The first new Sea Cloud ship in nearly 20 years, Sea Cloud Spirit, will enter service later than initially planned due to the COVID crisis.
The maiden voyage of the 136-passenger 3-mast ship was scheduled for August 29. A new date will be announced once the shipyard sets the delivery date, the cruise company said.
The vessel is currently under construction at Metalships & Docks shipyard in Vigo, Spain. The shipyard stopped work for a number of weeks due to the national shutdown. Although operations have partially been resumed, suppliers and subcontractors involved have not been able to return to Spain because of entry restrictions, Sea Cloud revealed.
Sea Cloud Spirit will sail in the Caribbean in mid-November 2020 as originally scheduled but will remain in the Canaries until April 2021. The two other ships of Sea Cloud will both remain in the Caribbean during the winter months.
The completion of the newbuild has long been delayed. The project was launched back in 2008 when the vessel was under construction at another yard that went bankrupt.