stable and profitable industry that is not affected by the same market conditions. The group plans to add new vessels to the Mitsui Ocean Fuji in the future to enhance the group's corporate value and realize the Group's vision.