The luxury cruise company Swan Hellenic, led by Andrea Zito seems to be encountering some difficulties that will affect the brand's rebirth program and the activity of this new holiday class on board.
The latest news comes from the Finnish shipyard Helsinki Shipyard Oy which has publicly auctioned the new ship under construction already renamed SH Vega. Originally commissioned from the shipyard by Swan Hellenic and sister ship of SH Minerva, this 10,000-tonne expedition ship is currently in the final build and outfitting.
An announcement posted on the shipyard's website on June 13, specifies that the ship, designated under construction name Hull 517 and with the capacity to host 150 guests, will be sold to the highest bidder on July 19. The conditions of sale are "as is where is" and no particular guarantees will be issued. The new expedition ship, which has already successfully completed sea trials in May, has been designed with particular attention to polar areas and therefore boasts a PC5 Ice Class notation.
The public auction will take place online, with bids to be submitted via email. The deadline for submitting applications is June 24, while the 'winner' will be revealed on July 1.
The Swan Hellenic company was particularly impressed by the fact that the Russian leasing company Gtlk, a victim of Western sanctions, had financed the construction of these new ships that Swan Hellenic had assured in mid-May that it had bought itself directly by exercising planned purchase from the agreements with the lender. An operation that would have allowed to 'free' the company and the ships from the weight of the sanctions but something in this plan seems to have gone wrong if now the second unit is sold to the highest bidder.
According to some media, even the first ship, SH Minerva, built-in 2021 and currently stopped in Uruguay, could soon be subject to sale.
To understand now who will or will be able to detect them. One of the major suspects can only be Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, the patron of the Hermitage group who in recent days has already taken over two Crystal Cruises ships and who is preparing his return to the world cruise scene after having sold Silversea to Royal Caribbean in 2019.
Helsinki Shipyard and Swan Hellenic in the autumn of 2020 had also announced an agreement for the construction of a third sister ship which could now be in doubt considering the evolution of the situation.
