Cruise Industry Veteran Bo-Erik Blomqvist Named Senior Vice President - Corporate Shipbuilding for Carnival Corporation & plc
MIAMI, Oct. 22,2007/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bo-Erik Blomqvist, a 20-year cruise industry veteran, has been named senior vice president -- corporate shipbuilding for Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK).
Based at Carnival's Southampton, UK, offices, Blomqvist will begin February 1, 2008, and will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company's various newbuilding projects. He will report to Carnival Corporation & plc Chairman and CEO Micky Arison and Vice Chairman and COO Howard Frank.
Blomqvist replaces Carnival's Senior Vice President -- International Ian Gaunt who is retiring as a senior officer but will remain as outside legal counsel for shipbuilding contracts and related matters.
Blomqvist brings diverse experience to his new position at Carnival. Most recently, he was deputy president -- business area Cruise & Ferries at Aker Yards and positioned in France where he was responsible for the integration of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard into the Aker Yards group and, before that, with Aker Yards in Finland.
He also spent 14 years at Finnish shipbuilder Kvaerner Masa-Yards in various management and senior management positions. Blomqvist has served as project manager for several cruise ship newbuildings and senior vice president for its Helsinki shipyard as well as senior vice president sales and marketing before being promoted to deputy president of Aker Yards in Finland. Blomqvist earned a master's degree in science and technology -- naval architecture and ships machinery from Helsinki University of Technology.
"We already know Bo-Erik well, having worked with him on several of our shipbuilding projects. He is a highly talented and respected professional whose wide-ranging experience in all aspects of new ship construction makes him the ideal candidate for this position," Frank said. "Carnival Corporation & plc currently has 20 new ships on order or under construction with three different yards and Bo-Erik's strong management skills and keen attention to detail will enable our company's brands to continue to expand with these highly innovative new ship projects," he added.
Gaunt is retiring from his current position after nearly three decades of involvement within the cruise industry, both as senior vice president -- international for Carnival Corporation & plc since 1999, where he had overall responsibility for the company's newbuilding projects, and other ventures in Europe and the UK, and as a senior partner at a leading London law firm where he was responsible for negotiating all of Carnival's shipbuilding contracts since 1981.
"Ian's contributions to Carnival Corporation & plc are immeasurable, as he's played a critical role in the continued growth of our company overseeing the construction of some of the most beautiful and technically advanced ships in the cruise industry," Frank said. "On behalf of the entire Carnival family, we would like to thank Ian for his years of dedicated service and contributions to our company and industry and look forward to continuing to work with him as counsel," he added.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Iberocruceros, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 84 ships totaling 156,000 lower berths with 20 new ships scheduled to enter service between December 2007 and June 2012. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Tours and Princess Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation
CONTACT:
Media,
US, Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc,
+1-305-599-2600, Ext. 16000,
UK, Sophie Fitton - Sophie Brand of Brunswick
Group, 44 (0) 20 7404 5959;
Investor Relations, US-UK, Beth Roberts of
Carnival Corporation & plc, +1-305-406-4832
Web site: http://www.carnivalcorp.com
(CCL CUK)
