The parent company of Genting Cruise Lines has appointed a new deputy CEO and executive director, following the resignation of Lim Keong Hui.
Genting Hong Kong said in a statement to shareholders that Lim had tendered his resignation as the company’s deputy chief and as an executive director with effect from 28 August 2020 to “devote more time to other business commitments”.
“Mr Lim has confirmed that he has no disagreement with the board and there is no matter in relation to his resignation which needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the company,” the statement read.
“The board would like to express its gratitude to Mr Lim for his valuable contributions to the company during his tenure of office.”
Replacing Lim as deputy CEO is Au Fook Yew, who is also known as Colin Au, and currently serves as Genting Hong Kong’s group president.
Au was the founding president and CEO of the company, which pioneered the Asian cruise business 27 years ago.
He is responsible for Genting Cruise Lines, which houses the Dream Cruises, Star Cruises and Crystal Cruises brands.
Au is also responsible for MV Werften Holdings Limited, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary which owns four German shipyards in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, principally involved in building new cruise and passenger ships for Genting Cruise Lines.
The company has also appointed chief financial officer Chan Kam Hing Chris as an executive director.
The management changes come not long after Genting Hong Kong revealed a net loss of US$742.6 million ($1 billion) in the first half of 2020.
All of Genting’s ships other than Explorer Dream, SuperStar Aquarius and SuperStar Gemini are being laid-up, while the delivery of Crystal Endeavor and Global Dream, currently under construction, has been rescheduled.
With the support from the relevant authorities in Taiwan, Dream Cruises’ Explorer Dream was given the approval to operate two-, three- and four-night “Taiwan Island-Hopping” cruises departing from Keelung to Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu islands.
Genting said the market’s response to the Explorer Dream deployment in Taiwan has been “very encouraging”, with the regulated first sailing at a 50 per cent occupancy rate on 26 July 2020 rising to 96 per cent on the 23 to 26 August cruises.
Furthermore, the company was given the green light by the Hainan Commercial Bureau late last month for Dream Cruises to commence domestic cruise operations from Sanya. Genting is also negotiating with other governments in the region to restart domestic cruises.
Featured image source: Genting Cruise Lines
