Two Crystal Cruises ships, Crystal Symphony and Serenity, have been arrested yesterday evening by the authorities after their arrival in Freeport. The ships anchored alongside near Freeport yesterday morning and the local authorities boarded last night at around 8 p.m. to arrest the ships, said one crew member.
Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity were diverted to the Bahamian island of Bimini after a U.S. judge issued an arrest warrant to seize the Crystal Symphony as part of a lawsuit over $4.6 million in unpaid fuel bills.
Following the ships arrests, Crystal Symphony Captain made an announcement on the ships’ PA system saying:
“The ship has been placed under arrest by the local authorities over some unpaid bills, and as it bad as it sounds it's actually a good thing that happen. We've been told that this will not affect any personnel movement. So the crew movement and crew sign off's will go as planned, and we are in process of preparing this. So this is unfortunate news but this was quite expected.”
Crystal Symphony Captain announcement addressed to the crew. The cruise ship has been arrested in Freeport, Bahamas. Crystal Serenity was also arrested in Freeport. pic.twitter.com/cdBNyHf4s5
— Crew Center (@CrewCenter) February 5, 2022
Now the main concern for the crew is when and how they will sing-off and return home.
“Everyone onboard wants to know when are we going home. This is the main question and we still don’t have answers because nobody knows which port we can go and from which port we can fly home.” Said one crew member.
Regarding food supplies the crew on Crystal Serenity are doing well for now, while the food supplies on Crystal Symphony are getting less with each day, the crew member said.
Crystal Cruises released a statement regarding the current situation and the plans to return the crew to their home countries.
"The officers and crew on board are being well cared for and staying in single accommodations some of which are guest staterooms. We are making sure they are comfortable and able to enjoy the various amenities on board. Crew members have been paid per their normal schedules and we are meeting and exceeding all contractual obligations. Apart from a skeleton crew to actually operate the ship, all of the crew will be traveling home within a week”
In the past few days Crew Center received the following messages from Crystal Cruises crew:
“Even if you want to go home, you cannot. Cuzz we cannot dock in any port for now, anywhere... We were in Bimini for two days and then coast guards came there so we needed to sail/run away. Right now we are going to free Port for fuel, after that... Who knows what will be, even the captain said today that we don't have a plan for future, so basically we are just sailing/drifting... And trust me when I say this, many people wants to go home, it's not about money anymore.”
"Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity sailed from Bimini to international waters. We are in the middle of the Caribbean Sea and we don’t know where and what we gonna do. All crew members are on board and we don’t know when we gonna go home. Some rumors say we might go to Freeport
Food is ok …They treat us well…We just received our January salary
Some people don’t want to stay onboard and wanna go ASAP . They are worried about future salary because the company is bankrupt.
Management says if you wanna go home early and if you didn’t complete your 3 months contract need to resign and buy your own flight ticket to go home."
