Cruise & Maritime Voyages

Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) was a British passenger shipping company headquartered in Essex, United Kingdom.[1][2][3]

Cruise & Maritime Voyages
IndustryTravel and tourism
FateAdministration and subsequent cessation of services
Founded2010
Defunct20 July 2020
HeadquartersEssex, United Kingdom
Area served
British Market, Australian Market, US Market
ProductsCruises
Number of employees
200–500
SubsidiariesTransocean Tours
Websitewww.cruiseandmaritime.com

History

Cruise & Maritime Voyages was formed in 2009, by parent organisation Cruise & Maritime Services International, after their German based Transocean Tours (for whom they were the UK representative) filed for bankruptcy.[4]

Cruise & Maritime Voyages positioned itself as "Providing ex-UK 'no fly' cruising holidays aboard smaller and medium sized classic and more traditional style ships".[5] The company served an adult market, with an onboard style of traditional entertainment, dining and rooms using a fleet of older vessels.[6]

In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cruise & Maritime Voyages temporarily halted operations, with the majority of ships laid up in Tilbury. On the 23 June 2020, five ships within the CMV fleet were detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, including the MV Columbus, MV Vasco da Gama, MV Astoria, MS Astor, and MS Marco Polo over crew welfare concerns after inspections revealed "expired and invalid seafarers employment agreements, late payment of wages and crews who had been on board for over 12 months." The MS Magellan was also inspected by the Agency but was not detained.[7]

Sky News reported on 15 July 2020 that the company was facing insolvency and was in talks with VGO Capital Management, which Sky described as "a special situations investor with expertise in the shipping industry," for additional financing. The company had previously sought a financing agreement with private equity firm Novalpina Capital; this attempt failed after Barclays declined to offer the company a state-backed loan.[8]

Attempts to secure financing failed, and the company, including its Germany subsidiary, entered administration with Duff & Phelps Ltd. on 20 July 2020, with all trading ceased and all sales offices closed with immediate effect.[9]

Fleet

The following ships were operated or were scheduled to be operated by Cruise & Maritime Voyages.

ShipClassBuiltIn service for CMVTonnageFlagNotesImage
Marco PoloIvan Franko class19652010–202022,080 GT and 19,860 GRT BahamasIn 2009, the ship was chartered for cruising as the line's first ship and was operated as an adults-only (16 and above) vessel, marketed at cash short consumers, with multiple departure points in the UK along with exotic itineraries.[10]
Ocean Countess19752010-201217,593 GT PortugalIn 2010, the ship was chartered as the second ship of the fleet.[11] Replaced in 2012 by the Discovery[12] and subsequently sold for scrap later that year after a fire destroyed the ship.[13]
Discovery19712013-201420,216 GT BermudaShip entered the fleet in February 2013, replacing the Ocean Countess.[14][12] She was sold for scrap in October 2014.[15]
Astor19872013–202020,704 GT BahamasThe ship was due to leave the Transocean Tours fleet in May 2021 and was to have been refurbished and renamed as Jules Verne, after which she would have sailed out of Le Havre and Marseille for Cruise & Maritime Voyages's new French brand.[16][17]
Astoria19482015–201915,614 GRT PortugalChartered from Portuscale Cruises to replace the slightly bigger MV Discovery.[18] She was scheduled to leave the CMV fleet in October 2020.[19]
MagellanHoliday class19852015–202046,052 GT BahamasShip was transferred from Ibero Cruises in 2015[20] and served as the flagship of the fleet until 2017.
Columbus19892017–202063,500 GT BahamasFormerly sailed as the Pacific Pearl for P&O Australia. Became cruise line's flagship upon entering the fleet on 11 June 2017.[21]

Vasco Da Gama Statendam Class 1993 2019–2020 55,451 GT  Bahamas Sold to Cruise & Maritime Voyages in 2018; formerly Pacific Eden and Statendam. Sailed for part of the year under the Transocean Tours brand in Europe, and under the Cruise & Maritime Voyages brand in Australia in the summer replacing Astor.[22][23]
Amy Johnson19912021 (planned but never entered service)[24]70,285 GTN/A Sold to CMV in 2019 by P&O Cruises Australia, where she was sailing as Pacific Dawn.
Ida PfeifferStatendam-class19942021 (planned but never entered service)[24]55,819 GTN/A Sold to CMV in 2019 by P&O Cruises Australia, where she was sailing as Pacific Aria.

References
  1. Reinikainen, Kari (14 August 2009). "New cruise brand with two ships to launch in the UK in 2010". Cruise Business Online. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  2. "Cruise & Maritime Voyages launches 2010/2011 winter preview". Travel Weekly. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  3. "Cruise & Maritime Voyages – Contact Us". Cruiseandmaritime.com. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  4. "Trans Ocean Files for Bankruptcy". Cruisecritic.co.uk. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  5. "About Us (Company Website)". Cruiseandmaritime.com. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  6. "New UK Cruise Liner Launched | Travel News". Comparecarhire.co.uk. 15 August 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  7. Holland, Kaye (23 June 2020). "Five cruise ships seized in UK ports over 'serious concerns' for crew". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  8. Kleinman, Mark (15 July 2020). "Coronavirus: Cruise operator CMV in last-ditch bid to stay afloat". Sky News. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  9. Kalosh, Anne (20 July 2020). "Cruise & Maritime Voyages goes into administration". Seatrade Cruise News. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  10. "New UK Liner". Comparecarhire.co.uk. 15 August 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  11. "Ocean Countess". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  12. Mathisen, Oivind (7 September 2012). "Discovery to Join Cruise and Maritime After Drydock".
  13. "Cunard Countess".
  14. Staff, CIN (30 August 2012). "All Leisure Group Enters Agreement to Jointly Market Discovery with CMV".
  15. "All Leisure Sells MV Discovery Cruise Ship – Cruise & Maritime Voyages". www.cruisecritic.com.
  16. Knego, Peter (8 February 2013). "ASTOR Heading "Down Under" For CMV". Maritime Matters. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  17. Write a Review (7 February 2013). "Cruise Line Charters Ship for U.K.-Australia Cruises – Cruise & Maritime Voyages". Cruisecritic.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  18. Staff, CIN (27 June 2014). "CMV to Charter Azores from Portuscale".
  19. Rizzo, Cailey (28 January 2020). "The World's Oldest Operating Cruise Ship Has Survived Crashes and Somali Pirates — but It's Almost Ready to Retire". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  20. Staff, CIN (3 November 2014). "Grand Holiday to CMV".
  21. Stone, Deborah (9 March 2016). "Cruise & Maritime Voyages to add AMAZING new ship to fleet".
  22. "Cruise Holidays and Deals | Cruise & Maritime Voyages US". Cruiseandmaritime.com. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  23. Mathisen, Monty (7 March 2018). "Pacific Eden Sold to Cruise and Maritime Voyages".
  24. "Two more ships for 2021!". 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
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