In Memorium: Arne Wilhelmsen, Co-Founder of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Arne Wilhelmsen, who co-founded Royal Caribbean Cruises and served as the company’s first-ever CEO, died on Saturday, April 11 in Palma, Spain, according to a statement by Royal Caribbean. He was 90.

Wilhelmsen was born in Oslo, Norway in 1929. He would earn his MBA from Harvard Business School before working as a chartering assistant for the Norwegian company EB Lund & Co. and then leaving to work as a shipbroker in New York.

He would join his family business, Ander Wilhelmsen & Co AS, in 1954 eventually becoming president in 1961. In 1968, he, along with Royal’s first CEO Edwin Stephan, would launch Royal Caribbean, which helped transform cruising into a major part of the vacation industry.

“At a time when the rest of the world thought cruising was a niche use for old transatlantic liners, Arne was already seeing glimmers of the growth that was possible,” said Richard Fain, RCL’s chairman and CEO, in a statement announcing the news. “He had a vision of the modern cruise industry when the ‘industry’ might have been a dozen used ships, total.”

Wilhelmsen helped convince his partners that cruising, in order to be successful, would have to do so by building larger, more efficient ships designed for warmer weather. He also did it by headquartering in Miami, a jump-off point for most Caribbean cruises. 

Wilhelmsen served on Royal’s board until 2003, when he retired and his son Alex took his place and has since carried on the family’s involvement in Royal.

Royal now sails 61 ships, some of which are the largest in the world, in all seven continents.