Crystal Cruises' two ocean ships that have been under arrest in Bahamian for 4+ months were auction-sold on Thursday, June 16, for a combined USD 128 million.
According to Richard Horton, attorney & partner at Alexiou, Knowles and Company, who represented the secured financier of Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony, the vessels were sold for US$103M and US$25M respectively.
Mr. Horton, who acted for DNB Bank, shared that for the Serenity, the total amount paid for the vessel had been US$103 million. The buyer was a company called CDE Ltd.
For the Symphony, the amount agreed was US$25 million for the vessel, and the name of the purchaser was CSY Ltd.
The two vessels (previously operated by GHK-Genting Hong Kong's subsidiary Crystal Cruises Inc) has been under arrest in Freeport (Bahamas, Grand Bahama Island) since February 5, where they arrived after GHK's January bankruptcy.
Both ships were attractive candidates for premium travel operators looking to expand their fleets, and both have been extensively refurbished in recent years. The maintenance they have received has been described as “top-notch”.