The proposed sale of the incomplete former Genting large cruise ship, ‘Global Dream’, was thrown in doubt last week.
According to German media, MV Werften’s insolvency administrator was drafting up new plans for the Wismar shipyard and seeking alternative buyers for the cruise ship.
One problem faced by the administrator is providing work for the yard’s former employees to reduce the German Government’s potential financial liabilities, according to local reports.
“We had several serious buyers for the ship. In the end, the talks focused on an interested party who wanted to take over and operate the ship together with the other ships from the Genting shipping company,” reportedly said insolvency administrator, Christoph Morgen, at a press briefing with the German media on Monday in Wismar.
He also reportedly said that while plans for Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems to take over the yard had advanced, they also focused on completing the cruise ship at the yard next year to provide interim employment and reduce the potential cost to Germany, due to loan guarantees provided to the yard.
According to the local media reports, Morgen explained that advanced negotiations took place with the Stena Group and that other talks had taken place with the federal government, state, and construction financiers.
Stena was believed to have asked for an $800 mill loan, which the administrator thought would have been forthcoming.
This deal was thought to have collapsed primarily over the uncertainty over the future of the Asian cruise market, due to China’s zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy. Stena was also believed to be worried rising competition in the region, especially from Resort World Cruises, which has chartered the ‘Genting Dream’ from Genting’s Hong Kong liquidator.
In another move, two ships previously operated by Genting Hong Kong’s US-based subsidiary Crystal Cruises are to be auctioned next month.
According to a report from cruising media brand Cruise Hive, the Bahamas Supreme Court Commercial Division published an official notice of sale for the ‘Crystal Symphony’ and ’Crystal Serenity’, with bids due by 7th June 2022. Winning bidders will be notified a week later.
Both ships have been berthed at Freeport (Bahamas) since February.
Meanwhile, the former Star Cruises’ ‘Taipan’ has been purchased by OM Ships, a Germany-based religious organisation, which operates floating bookshops.
Her sistership, ‘Crystal Esprit’, was recently acquired by Lindblad Expeditions.
Due to be renamed ‘Doulos Hope’, the small vessel will be rebuilt in an Asian shipyard.
