According to a statement released toady, three Portuguese flag ships Princess Danae, Arion and Athena are held by foreclosure, in the French port of Marseille and in Kotor, Montenegro.
The World Cruises Agency clarifies the statement that ship owners were funded for several years by Montepio 'which, despite various promises have decided not to fund the required values for finishing operations by the end of this season.
The World Cruises Agency says that, without this funding, the owners were unable to fulfill some of its obligations, which caused the present foreclosures.
The statement adds that the owners and the representative of the group Montepio are in contact with the administration of Montepio 'to finance the payment of salaries and expenses of repatriation of some 550 crew members currently retained on board. Most of the crew members are Indonesians, Ukrainians and Portuguese.
On Sunday, the French newspaper 'La Provence', reported that the French court ruled on the seizure of two ships operated by Classic International Cruises, which where docked in the Port of Marseilles .
The newspaper suggested that the vessel owners will not pay fuel bills, and stated that the passengers had been removed from the ship, while the crew remained on board.
On 30 August, the Princess Danae was seized in Dublin by order of the Irish superior court, because of an alleged debt, for nonpayment of fuel, valued at about 120,000 euros.
