Five former Cruise & Maritime Voyages ships have been put up for sale at auction, following the demise of Britain’s largest independent cruise line in July.
The ships put up for auction are Vasco da Gama, Columbus, Astor, Magellan and Marco Polo. The ships are currently laid up in London Tilbury and Bristol Avonmouth. Astoria is not part of the auction as plans were already in place for when she was due to leave the fleet in October 2020.
It is not known what is happening to Amy Johnson and Ida Pfeiffer, the two ships that were due to join CMV in 2021. They currently remain part of the P&O Cruises Australia fleet, sailing as Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria. The ships have recently repositioned to the Mediterranean – an unusual move for a cruise line which solely operates out of Australasia.
Deadlines of between October 8 and 22 have been set for bids to be lodged with the broker CW Kellock & Co. Each vessel will be sold separate, although no indication of values have been disclosed.
- VASCO DA GAMA – Bid deadline: Midday Thursday 8th October 2020
- COLUMBUS – Bid deadline: Midday Monday 12th October 2020
- MAGELLAN – Bid deadline: Midday Monday 19th October 2020
- ASTOR – Bid deadline: Midday Thursday 15th October 2020
- MARCO POLO – Bid deadline: Midday Thursday 22nd October 2020
Last month, Cruise & Maritime Voyages former boss, Christian Verhounig, announced he had purchased several of the cruise line’s assets as part of a plan to relaunch. The sale included customer databases, computer systems, booking systems, office furniture and equipment, IT infrastructure and intellectual property. The sale did not include any ships.