In sad news, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) co-founder Arne Wilhelmsen has died at the age of 90.

RCL said in a statement that Wilhelmsen was a constant influence on the company from its founding, serving more than three decades on the company’s board of directors.

“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,” RCL chairman and chief executive Richard Fain said.

“He had a vision of the modern cruise industry when the ‘industry’ might have been a dozen used ships total.”

A believer in economies of scale, Wilhelmsen once said: “My initial challenge was to convince my partners and management in Miami to build bigger and more efficient ships in order to grow the company.”

True to his vision, the company now sails 61 ships calling on all seven continents, and its fleet features the largest cruise ships in the world.

Born on 15 June 1929, in Oslo, Norway, Wilhelmsen earned his MBA at Harvard Business School and worked as a chartering assistant for Norway’s EB Lund & Co., and later as a shipbroker in New York.

After joining RCL in 1954, he became its president in 1961. The scion of a leading Norwegian shipping concern – Anders Wilhelmsen & Co AS – Wilhelmsen spent most of his life in the family business, including an early stint as a deckhand.

“Arne was a steady presence and source of wisdom on our board for decades,” Fain said.

“And in 2003, when he was ready to step back, he was succeeded on the RCL board by his son, Alex, who has carried the involvement of the Wilhelmsen family in charting our company’s course into its sixth decade.

“Our high standards as a company, our insistence on excellence in operations and design, and our determination to persevere all owe a great deal to the long-term vision of Arne, Alex and the Wilhelmsen family.

“We salute our friend, and we will miss him dearly.”

Featured image source: Royal Caribbean Cruises