MIAMI — The travel industry is breathing a sigh of relief now that NCLH, the parent company of NCL, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, has secured more than US$2 billion of additional liquidity, to help shore up the company amid the coronavirus crisis.

Alarm bells rang yesterday as the company updated its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with what amounted to a dire warning about its solvency amid the coronavirus crisis.

In its filing NCLH said the temporary halt to sailings worldwide and the almost complete loss of forward bookings, as well as other financial obligations, had cast doubt on whether or not the company could continue “as a going concern, as the Company does not have sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations over the next twelve months, assuming no additional financing or other proactive measures.”

The entire travel industry has suffered massive losses in the wake of COVID-19, with some sectors including cruising hit particularly hard.

In securing $2.25 billion in financing, NCLH says the added liquidity will safeguard the company “against a further downside scenario.”

Once the new financing in place, NCLH says it expects to have about $3.5 billion of liquidity. “This significantly strengthens the Company’s financial position and liquidity runway and it now expects to be positioned to withstand well over 12 months of voyage suspensions in a potential downside scenario,” said NCLH in a statement issued today.

“While this is not the Company’s base case expectation, the Company has taken a swift and proactive approach to protect its future given the significant uncertainty and unknown duration of the COVID-19 global pandemic. When the transactions are completed, the additional liquidity alleviates management’s concern about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months,” said NCLH.