Cruise & Maritime Voyages went into administration in July 2020 due to the pandemic and has now been dissolved, with creditors owed almost £96.4 million.
In its final report to Companies House, administrator Kroll Advisory said there were insufficient funds to pay secured, preferential or non-preferential creditors.
An unnamed secured creditor which refinanced CMV in February 2020 has a claim for £78.3 million, but administrators say there will not be sufficient funds to cover this. Unsecured creditors are owed around £18 million but will also not receive payouts.
Preferential creditors are mainly 131 employees which lost out on holiday pay totalling £84,000. The report said all had otherwise been paid “the majority” of their salary arrears.
The administrators also revealed details of the sale of assets to Christian Verhounig, CMV’s former chief executive and chairman, who set up a new company, CVI Group, only a month after the collapse.
He paid just £180,000 for computer systems, vehicles and office equipment, including a nominal £1 each for databases and CMV’s intellectual property.
CVI Group planned to launch a similar product to CMV, with ex-UK departures, but Verhounig now runs Ambassador Cruise Line, having given up control of CVI to Njord Partners, Ambassador’s owners, according to documents filed at Companies House.
Grand Celebration Capacity: 1,800 Tonnage: 47,262 Year built: 1987 Last Cruise Line: Bahamas Paradise Operating for Bahamas Paradise since 2015, the Grand Celebration was sold in November. While the cruise line initially denied the sale, the 1987-built vessel set course to India, arriving in Alang on January 11.
Satoshi (ex-Pacific Dawn) Capacity: 1,590 Tonnage: 70,000 Year built: 1991 Last Cruise Line: P&O Australia
With COVID-19 taking its toll on the industry and with some ships and brands still out of service, the lack of income has claimed a handful of smaller cruise brands since the global pandemic started.
At the time, Pullmantur’s board of directors claimed that the unprecedented impact of the pandemic made the action necessary. While the website of the Spanish cruise line is still online, two of its ships are being scrapped in Turkey. The third was withdrawn from DNV GL’s database in August and is anchored off Greece, awaiting its fate.
Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) July 20
In the United Kingdom, Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) was placed into administration on July 20. On the same day, all future cruises were cancelled, including those of the sister-brand TransOcean Tours, which was also placed into administration in Germany.
In the weeks prior to the announcement, CMV was reportedly negotiating a rescue financing deal, which did not pan out. The Essex-based brand operated a fleet of six vessels, which were returned to its owners or auctioned off over the last weeks.
Operating for FTI since 2012, the 420-guest Berlin used to offer cruises in the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East. In September, the FTI Group sold the vessel to new owners, who plan to convert it into a private yacht.
Blount Small Ship Adventures August 24
Blount Small Ship Adventures ceased operations in late August. The US-based cruise line operated a fleet of two small 100-passenger coastal ships and was a subsidiary of the shipbuilder Blount Boats.
While a message on the cruise line’s website says it “hopes to be sailing again in 2021,” all future cruises were cancelled, and its two vessels were spotted on Blount Boat’s website as available for sale.
Jalesh Cruises October 9
Jalesh Cruises announced its shut down on October 9. The brand had started operations in 2019, operating the 1,590-guest Karnika. With ambitions to grow, Jalesh targeted the Indian source market, sailing around the country and also in the Middle East.
In a statement, it blamed the future uncertainty for the situation, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “The owners of MV Karnika states that it is not in a position to start the operation as the ports in India has not given the date by which cruise ships can start its operations”, Jalesh said.
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