Source: http://worldcityweb.com/home/MIA/publications/magazine/6/555/

Q&A with Joyce Landry

by Anne Kalosh

When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, Joyce Landry could think of just one thing: getting ships to the area to provide shelter and supplies.

The CEO of Landry & Kling, a specialist in chartering passenger vessels, contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to offer her expertise. Within days, ships were in New Orleans housing first responders, relief workers, law enforcement officials, firefighters and city staff.

The deployment meshed exactly with Landry’s skills. In 1982, she and partner Josephine Kling, both former cruise-line executives, launched a company that targeted corporations for sea-going meetings and incentive programs. It was the United States’ first cruise-only travel agency. Critics said there wasn’t sufficient sales volume to support such a niche. Landry & Kling proved the doubters wrong.

Corporate cruises became a booming business, and today every cruise line fields a corporate and incentive department. Landry’s company relocated to Miami in 1988 and now manages cruise programs and at-sea conferences for Fortune 1000 firms and meeting planners around the globe.

Landry & Kling was the first to suggest that FEMA use cruise ships for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. How were you able to act so quickly?

We worked with FEMA in the past, starting with 9/11. We did an analysis to bring ships in to use as an alternative for corporate relocations from the World Trade Center. It ended up that ships were not used as office space was procured in the area. In the next years, whenever there were hurricanes in Florida or the Gulf, we were approached by FEMA. Last year we were very, very close to putting a ship in Pensacola but it was called off because there were more people who wanted to go on the ship than there were beds available. They ended up building a tent city instead.

What happened with Katrina?

We were in touch with FEMA the day after it hit and were put on the mission to find all available ships. At the time, they were asking us for ships that could be deployed into the area in the least expensive way and very quickly. The criteria were cost and speed. The budget they gave us meant we would have to go to vessels not currently in service because any ship that was operating would be too expensive. When the Military Sealift Command stepped in and took over the project from FEMA, the priority shifted to immediacy over price. That’s when they started contacting the popular cruise lines. Carnival was willing to step up to the plate and make three ships available. The three ships were full and Carnival had to offload passengers over a six-month period and cancel all of the scheduled cruises, refund the fares, protect travel agent commissions and cover obligations to tour operators and ground handlers. They pulled the ships out of the market, which is a difficult thing to do.

Why did Carnival do it?

They’re the largest cruise line in the world with the most ships to offer and their ships were operating out of ports in the region. The other major cruise lines simply couldn’t have afforded to take three ships out of service for all that time.

Carnival will get $192 million for its three ships plus expenses for fuel and other items. Some people criticized the government for paying that much.

It was a fair price given the urgency. The government didn’t have time to waste. It would have been nine to 12 days to bring ships that were not in use, which are mainly European ferries.

Did you directly secure a ship for Katrina relief?

The ship we found was Scotia Prince [a 1,000-passenger overnight ferry]. It’s now in Chalmette, Louisiana, in St. Bernard’s Parish, probably the worst-hit parish. It’s housing evacuees, rescue workers, local police and firemen.

What was the cost for that six-month charter?

Roughly $20 million.

What needs are there for ships now?

We’re getting calls from non-government entities. We’re working with a New Orleans hospital that’s trying to get up and running. They have to provide their employees with a place to live. An oil company trying to fix their refinery needs housing for workers. A commercial real estate company is looking for office space as well as housing for corporate employees so that businesses can get up and running. We’re working with an insurance association trying to find housing for adjusters and inspectors. We’ve gotten many inquiries, everything from pet-rescue organizations wanting to do floating animal hospitals to construction companies that want to bring workers in to help with rebuilding.

Can we apply Katrina’s lessons about ship procurement to future disasters?

The prices that we had received from ship owners prior to the military taking control of this project have increased, and we are working hard to negotiate these prices so that they’re fair. We don’t believe a crisis warrants above-normal profits. It’s not right. We have contacted FEMA and discussed sitting down with them so they can create a process to charter ships efficiently and cost-effectively in the future so it does not become an opportunistic situation.

Why did evacuees in Houston refuse to go on the Carnival ships in Galveston, which eventually redeployed to New Orleans for relief-worker housing?

Had the government polled the evacuees, it would have found that many of these people had to swim to safety and just being on the water would probably be traumatic. The circumstances are so unusual. There’s never been this type of flooding before. Plus many had already relocated from the Louisiana Superdome to the Houston Astrodome, and then they were being asked to move again. Galveston is 60 miles away from Houston and people were trying to get their children into schools and find housing in Houston.

What non-emergency projects are you working on?

Mostly sales incentives, recognition programs and corporate meetings. We just arranged a charter for 3,000 people on [Royal Caribbean International’s] Navigator of the Seas for the 50th anniversary of Aflac [the Ohio-based insurance company]. It’s a sales incentive for their top executives and will honor all employees who’ve been with the company for at least 30 years.

When did you arrange your first full-ship charter?

1984. Vistafjord from Venice to Athens for Digital Equipment Corp.

How many charters in total have you handled?

Hundreds.

Which was the most challenging?

The Super Bowl [XXXIX in Jacksonville in February 2005] because of turning five ships into floating hotels and the logistics that were involved. Over 20,000 people went through the ships for meals, entertainment, parties and meetings. This was in a post-9/11 environment when security was at an all-time high for these types of sporting events. The ships were Carnival Miracle, Seven Seas Navigator, Volendam, Zaandam and Zuiderdam. One of the jokes in Jacksonville was that it took three “dam” ships and a Miracle to pull it off.