Following negotiations/discussions ongoing since September 2022 (concluded in January 2023), Swan Hellenic and its Irish counsels identified a legal mechanism allowing the UK-based cruise company to take ownership of SH Minerva ship by acquiring the GTLK subsidiary (currently the registered shipowner).
GTLK is a Russian leasing company.
In a statement, Swan Hellenic said the necessary application to the Central Bank of Ireland had been finalized some weeks ago and had already been submitted. Approval of the transaction was expected to take 2-3 weeks.
Pending the issue of the license by the Central Bank of Ireland, Swan Hellenic had decided to postpone the reactivation of SH Minerva.
Minerva's 31-night Antarctic cruise scheduled to depart on February 7th had therefore been canceled.
Swan Hellenic's current fleet includes SH Minerva and SH Vega (both newbuilds with PC 5 polar class hulls) which were launched in December 2021 and July 2022, respectively, plus the slightly bigger sistership SH Diana (PC 6 classes) to be launched in 2023-Q1.