The Greek ferry company Seajets is the new owner of the recently sold Holland America Line cruise ships ms Veendam and ms Maasdam. Once things get back to normal Seajets will enter the highly competitive cruise market with 3 cruise vessels in the fleet, as the company had already bought the cruise ship Oceana from P&O Cruises. 

Back in July Holland America Line announced that four cruise ships have been sold in pairs to undisclosed buyers with two leaving in August and another two in the fall. Shortly after Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines announced that the company has bought MS Rotterdam and MS Amsterdam and after extensive refurbishment, they will be renamed Bolette and Bolearis. 

However, the new owner of the ms Veendam and ms Maasdam remained a mystery until now. The two former HAL ships are now renamed Aegean Majesty and Aegean Myth. The Veendam was renamed Aegean Majesty in Katakolon and ms Maasdam in Piraeus got its new name Aegean Myth. According to Seatrade Cruise News Aegean Majesty and Aegean Myth will be managed by Optimum Ship Management Services, which also looks after the cruise vessels of the Greek operator Celestyal Cruises. Both ships are currently in the “warm layup”, maintenance and operating condition from which they could return to service relatively quickly.

Seajets had already attracted attention in the cruise market when the company bought the Oceana from P&O Cruises. The ship is now renamed to Queen of the Oceans, and is currently docked in Patras, Greece. Little is known about future plans of Seajets with the three cruise ships in the fleet, however, most probably they will sail Eastern Mediterranean voyages. There is also no information on the respective purchase price. According to some sources, the deal was concluded at a much lower price than the ships were worth before the corona crisis.